Slimming World?

I'm thinking about joining up. We have a group around the corner from where I live and the time is convenient. I'm just a bit concerned, as the £10 for the first week is quite a bit of money for us at the minute, and what if I know I won't like it during the first meeting?  It would be a waste of £10!

On the other hand, I've been wondering about it for ages and would like to give it a shot, as I think having a group would keep me motivated. I've looked at the menus and stuff online, so it looks ok, but it does look very low fat, which makes me feel a bit suspicious. My mom has been on a low fat diet for a decade and never seems to lose weight (and she has the same body type that I do) and I find that a bit of healthy fat like avocado, olive oil, nuts, etc. keeps me full much longer. But several of my coworkers are doing it (their group would be different to mine since they live in a different village) and they have had great success with it, so I guess it's worth a shot!

I joined a few weeks ago and have lost 5 lbs. so far with very little effort. I'm sure I could lose a lot more if I really tried.

It wouldn't be a waste of 10 GBP because you'd have all the materials. Unlike Weight Watchers who gives you a tiny piece of the program each time you go, Slimming World gives you all the books in a plastic carrying folder on your first day. Honestly, you could go the first time and then do it on your own from home. But, I find that weekly weigh-in with the group and all the games we play to be fun and it helps keep me in check.

They also give you an access code on your first visit so that you have free access to the Members Only areas of their website. Well worth it! I just wish their site had a forum for members to give tips, ideas, and support to each other during the week.

Even though it's a low-fat diet, you eat an enormous amount of "free foods"... as much as you want. You have a certain amount of SYNS to add your sweets, alcoholic drinks, and fats that you want.

I absolutely love SW!  I first joined in 2006, as I had put on quite a bit of weight with my first pregnancy.  Lost over 56lbs then.  I then quit once I became pregnant again, but rejoined back in September of last year, and have lost over 2 stone! I used to do WW years ago, but got bored with all the counting points and such.  SW has been so much more enjoyable to do. Good luck with whatever you decide!

It will never be a waste of money! Even if you spend the £10 and hate the meetings (which I doubt!) you will still have the books and access to the web! I honestly have nothing bad to say about SW! I love it!!! I know I felt the same about it being low fat at first but if you want an avocado then eat it!! just make sure you syn it first and then it's no problem. I know everyone is different but I haven't had any regrets about the money I have spent and I've not missed any certain types of food as I can eat anything so long as I syn it.  Jewlz.....Just dive in...you will get results! If not then it only £10 right? 

Like wvgirl has said, if you need any help just PM me!

It turns out that my DH used to work with the lady who is the consultant for our village. He says she is a really great person, very funny and lots of fun to be around, so now I'm feeling better about dropping in.  I think I will go on Monday and see how I get on. I have done okay on my own, I lost over 10 pounds by myself, but everyone knows that last 10 - 15 pounds is always the hardest to lose.  I think having some support would help a lot!

Very cool! Let us know how you get on with it. 

Well, I've done it! But now I feel so overwhelmed with all of this stuff I've been given.  I"m not really sure which plan to do or what, but I guess I will figure it out once I read through all of it. I guess Extra Easy is probably best, as it looks least complicated (haha). Hmmm. Group was okay. The "image therapy" thing wasn't what I expected, as she just announced how much weight each person had lost and everyone clapped. Pretty dull and took AGES. But, she was nice and I did see a few people I recognised. I think half the women in the village showed up to weigh in and leave, that queue was massive!  But not so many stayed around for the group thing. I'm still glad I went. The lady I sat next to said I looked thin already, which was nice, but made me feel slightly awkward, as I don't want people to think I'm just taking the mick by being there or something. I know I don't have as much weight to lose as some, but it still matters to me, and my BMI calculation thing says I am overweight. But who cares what anyone else thinks if it makes me feel better about myself!

I'll just have to read through all of this info and figure out what the heck I'm doing!

Well, I've done it! But now I feel so overwhelmed with all of this stuff I've been given.  I"m not really sure which plan to do or what, but I guess I will figure it out once I read through all of it. I guess Extra Easy is probably best, as it looks least complicated (haha). Hmmm. Group was okay. The "image therapy" thing wasn't what I expected, as she just announced how much weight each person had lost and everyone clapped. Pretty dull and took AGES. But, she was nice and I did see a few people I recognised. I think half the women in the village showed up to weigh in and leave, that queue was massive!  But not so many stayed around for the group thing. I'm still glad I went. The lady I sat next to said I looked thin already, which was nice, but made me feel slightly awkward, as I don't want people to think I'm just taking the mick by being there or something. I know I don't have as much weight to lose as some, but it still matters to me, and my BMI calculation thing says I am overweight. But who cares what anyone else thinks if it makes me feel better about myself!

I'll just have to read through all of this info and figure out what the heck I'm doing!

Good for you!! 

