Tweaking...again

[strawberryshortcake]

Hi all

I know this has been a topic over and over! But I just don't seem to be able to get my head round it!!!!
How come I can have a mug shot as a free snack but can't have a similar amount of "tweaked" rice pudding for free? Not that I have ever had the rice pudding but the concept just doesn't make sense!

Also, can I have let's say 3 or 4 cold salad potatoes as a snack? Or a bowl of plain pasta? As pasta 'n' sauce is free!!! What about a small bowl of slimming world chips, would that be a tweak?
I do understand that if potatoes are used to make crisps that they should be synned but why put people of them altogether? I'd say, yes they can't be counted as free but rather than having a pack of walkers crisps dripping with fat and loaded with salt and additives, shouldn't they be our first choice if we get a craving? BUT....where do I find out how many syns a potato is?? Now that Red and Green days are no longer!!!

Then the whole scan bran cake issue! The whole cake is classed free or only the syns of the additional components like highlights etc. are synned but if you only have a slice you need to syn it altogether??? How silly is that? We are actually encouraged to eat a whole cake???? Doesn't make sense to me at all!!!!! What is worse? A whole cake or 1 or 2 slices of it??? Or even having a slice of actual full fat, full sugar cake???
Yes, I can see that synning one or two slices of the scan bran cake would make more sense as it will be less syns than your healthy extra allowance would be! Then, do you syn the scan bran as scan bran or flour as it is suggested on other forums as it's a flour substitute?

What about "magic pancakes" then? Should they be synned even though I'm using my HEXB to make them???
ARRRGGGHHHH....this is soooooo hard!!! :sigh::sigh:

Sorry about all these questions!!!!!!

 

[strawberryshortcake]

...

 

[PatchworkPuss]

Chips and potatoes free because they're filling. crisps are not because cut-through wafer thin and dehydrating them takes away all the filling power. For that reason crisps don't get a free food allowance, so even if made from what is normally a free food the end product is synned

Scan bran cake and oat pancakes are not a tweak because there's built in portion control, you can't eat to excess in the same way as you might say smash used to make scones.

Theres an article on the sw website that explains called myths and misconceptions. It says to syn at the rate of the food being replaced, so smash used as a flour substitute would be synned the same as flour

 

[strawberryshortcake]

Chips and potatoes free because they're filling. crisps are not because cut-through wafer thin and dehydrating them takes away all the filling power. For that reason crisps don't get a free food allowance, so even if made from what is normally a free food the end product is synned Scan bran cake and oat pancakes are not a tweak because there's built in portion control, you can't eat to excess in the same way as you might say smash used to make scones. Theres an article on the sw website that explains called myths and misconceptions. It says to syn at the rate of the food being replaced, so smash used as a flour substitute would be synned the same as flour

Thanks for your answer patchwork...i have read the article you refer to...but i just can't get it in my thick head how their reasoning works :-(

 

[swansong1a]

Oh dear strawberry, please try not to stress! It is all very confusing, isn't it? Slimming World changed quite drastically when Extra Easy was introduced, and that's a large part of what's caused your confusion. Before EE, when we only had Green or Original days to choose from, we were officially encouraged to experiment with our foods and most of the "tweak" recipes you mention have their roots back then. When EE was introduced, it mixed up Green and Original and more restraints had to be introduced so people didn't overeat and did keep losing weight. Back then there was no "fill your plate with a third of superfree/speed foods" which is also what you seem to be querying above. If on a Green day, you could just have a huge plateful of Frylighted eggs and SW chips without even thinking twice, or you could have an entire couscous cake for breakfast. If on a Red day, you could have an entire roast chicken (minus skin) and nothing else for your lunch if that was your thing, no problem. And so on. And guess what - it worked! People lost weight! Then, for some reason I will never understand, EE was introduced and everything got very confused indeed as everyone still wanted their recipes even though they were now classed as tweaks.

