shocked at slimming world meals!!!!

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leahcollett1
leahcollett1 Posts: 807 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
hi all,
ive been doing slimming world now for over a year lost 2.5 stone which was great however im now at a brick wall - so last week did my first week calories counting and being mindful of the slimming world ways lost 2.5lbs, so its definately how much "free food" i was consuming.
whats really gotten to me is the amount of calories actually in some of the slimming world recipes, take for instance, the new all the rage nacho style feast which is basically homemade wedges with chilli, the chilli alone comes to 592 calories without the wedges!!! syn free :o how are people eating such high calorific foods and still losing weight - this has really opened my eyes because before i woudl have dessert after ( syn free) and that bugger is 213 calories and that was syn free!! so a complete syn free meal and syn free dessert is actually over 1000 calories!!!!!

absolutely mind boggling
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Replies

  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,268 Member
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    not sure what syn free is...but I eat 1800 a day and lose weight...
  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
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    SezxyStef wrote: »
    not sure what syn free is...but I eat 1800 a day and lose weight...

    This, except I eat 2000 a day and lose weight.

  • snickerscharlie
    snickerscharlie Posts: 8,578 Member
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    Does 'syn free' = guilt free or something?

  • leahcollett1
    leahcollett1 Posts: 807 Member
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    syn free means eat as much of it as you like - your allowed 15 syns a day so having syn free meals is good as it saves your syns for other naughties
  • leahcollett1
    leahcollett1 Posts: 807 Member
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    SezxyStef wrote: »
    not sure what syn free is...but I eat 1800 a day and lose weight...

    im talking about just 1 meal hun. 1. is over 1000 cals
  • lemonsnowdrop
    lemonsnowdrop Posts: 1,298 Member
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    Yeah... All food has calories. It would be impossible to eat as much of something for as long as you'd like and not gain weight. I'm pretty sure that's what got me overweight in the first place, haha.
  • leahcollett1
    leahcollett1 Posts: 807 Member
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    earlnabby wrote: »
    SezxyStef wrote: »
    not sure what syn free is...but I eat 1800 a day and lose weight...

    This, except I eat 2000 a day and lose weight.

    yes i know, i cant eat 1700 and still lose, however my point is that slimming world explains that you can eat as much free food as you like and the meal im talking about incorporates all free food - so ive just put the recipe into recipe builder and its worked out about 850 calories... now if your having dessert too thats another 200,brekfast, thats another 300?, lunch? another 400-500 lets not forget free food snacking in between which could be about 400 depending on what you choose 2150, so maybe this works for those given a higher calorie allowance but me? i need to eat 1200 to lose 2lbs....
  • leahcollett1
    leahcollett1 Posts: 807 Member
    edited June 2015
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    oh and dont forget them 15 syns a day !!! 20 calories per 1 syn so thats another 300, so all in all your daily intake could be anywhere from 2450 calories :o
  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
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    ljones22903 wrote: »
    SezxyStef wrote: »
    not sure what syn free is...but I eat 1800 a day and lose weight...

    im talking about just 1 meal hun. 1. is over 1000 cals

    That is not THAT unusual, My dinner is usually 600-700 calories and I have gone over 1000 at times. Days when I do that, I just make sure I eat a little lighter for my other meals so I end up around 2000 for the entire day.

  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
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    ljones22903 wrote: »
    syn free means eat as much of it as you like - your allowed 15 syns a day so having syn free meals is good as it saves your syns for other naughties

    but what are syns????????

  • leahcollett1
    leahcollett1 Posts: 807 Member
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    earlnabby wrote: »
    ljones22903 wrote: »
    syn free means eat as much of it as you like - your allowed 15 syns a day so having syn free meals is good as it saves your syns for other naughties

    but what are syns????????

    syns are for times when you need that little bar of chocolate - its around 20 cals per 1 syn. example a average chocolate bar is 12 syns
  • jeffpettis
    jeffpettis Posts: 865 Member
    edited June 2015
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    LOL! This is why these types of diets don't work. There is no such thing as a "free" food. With the exception of water and mustard every food has calories that must be accounted for. I think weight watchers has some "free" foods that you can eat as many as you want.

    Your best bet is to save your money and make your own food and accurately calculate the calories rather than buying some overpriced, high calorie, diet plan food.

