Slimming World

lou0705

Is anyone doing Slimming World in conjunction with Fitness Pal? If so, please help me understand how I can eat a full English whenever I like on Slimming World with lunch and dinner and STILL be under my 15 syns but on the same diet I go over my calorie allowance of 1200 a day. I've just subscribed to SW for three months and I'm three weeks in and I've only lost 3lbs. I'm 5'3 and 13 stone. I love the idea of SW as there are so many "free foods" but obviously my goal is to lose weight and I dont understand how anyone can lose weight on it.

Lietchi

I don't know Slimming World, I only know Weight Watchers (from reading about it), but they also have free foods.
The thing is: free foods still have calories and your body will still absorb those calories. And depending on the food choices you make, those free foods might make up a small part or a large part of your total calories.
With point systems that don't equate to calories, I get the impression you're never really sure about how many calories you are consuming. Depending on your food choices, you could be overeating or undereating or be eating just the right amount to lose weight at an appropriate rate. Not sure about combining both systems, can't help you there.

As for the MFP side of things, you mention a goal of 1200 calories. If you've gotten that calorie goal, you've probably chosen a weight loss rate that's too fast for the amount of weight you have to lose: MFP will never give a calorie goal lower than 1200 calories to women (to ensure adequate nutrition). So you're better off choosing a slower rate of loss, which will also make it easier to stick to your calorie goal (more sustainable).
You didn't "only" lose 3lbs in 3 weeks: it's a good rate of loss.

Lietchi

I just checked out their website:

"Free Food is your new best friend and the hero of every great Food Optimising plate. Free Food includes hundreds of everyday foods you can eat without counting, without weighing or measuring and without a shred of guilt. They will fill you up, slim you down and help you build those important new healthy eating habits that will last a lifetime.

Free Foods include lean meat, eggs, fish, pasta, potatoes, fruit and vegetables. They’re filling and low in calories for their weight — so you can eat as much Free Food as you like!

Wow, that's a really broad selection of free foods. It would be so easy for me to eat in a surplus and gain weight and still be under the maximum amount of 'syns'.

PS: Personal pet peeve, but I really hate that word 'syns', food should never be referred to (or associated with) sin. So much potential for disordered thoughts related to food!

SouthWestLondon

The idea of free foods doesn't really make sense to me.

I mean to take an example - I LOVE roast potatoes. I'd have them for breakfast, lunch and dinner if I could. I assume that with a 'free food' system that includes potatoes, I could have mountains of roasties, and only count the oil they're cooked in as part of my 'syns'. Is that right?

Maybe I'm misunderstanding it, but if I have unlimited potatoes and am allowed 15 syns - that gets me about 7 tbsps of oil. So if I have ten large potatoes over the course of a day, with 7 tbsps of oil - that seems to be OK within the SW plan? But calorie wise that would come close to 4000 calories?

Now, of course I'm sure SW would say you need to have a balanced diet, moderation etc. But if they create a system that technically says a 4000 calorie diet is ok, relying on people not to take their rules too far seems odd.

I just think the whole 'eat whatever you like provided you're not going over X calories a day' feels much simpler. But I may be missing something as I've never been on SW.

lou0705

Lietchi thank you so much for taking the time to reply and for your insightful thoughts. I agree on the selection of free foods it is very broad and free gives the impression you can eat all you want which definitely isnt conducive to losing weight! I know I should put my current weight loss in perspective but i've given up alcohol and not snacking so I just assumed with my size I'd have lost a bit more. Too impatient lol.

ninerbuff

No such thing as FREE FOODS if you're trying to lose weight. While there are foods LOW IN CALORIES, they still have calories. If only a few cents were taken out of your bank account daily, you're gonna tell me at the end of the month it's not gonna make an impact on your overall balance?

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

lou0705

SouthWestLondon you've pretty much got the size of it. I know that people do lose weight with Slimming World but obviously they aren't taking it as literal as I am and using their common sense lol. I'm going to use both diets since I've already subscribed to SW but will focus more on the calories than syns. Thank you for your reply.

lou0705

ninerbuff good analogy and good point!

BarbaraHelen2013

I’m not opposed to Slimming World, Weightwatchers or any other formal ‘club’ type programmes because they do work for some people. Possibly more on the accountability side of things than on their sound nutritional plans! They’re not for me, personally, though.

The idea of ‘free’ pasta would completely do me in! 😂

There’s a cynical side to how I view them too. They’re in business to make money, at the end of the day. If the plans truly made sense and worked (assuming a level of compliance) they’d be shooting themselves in the foot! People would lose weight, having learned how to eat at an appropriate level for their physiology and would stop paying their subscriptions. 🤷‍♀️