Slimming world-how can it work?

mand19hartley · January 2018

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.

kommodevaran · January 2018

You only hear the success stories, not the failure stories. Of course it works if "how much you want" is less than you need to maintain your weight. It isn't magic.

mand19hartley · January 2018

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?

crb426 · January 2018

mand19hartley wrote: »

How can you eat lots of potato, rice, pasta, meat, fruit and veg and still lose weight?

You can eat anything you want as long as it fits in your calories.

I do see what you're thinking though. MFP tells you to count every calorie; slimming world is saying you don't have to count the calories of certain foods. I'm assuming slimming world says this because they are encouraging you to eat food items that are packed with nutrients.

This could be interesting. What if you play by slimming world's rules, but keep a separate diary (on MFP) that tracks that "free" calories? See how it adds up.

I guess you have a choice; do you want to pay the extra money for support so you can play by their rules, or do you feel like you got this enough that you can do it yourself on MFP?

FlyingMolly · January 2018

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.

leahestey · January 2018

I think it has to do with not eating processed foods, maybe?

kommodevaran · January 2018

The idea behind intuitive eating is that when you freely allow yourself what you want, your wants and needs will over time become the same. SW is not like that, so I guess it's a case of "small print" - like every diet program - it only works if this, this and that requirement is met, and it doesn't really have to work in the first place, it just has to appeal to a lot of people so they are willing to pay for it. It will work for a short while, until it doesn't, and then it's always the customer's fault; even the customer believes so. It's a fabulous marketing ploy.

Unknown · January 2018

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Unknown · January 2018

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jessicafordy9 · January 2018

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...

middlehaitch · January 2018

Not got any ideas about how SW works, just wanted to give you a hug for calling it a bacon and egg butty.
You must be from northern England.

Cheers, h.

sabal20 · January 2018

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 · January 2018

generally slimming world is low fat, which is where the reduction of calories comes from.

kazminchu · January 2018

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 · January 2018

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

tinkerbellang83 · 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

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.

JeromeBarry1 · January 2018

All programs and plans of any title which purport to allow customers to eat "free" food depend for their success upon that rarest of consumers: An overweight person with self-control.

ccrdragon · January 2018

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 · 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 · January 2018

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!

Slimming world-how can it work?

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