    Most of these plans also tout the fact that you don't have to count calories if you use them but you are still counting points or "syns" or something so why not cut out the middle man and just count calories?
  • snickerscharlie
    snickerscharlie Posts: 8,578 Member
    edited June 2015
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    ljones22903 wrote: »
    earlnabby wrote: »
    ljones22903 wrote: »
    syn free means eat as much of it as you like - your allowed 15 syns a day so having syn free meals is good as it saves your syns for other naughties

    but what are syns????????

    syns are for times when you need that little bar of chocolate - its around 20 cals per 1 syn. example a average chocolate bar is 12 syns

    Sorry, but that sounds rather lame. And confusing. Why not just call a calorie a calorie?
  • leahcollett1
    leahcollett1 Posts: 807 Member
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    its completely mind boggling, i now know why i was maintaining
  • snickerscharlie
    snickerscharlie Posts: 8,578 Member
    edited June 2015
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    snickerscharlie wrote: »
    Sorry, but that sounds rather lame. And confusing. Why not just call a calorie a calorie?
    Oh wait, if they did that, everyone would figure out that the meals they're paying so much for are actually calorically-laden. ;)
  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,268 Member
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    ljones22903 wrote: »
    oh and dont forget them 15 syns a day !!! 20 calories per 1 syn so thats another 300, so all in all your daily intake could be anywhere from 2450 calories :o

    Yup..I would maintain on that right now...I am 149lbs and could eat all that and not gain.

    But that being said...I suspect that will change as you lose weight...not a big fan of "food plans" for weight loss as you eventually have to get off them...then what?

    As for the calories as well did you weigh them out on a food scale?
  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,150 Member
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    Sounds lame. There are no "free" foods and this "syn" business sounds wonky. Great thing you discovered MFP!
  • leahcollett1
    leahcollett1 Posts: 807 Member
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    yes i weighed all the raw ingredients - dont get me wrong slimming world worked for me for a while, look at my profile pic, the plan has taught me to cook from scratch, no processed foods, cook my own chips, wedges, no oven chips etc. so in that way its helped me become healthier, however!!! it does not teach portion control and completely doesnt have restrictions on "free food"
  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
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    I don't know anything about Slimming World, I think it's a UK thing? Is it like Weight Watchers where they just give you the plan and the guidelines and you track everything, or do they give you the actual meals, like I think Nutrisystem does?

    Regardless OP, I think what you are trying to say is that you were following a prescribed program that didn't divulge how many calories were in the foods, and probably tries to convince users if they just eat x+y+z they will lose weight without having to bother learning those pesky calories. It worked for you for a while, probably because you had a lot to lose and therefore you were creating a calorie deficit with their program. After you lost some though, and got closer to your goal weight, your TDEE goes down so in order to keep losing you may need to work harder to create the deficit.

    Sounds like you had a wake up call when you actually plugged things into the database here, which is good! If you choose to continue using MFP, I would suggest reading the stickied posts at the top of the getting started forum as they will have some good info about how to set your calorie deficit, how to accurately count, etc.

    But yes, many people, myself included, lose weight eating a meal that's 1000 cals or more, or by eating close to 2000 cals a day. What matters is that you track ALL the foods, there are no free "syns" as you've described, because everything adds up and if you exceed your maintenance level, you will gain!
  • leahcollett1
    leahcollett1 Posts: 807 Member
    edited June 2015
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    Kruggeri wrote: »
    I don't know anything about Slimming World, I think it's a UK thing? Is it like Weight Watchers where they just give you the plan and the guidelines and you track everything, or do they give you the actual meals, like I think Nutrisystem does?

    Regardless OP, I think what you are trying to say is that you were following a prescribed program that didn't divulge how many calories were in the foods, and probably tries to convince users if they just eat x+y+z they will lose weight without having to bother learning those pesky calories. It worked for you for a while, probably because you had a lot to lose and therefore you were creating a calorie deficit with their program. After you lost some though, and got closer to your goal weight, your TDEE goes down so in order to keep losing you may need to work harder to create the deficit.

    Sounds like you had a wake up call when you actually plugged things into the database here, which is good! If you choose to continue using MFP, I would suggest reading the stickied posts at the top of the getting started forum as they will have some good info about how to set your calorie deficit, how to accurately count, etc.

    But yes, many people, myself included, lose weight eating a meal that's 1000 cals or more, or by eating close to 2000 cals a day. What matters is that you track ALL the foods, there are no free "syns" as you've described, because everything adds up and if you exceed your maintenance level, you will gain!

    hi, and yea spot on, i was maintaining for a long time, up a pound, down a pound, never moved really, followed the plan to the letter, its very similar to ww and the points system, 2 weeks ago i logged onto here, and was just mindful of the calories, still followed the plan but was learning very quickly that guilt free desserts and syn free meals that were meant to be unlimited really wasnt, that saying last week i lost 2.5lbs sticking to cals! very very happy :)

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