Slimming world-how can it work?

mand19hartley
mand19hartley Posts: 8 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I am counting calories at the moment, but have been to slimming world. I think the diet is very sound and does work
The results show for themselves in the success stories, but I can't get my head around the fact that you can eat as much as you want of 'free' food.
How can you eat lots of potato, rice, pasta, meat, fruit and veg and still loose weight?
I'm sat here working out my calories (only1200) and haven't had breakfast so that I could have an egg and bacon sandwich for lunch and can stay under my daily allowance. If I'd have been at slimming world I could have had something "free" for breakfast, and still eaten an egg and bacon butty.
Surely, if you added up the calories on a slimming world day it must be over!
It goes against my theory that to loose weight you have to take in less than you put out.
Sorry for ranting, but I don't understand how it can work.

Replies

  • mand19hartley
    mand19hartley Posts: 8 Member
    But most overweight people don't stop when they are full, thats why we are overweight, so surely they'll always want more? I'm not being argumentative just geniually interested in the process. Is the idea that you gradually want less?
  • FlyingMolly
    FlyingMolly Posts: 490 Member
    There are no shortcuts; all there is is whatever creates a deficit and works for you. That can include pasta and potatoes (but notice sauces, toppings, and cooking fats would all be in the other category), and if you get full on those foods quickly it can include “all you can eat.” If you don’t, or if you’re in the habit of eating past satiety, it’s probably not the plan for you.
  • Unknown
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  • jessicafordy9
    jessicafordy9 Posts: 13 Member
    I dont follow slimming world but have a few slimming world recipe books and the calories for those meals are often around 600 when I add them together (sometimes less). Beyond that the idea is likely that many people find pasta, potatoes and rice filling so don't eat tons anyway. Not all meat is "syn free" only lean/less than 5%fat and slimming world tends to say use fry light rather than actual oils cooking so on average the plan tends to reduce people's calories without them realising though this only works for so long until people reach maintenance and lose interest probably...
  • sabal20
    sabal20 Posts: 39 Member
    I hated SW. Only went for a month. To be fair I did lose initially but I hated being full of carbs, I felt terrible.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    generally slimming world is low fat, which is where the reduction of calories comes from.
  • kazminchu
    kazminchu Posts: 250 Member
    If I hated myself enough/didn't care about losing weight I would love to eat a diet comprised only of "free" foods, following their rules to the letter but calorific enough to gain weight, and then present myself to the managers demanding an explanation.
  • lolosmum
    lolosmum Posts: 1 Member
    I have done sw for a few years and actually was a consultant at one point. Technically if you follow the plan word for word it is actually calories controlled. If you actually make each meal with AT LEAST one third of your plate speed free food that means one third of your plate is very low calorie and you can only fit so much food on your plate so if you put free food on the rest of it that's still lower calories than synned food. Then having a limit to 15 syns a day also limits calories

    Then it does say only eat to your appetite. Which means you should only eat until you are full.

    Now here's the problem we have to control that bit so the speed food falls off the plate after a few weeks and we eat loads of free food because we can not because we need to.

    When people get to close to there target they need to add exercise into their routine to keep that weight loss going but they don't so it slows and then it gets harder then we give up.

    All food plans work if you stick to them and actually do them 100% but humans always know better haha.

    The basics are more calories out than in gets the job done. It's just a case of teaching yourself to restrict yourself where you need to.

    I am off to heed my own words now and make some soup :smile:

  • tinkerbellang83
    tinkerbellang83 Posts: 9,120 Member
    edited January 2018
    lolosmum wrote: »
    I have done sw for a few years and actually was a consultant at one point. Technically if you follow the plan word for word it is actually calories controlled. If you actually make each meal with AT LEAST one third of your plate speed free food that means one third of your plate is very low calorie and you can only fit so much food on your plate so if you put free food on the rest of it that's still lower calories than synned food. Then having a limit to 15 syns a day also limits calories

    You've clearly never seen me at an Indian Buffet Restaurant :lol:

    OP I guess the answer is that those who are successful with Slimming World find a way to sensibly manage their appetite and portions, which not everyone can do and it tends to encourage more fruit and veg so if someone who had a poor diet previously went from having like Steak and a plate full of chips, they are going to lose weight if they start having a Steak with half a plate of veg and the remainder of chips, because ultimately they are reducing their calories in.

    I personally don't ever seem to get that "Full" feeling, maybe because I am pretty active, so before I used MFP properly my portions of everything were a lot larger than they should have been.
  • ccrdragon
    ccrdragon Posts: 3,373 Member
    leahestey wrote: »
    I think it has to do with not eating processed foods, maybe?

    Processed foods do not make you fat in-and-of themselves... consumption of excess calories makes you fat.
  • MegaMooseEsq
    MegaMooseEsq Posts: 3,118 Member
    edited January 2018
    ccrdragon wrote: »
    leahestey wrote: »
    I think it has to do with not eating processed foods, maybe?

    Processed foods do not make you fat in-and-of themselves... consumption of excess calories makes you fat.

    Also, rice and pasta are both processed foods.

    More to the point though, I agree with the comments above: Slimming World works by trying to trick people into eating at a deficit. Assuming that you're encouraged to eat low(er) fat and higher amounts of fruit and veggies, I could see this working for many people even if you can eat you fill of some types of foods. Not everyone, though!
  • jjleigh94
    jjleigh94 Posts: 21 Member
    moosmum1972 wrote: »
    leahestey wrote: »
    I think it has to do with not eating processed foods, maybe?

    Plenty of processed foods.....have you seen the list of free foods....it includes frozen meals and things called mug shots which are instant noodles

    Mug shots are no longer free

    I follow the slimming world plan, personally i get on really well with it but i can understand why for some people it doesn't make sense!
    when i first joined i felt like i was eating way too much to lose weight, but lost 6 1/2lb my first week, 4 1/2 my second and have had steady losses since then!

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