Transitioning from slimming world

romeodrake

Hi, it’s my first time posting here 😁

So I’m making the change from slimming world to just counting calories and I’m a bit confused as what exactly I’m supposed to do.

I’m changing because slimming world serves its purpose of simply losing weight, yet it is hard to maintain on that diet, which I’m hoping to do here.

But here’s where I’m confused, say on calorie counter, my goal is 2400 cal per day - this means for instance I could have 24 Freddos and therefore, maintain my weight.

But on slimming world, this equates to 120 syns and I’d therefore gain weight.

It’s not like I’m going to survive off 24 Freddos a day but I’m just curious, I could literally eat 24 Freddos a day for the rest of my life, and not gain any weight?

I’m just wondering, if anyone has made the change from slimming world to counting calories and can explain this to me? Does it not matter what I choose to spend my 2400 cals on, I can eat anything I want and as long as I stay within 2400 cals, I won’t gain weight?

wmweeza

Sure, but you'd suffer other health problems from having bad nutritional intake. I have not used any weight loss program, hopefully others can help you

lgfrie

To answer your question, yes, 2400 calories means you can eat 2400 calories per day and not gain (or lose) weight. I don't know what a Syn is, but I gather something akin to a point system for food? Anyway, doesn't matter. Whatever a Syn is, if MFP tells you you get 2,400 calories, that's what you get. 24 Freddos a day if you want, although that probably isn't a healthy way to go

ClaireDenise30

It took me a while to stop thinking in syns and start thinking calories instead. I find MFP so much less restrictive tho. I love that I can have bread and cereal on the same day! I tend to just eat healthy and have a little treat (like I did when following SW) and it all just slots into place.

AnnPT77

I know you don't really mean it about eating all and only Freddos (whatever the heck that is ), but yes, eating that number of calories would make you maintain weight, with a couple of caveats.

First, the 2400 is just an estimate based on statistics from research studies. It's the average for people with your details (size, age, etc.). If you're exactly average, it'll be spot on. For most people, it'd be close. For a few people, it could be a little off, either high or low. For a very, very few rare people, it could be significantly off. That's all kind of the nature of statistical estimates.

What you do is set up the calorie estimate, being as accurate as you can about your activity level and such (no need to agonize over it, but be honest and read/respond carefully). Then, you follow it for 4-6 weeks (at least one full menstrual period if you're a pre-menopausal woman, because menstrual cycles often include water weight fluctuations, and you want to compare the same point in two or more different cycles). After you do that, you will see whether you've gained, lost, or stayed the same weight. (It's highly unlikely you'll gain much if any, so please don't panic about that possibility.)

Then, adjust your intake based on that test period. Pretty straightforward.

One thing to know: There are two basic approaches to getting a calorie goal.

If you let MFP estimate your calories, it wants you to set your activity level based on work and everyday home life, not including intentional exercise calories. Then, you log exercise separately, and eat those calories, too. That means you get to eat more when you're more active.

The other approach is to use a TDEE calculator, of which there are many. They ask you to estimate your activity level including intentional exercise, and give you a calorie goal that includes that, too, so you don't then log exercise and eat it back separately. That will give you the same calorie goal every day whether you work out or not . . . but the catch is that if you skip planned workouts, you may gain weight.

You can also synch some brands of fitness tracker to MFP, but that's a more detailed discussion.

The other thing is that - as you know, in reality - nutrition really is important, for health and energy level. If you really did eat only Freddos, you would be poorly nourished in the long run. I know you don't really intend to eat like that, but the point applies to other forms of poor overall nutrition, too. With poor nutrition, eventually your health and energy level are likely to suffer. That may result in fatigue, inactivity, and weight gain at your "maintenance" calorie level, simply because you're less active.

So, you really want to pursue adequate overall nutrition, for long-run weight maintenance. The good thing is that as long as you don't have any doctor-diagnosed nutritional deficiences now, you can take some time dialing in better nutrition (because malnutrition is a long-term thing, not instant), and logging on MFP can help you to do that.

Best wishes!

julebrus2020

@Ipmummy is slimmingworld basically low carb with expensive shakes?

koalathebear

MFP is actually easy.

The way I think about it is that 2400 is your daily budget - which I have to say seems a little high but then I'm a five foot tall female so my daily weight loss budget was 1200

You can spend your budget any way you want to and as long as you stay within your budget, you should lose weight.

So then your next step is to figure out: "What can I buy with my budget?"

So you make sure you eat a minimum of protein, vegetables, fruit, fat etc. I don't worry too much about sugar/carbs etc etc. I just have vague categories of food I want to eat.

Then whatever you have left over - you can use to eat whatever you want as long as it stays within your budget - and MFP will tell you how much everything costs and nutrition labels will, too. You can weigh your food to be precise.

I like to plan what I'm eating in advance. I don't always stick to it, but I do swap outs to make sure I still stay within my budget.

You can also boost your calorie budget with exercise so yo so you have even more to spend. Good luck!

claireychn074

@AnnPT77 Freddos are UK yummy bars of milk chocolate shaped (for some unknown reason) like frogs called Freddo 😀 I could happily personally eat 24 in a row...

wendyheath32

I lost weight with slimming world and maintained with mfp. I wish i hadnt done slimming world and did calorie counting from the start as I now have gall bladder issues due to the rapidity of my weight loss it also messed up my relationship with food. I've found it much better calorie counting and not paying a fiver a week for someone to weigh me. It took a while to get rid of the syns thing but when I did I realised how restricted I had been.

ClaireDenise30

@julebrus2020 no it’s healthy eating however you don’t track calories, you track ‘syns’. You pay £5 and you get access to an app which tells you the syns in certain foods. It’s a very big diet club in the uk.

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Lobsterboxtops

I only know a little bit about SW, but I think you need to figure out what was the bit that made you successful with the loss. Was it the meetings, the tracking, the rules? I think from there you can start forming your plan with MFP. Maybe start off running in parallel...continue to track with SW,but start tracking with MFP at the same time... Then you can figure out what the keys are for you.

I’m a believer in don’t try to change the world in a day. Take the transition slow and be willing to adjust if things start going in the wrong direction.

julebrus2020

@ipmummy thank's for the clarification!

PAV8888

Hello @romeodrake

Read Ann's post carefully because it actually does contain all the answers you need.

One more thing, though.

Coming from a restrictive eating environment that helped you lose weight, don't decide to SYN till you can SYN no more, cause let's face it, we wouldn't have needed sliming world or MFP if we were exemplary SYN self regulators!!!

So while one day of eating nothing other than 24 Freddos will do little more then leave you a bit hungry relative to the calories you've taken in, do base most of your eating on the free and health food sections. But remember that nothing is really free. And the free foods, aren't.

Don't be surprised if your actual maintenance is not the exact same as predicted.

As Anne mentioned, it should not be too different and you will hopefully be able to adjust based on feedback from your weight TREND change over time