Our group is very mixed! We have people who are extremely over weight and then some that have already lost 5 stone and are there to maintain their weight. I hope you keep staying for the meetings because they really help. They have for me anyway... as far as people not staying maybe it was because of the Bank Holiday? I know a lot of people skip the meetings when the schools are on break etc.. Your next meeting you will probably see more people stay. As far as the comment that you look thin already...So what. It's a personal decision. Please don't let that make you feel awkward! I started out doing the red plan as I like my bread and I can have 4 healthy extras instead of 2! I have recently started the Extra Easy plan to see if that makes any difference so we shall see. Just take your time and read through the book. You will get the hang of it. Good luck Jewlz!

So far I'm doing well with it, I think. I'm still not entirely sure of what I am doing, though. The Fry Light thing is getting to me, as I am used to cooking with olive oil, so my food seems dry. I'm thinking of getting one of these things:



so I can spray my own olive oil instead of using the Fry Light stuff. I guess that would be Syns or whatever, but I suppose at least I'd be using less oil than usual and my food wouldn't seem quite so dry. I am really enjoying things like having Muller Light yogurt with fresh berries and a Weetabix, it's an awesome combo that really hits the spot and tastes great. Plus I'm of course eating more fruit and wondering why I wasn't doing that before, as I'm loving it. 

Do you know if you can swap Ryvitas for brown rice cakes (fat free)? Also, I don't really use much milk in my one cup of coffee, so I've been kind of splitting that healthy extra between the milk allowance and the Laughing Cow light triangles (5 of those seems like a lot to me, I wouldn't use more than 2 per day on my Ryvitas or whatever). I'm trying to do this by the book, but I'm not sure if it's right for me. I'll keep at it for a few weeks and see how the weight loss goes, though. I definitely did need to cut some fat out of my diet because I was snacking on far too many nuts and having lots of olive oil, cheese, etc. so I'm sure that wasn't helping my weight loss efforts!

A few things......

I think give the Fry Light a week or two to get used to the change. It is free so you may as well use it. If you find your food it too dry then add a few more sprays until you figure out how much to use. If after a week or two you still don't like it then get the spray bottle for olive oil. Just remember you have to syn the OO!

Muller light are the number one snack that has saved me! I sometime just have the yogurt or I will chop some fruit and mix it in OR and this has become my favorite thing to do since the weather is getting better. I pop a Muller light in the freezer for a few hours and then I have frozen yogurt! It hits the spot! MMM

As far as  swapping...I don't think you can. The rice cakes have more of a syn value in them then the ryvitas so it's probably not the best idea. If you want you should ask your consultant at your next WI to be sure. Now with the milk since you are not using up the daily allowance for your Healthy Extras you should just have the cheese as your HE and syn the milk. I use semi skimmed and for 2 tbsp of milk it's only 0.5 a syn.

I hope this makes sense to you! If not let me know and I can try and clarify it better.  

If after a week or two you still don't like it then get the spray bottle for olive oil. Just remember you have to syn the OO!

I use my own olive oil spray, and I don't bother synning it.  I haven't done a scientific experiment, but given that a Tbsp of oil is 6 syns, and a tablespoon will give you (at a guess) about 20 or so sprays, I treat 3 or 4 sprays as free.

I have lost 22 lbs so far, and just want to lose another 3 or 4.

I use my own olive oil spray, and I don't bother synning it.  I haven't done a scientific experiment, but given that a Tbsp of oil is 6 syns, and a tablespoon will give you (at a guess) about 20 or so sprays, I treat 3 or 4 sprays as free.

I have lost 22 lbs so far, and just want to lose another 3 or 4.

But by that logic -
20 sprays = 6 syns Therefor
4 sprays = 1.2 syns

If you do between 3-4 I would say spray olive oil would comfortably be one syn.

Slimming world sounds complicated.

Slimming world sounds complicated.

It's really not! It takes a bit to get used to at first but after that it becomes pretty simple.

I haven't done a scientific experiment, but given that a Tbsp of oil is 6 syns, and a tablespoon will give you (at a guess) about 20 or so sprays, I treat 3 or 4 sprays as free.

I guess my point is why use 3 or 4 olive oil sprays when you can use the fry light and spray as much as you like for free. I haven't done a scientific experiment either but I wonder if you spray 4 sprays of oil and 4 of the Fry light just how much of a difference in dryness and flavor you will get.   It's not been very hard to give up oil so the fry light is perfect for me. I don't notice a drastic difference in the taste so it just makes sense to me. I do realize not every one will feel the same though. I guess just do what works best for you but I like to keep track of my syns a little better and not just guess my way through.

The Fry Light is fine for some things, like scrambled eggs or whatever. It's just that my sauteed asparagus and roasted sweet potato wedges could have used a little more flavour. But I will try it this way for a while to see if I can get used to it.
The rice cakes I've been having (Kallo... mmmm!) are made with brown rice and salt, that's it. So, I don't know, but it seems they could possibly be a free food on the extra easy, since rice is free.  If you used the Syn calculator, they would come up free since they are all rice.
I have to admit, I am finding it a little complicated, though some aspects of it are really appealing. Still, it seems strange that you can have as much white rice or white pasta as you want, but you have to count Weetabix and Ryvitas.  It seems to me that the whole grains would be better for you, if anything.

Jewlz, can you use the 'olive oil' fry light?  (not familiar with the ins and outs of slimming world)