PASTA!

I think that when it comes to the 'free food' pasta, you still have to keep it to a sane amount. The usual pasta serving, rather than a massive extra serving just because it's a free food.

You're most likely right. Thing is, if I ate sane amounts of food in the past, I'd not even be in a position to need anything like Slimming World....

They can't tell a person with a poor relationship to food that they can eat LITERALLY (it's in black and white) as much pasta and rice as they want. That's just downright dumb.

I suppose the concept behind Slimming World is all right, but it's not going to work for everyone. If it works for you, that's super cool. I personally don't see why people spend money on things like this, but hey, whatever works for you.

Ha! "horsesh!t" eh?
It is just about the most successful slimming club in the UK.
It is a MEASLY £4.95 a week. You get an hours long meeting with it which is incredibly helpful, dealing with issues such as body image, assisting with your food diaries to see if there is a reason why you aren't losing or if you are losing too much, online groups (Free once you have registered) that has amazing knowledge and information for the plan, a full and concise guide to the foods you can eat, exercise recommendations, the teaching you that NO food is banned if it is in moderation and how to still enjoy things like potatoes and pasta as long as you eat plenty of veg and fruit too. It tells you that ONE THIRD of your plate should be filled with Super Free foods (such as vegetables), another third should be filled with Free Foods - such as lean meat, meat substitutes, potatoes. If you have a NORMAL sized plate then those are great ratios to follow sensibly anyway.
Your "Syns" are capped at around 15. Any sauces you use (unless made from the free ingredients such as tomatoes) are counted, as is even low fat margarine, things like baked crisps, chocolate etc ALL have syn values.
This diet is based on a low fat, high protein, low sugar idea. It most certainly is NOT a fad, it has been going over 40 years and has helped thousands - well more like hundreds of thousands - of people to lose weight.
Many people need the encouragement that a group provides, the support that is ongoing from the group AND the host of the group.
It is a LOW FAT, LOW SUGAR healthy eating plan for life.

Hilarious that a plan that has been going for over 40 years in the UK is sneered at by Americans that have never heard of it and are calling it a fad and a scam.

I can't do this alone, I need the support and guidance of someone who has been there and done it (our leader lost over 5 stones and has kept it off for 12 years) and can give me honest advice. Less than 5 English Pounds a week is a tiny price to pay for that!

I am new here so forgive me if I get this wrong. I do not follow these type of plans not because I think they are terrible just because they do not fit my lifestyle.

I guess anyone starting any type of diet is conscious that they were eating too much and to reverse the trend of gaining weight must do some changes.

I started at 183 and now after 2 years I am at 146, I got to this weight by reducing portions of what I was eating, then I realized that I needed to eliminate certain food that were not worthed such as cookies, chips. Again after a few months I re evaluated what needed to be done in order to feel healtier because weight loss is one thing but it cannot be complete without better nutrient, that is my objective and does not have to be the goal of everyone.

Now having accomplished a certain weight loss I need to be even more careful in order to continue loosing weight, calorie counting became for me a tool that helps me decide between one food or another, seeing what it brings me as far as nutrition compared to calories. This is a tool to help me make choices that suit my goal.

So loosing weight is a long process and we all need to start somewhere, for some it will be sw, ww or mfp then each adapts depending in their results but one thing remain, one cannot continue eating what they were eating in the same quantity and expect a miracle.