Slimming World v Calorie Counting *confused*

I don't think you can mix diets. You either need to count calories or do Slimming World. On here you can eat whatever you want but on SW they may be classes as Syns.
Use it to log if you need to but if it going to confuse you and make you worry maybe you just need to make an Excel sheet or go back to pen & paper?
Whichever you choose I'm sure you'll do great x

I have no idea what your weekly weight loss goal is, but 1200 net calories is the absolute minimum. For me, my daily net goal is 1720 calories to lose 1/2 pound per week. On days I don't work out (I try to go at least 6 days a week), it's pretty hard to make my goal. Even with my workouts (I average over 600 calories a day burned), I more often than not go over my total calorie allowance, though almost always stay under my "maintain weight" calorie limit, so I don't feel to bad since I'm pretty much at my weight goal, just trying to convert a little more of the extra fat around my waist to muscle.

The bottom line is that you need to burn more calories than you eat if you want to lose weight. I never could have lost my weight without MFP and the support of the great people on here.

They are completely different principles. On MFP you eat to a deficit and lose weight that way (simplified), you get to eat more if you move more, but there is no real emphasis on 'what' you eat. On slimming world you drastically reduce your fat intake while still eating plenty of foods.
Don't forget that on their new 'orange' scheme (extra easy, is it?) you can't actually eat all the protein or all the carbs you want, like you could on red and green days - they are limited by ratio to your super free foods.
If you are following extra easy you have now had your calcium and fibre for the day - unless you are on a green or red day your wholemeal bread should be counted as a syn.

In all honesty I would follow one or the other. Now - I've syned up slimming world meals from their recipes and they are usually quite low calorie. Were I to follow them to their word though, on a red day eat as much lean protein as I could or on a green day as much low fat carb as I could, I would most definitely be over on calories every day.
So - on the one hand they say 'eat as much of this as you want' but when you actually follow some of their recipes and diet plans it's ALL weighed and measured. So not quite 'all you can eat'.

My suggestion would be to track your weight and exercise on here, but if you are following SW don't track your food as you are getting a conflict. You should still lose, just watch your portions....and that was one of the problems with SW, although their recipes indicate portion size their ethos of 'never go hungry, eat as much as you want' doesn't actually teach you portion control very well - or at least me. I took 'em at their word

Sorry, but if you ate steak and wedges all day every day, you aren't going to lose weight. There is no such thing as 'free food'. ALL food has calories. Slimming world directs you towards a healthier way of eating (i.e. less junk, more nutritious foods) but thats where it stops. If you really want to lose the weight then you need to accept the fact you need to change your diet.

MFP is a valuable tool because you can now see that the foods you have been consuming are a) high in cals, and b) obviously not filling you up. So you need to switch/ modify what you eat, when you eat and your portion sizes to adapt.

Beans on toast for example is not nutritious, has high sodium and high GI. You could change to homemade beans/ egg with one slice of toast. Or you can have a filling salad with lean protein. I often have avocado and tuna mayo on rice cakes. You will find that proteins will fill you up and keep you fuller for longer than high GI carbs. It's hard to take in, but if it was easy, everyone would be doing it wouldn't they??

Welcome...happy you are figuring it all out. good luck to you!

I would also add (controversially) that you will feel hungry for a bit until you adjust. Slimming world, as I said, has this 'all you can eat' ethos, ensuring you are full and satisfied but, not really giving you an idea of portion control. You will feel hungry until a) you get to grips with portion sizes and b) you learn to fill up on foods that leave you satisfied for longer on a smaller calorie load and that's something that takes time to learn.
Hunger shouldn't be a permanent state at all, but during this adjusting phase it may occur, your stomache is used to much larger amounts of food in one go. I was REALLY shocked at how calorific pasta was when I first started here, and that was a hangover from SW's 'eat as much on a green day' thing. When I first put my normal portion of pasta in I almost died of shock! Then, when I stuck to portion I was disappointed in how little it was - leading to the addition of much, MUCH veggies to my meals. Low call and filling!

@ Jo_marnes - Yes, I accept that I do need to change and I really think that MFP is going to be my new best buddy! I see what you mean about SW and guess it isn't something that one can follow forever (that'll be why everyone I know that has done it fall off the wagon and go back to their bad ways at some point...) :-/

It's just the getting my head around the calorie defecit etc. now.

Ok, time for another stupid question...putting in my information in the tools section it gives me a MBR of around 1547, and my BMI is 27.1. According to to very helpful post from SHBoss1673 which someone very kindly linked ^^^ I should have a defecit or 300 calories....so that means the BMR 1547 - 300 = 1247?? Wrong? :-/

No the deficit should be from maintenance, not from BMR. To get your maintenance go to My Home > goals, and look at the top right calories burned from normal daily activity, that is maintenance and you should be 300 cals below that. If you set your goal to 0.5lbs/week it will put you 250 cals below that.

Most likely if you BMR is 1547 and you are sedentary your maintenance will be around 1850 cals, so you would need 1550 to have a 300 cal deficit.

You can have it!! Just not in the quantities you and I were once used to :sad:

They are completely different principles. On MFP you eat to a deficit and lose weight that way (simplified), you get to eat more if you move more, but there is no real emphasis on 'what' you eat. On slimming world you drastically reduce your fat intake while still eating plenty of foods.
Don't forget that on their new 'orange' scheme (extra easy, is it?) you can't actually eat all the protein or all the carbs you want, like you could on red and green days - they are limited by ratio to your super free foods.
If you are following extra easy you have now had your calcium and fibre for the day - unless you are on a green or red day your wholemeal bread should be counted as a syn.

In all honesty I would follow one or the other. Now - I've syned up slimming world meals from their recipes and they are usually quite low calorie. Were I to follow them to their word though, on a red day eat as much lean protein as I could or on a green day as much low fat carb as I could, I would most definitely be over on calories every day.
So - on the one hand they say 'eat as much of this as you want' but when you actually follow some of their recipes and diet plans it's ALL weighed and measured. So not quite 'all you can eat'.

My suggestion would be to track your weight and exercise on here, but if you are following SW don't track your food as you are getting a conflict. You should still lose, just watch your portions....and that was one of the problems with SW, although their recipes indicate portion size their ethos of 'never go hungry, eat as much as you want' doesn't actually teach you portion control very well - or at least me. I took 'em at their word

Yep this is spot on and explained really well, I have followed slimming world in the past and lost weight easily but from memory you had to look at portion sizes and were limited to the healthy options, if you went over on these you had to use your syns if you wanted more of these healthy options, I also set my syns at only 6 syns a day,
I had friends who used 15 syns most days ate loads of free foods and never hardly lost weight.