Looking at what you say, you're a carb person. Have you considered trying a few Green days to see how you get on? You would then get two HexAs and two HexBs, and you'd be able to have all the potatoes, pasta and rice that you wanted. So yes, you could then have a few salad potatoes or a bowl of SW chips or whatever for a snack, since the third speed foods isn't so important as it is on EE (although it's still recommended in the newest literature relating to Green). Then, if Green works for you, try adding in one or two tweaks occasionally and see if you're still losing at a rate that's acceptable to you. Believe me, you're hardly going to want to eat a whole couscous or Scan Bran cake every day! You can always eat half a Scan Bran cake for half a HexB and finish it off the day after (I usually split my Hexes). Then you'd have one and a half HexBs left so - the same day - you could still have a 60g wholemeal roll and an Alpen light bar, or whatever combination of HexBs you enjoy. Plus a slice or two of the couscous cake, plus all the free food you feel you need - and you can make lovely cheesy pasta sauces when you have two HexAs to play with!

When I do Green or Original (which is most of the time since they work better for me than EE), for health reasons I just try to make sure I'm hitting the "five a day" in regards to fruit and veg. I need my "diet" to be sustainable so I don't ever go back to my old ways of eating, and doing it this way works for me - I'm still losing every week. Perhaps it'll work for you too. You won't know until you try, that's for sure! I hope I haven't confused you even further...

 

[strawberryshortcake]

Thank you so much for your answer swansong1a!

Yes, it's confusing...i have only ever done EE as i always struggled with the restrictions of red and green and as i have a husband and son who are both very fussy eaters EE just works better for us as a family...also having to weigh things reminded me too much of weight watchers, one diet i never wanted to do again as i was constantly walking round with a set of kitchen scales!

I find the 1/3 superfree quite easy and usually have more, although i have to say that i don't have it in the morning...i have my bran flakes on it's own which are very filling and then 1-2hr later i'll have a piece of fruit and a yoghurt...lunch i do well with the superfree and dinner as well...i do have snacks in between that are mainly fruit, yoghurts or cereal bars that i syn...i also have a mug shot once in a while especially on mondays as i work 10 hrs on a monday and dinner is quite late...and i don't have 1/3 superfree with that!!

I have got the feeling that slimming world,
although it has a lot of rules and guidelines, (some people manage to find a way around anything) it is possible to adapt the "diet" to your individual needs and if that includes swapping walkers crisps for the same amount of "healthy" sw crisps then so be it!

I have't used any tweaks yet and to be quite honest i am in awe at the things some people come up with to get the things they really want, i.e. smash cake (wtf????)

I'll be enjoying the scan bran cake my friend is making next weekend and as i will save my hexb for that i will not syn the 1 or even 2 slices i am having...slimming world is not a diet but a lifestyle change to healthy eating and i think swapping a fresh cream donut for a slice of scan bran cake is a very wise food choice!!!!

Lost 3lb this week...that's 19lb in 8 weeks...whatever i'm doing seems to work for me :-D

 

[WannabeThinna]

I agree, it IS confusing when you try to figure out their reasoning behind this. Someone at my group gave me a wonderful tip that put an instant end to all the stressing I was doing about it. The answer? DON'T try and figure out their reasoning, just do what they say. It worked a treat for me!

 

[strawberryshortcake]

I agree, it IS confusing when you try to figure out their reasoning behind this. Someone at my group gave me a wonderful tip that put an instant end to all the stressing I was doing about it. The answer? DON'T try and figure out their reasoning, just do what they say. It worked a treat for me!

That's what i have come to now as well! And as you say it works a treat :-D

 

[Nanny Doreen]

I am going to subscribe to this thread so that I don`t lose it.

It makes a lot of sense to be. I lost on red and green quite well, bit since EE I went up and down like a yoyo and Have only just started losing again.

I might get my red books out again as it was my favourite

 

[NotsofattyPatty]

Just to chip in - yes, a whole scanbran cake is free (other than the Highlights/Options) provided you are using the Scanbran as your HEx. If you are having only a slice of it, you are not having a full HEx but might still have one thereby having extra calories.

I second the maxim of just accept the rules!