Thread: do you need to eat less as you get nearer your goal?

At the moment I eat loads on the plan and I am losing steadily. I worry though as I get thinner that I will have to eat less and I wont be able to do this as I have always had a large appetite. I know I am worrying before the event but just wondering if those of you near goal have had to cut down the amounts of food you eat?

Most probably, I would say. The lighter you get, the less calories your body needs to get through the day, so the less you will need to consume in order to continue to lose weight. Hopefully your body will manage this for you though and as long as you only eat until you are full you shouldn't have to worry too much.

I did struggle getting nearer to target and many weeks I only lost half a pound. So my c told me to only have 5 syns a day and that gave me the final spur to get to target. Cant say I ate any less though of the other food

See I'm the opposite of Hollys nan, as I got closer to target I started reducing my syns to 5 some days and upto 10 others, I stopped loosing and my consultant told me to have more syns, I did and I started loosing again. I also eat the same amount of free and superfree as I did before as well. I don't think you'll get an answer to this one, as it all depends on the individual, when you get there yourself you might have to play around and see what works for you

Totally agree, its not an exact science unfortunately! Like keeping at target isnt either! Unfortunately again ha ha! Everyone is different and its so often a case of trial and error. What suits one doesnt suit another. But we all get there in the end

It's obviously down to the person at the end of the day but I wouldn't worry too much about reducing syns drastically and really look in to portion sizes of meals (I know I keep going on about this but still :P ), your body doesn't need a massive amount of calories (or in terms of what you originally start the plan with, i'm guessing largish portions of free foods) and the smaller you get the less you need to fuel yourself. So find an amount of syns that suits you and then look more at how much food you put on your plate at meal times (even if only reducing it slowly)

edit: but of course that's only if you stop losing, 'if it isn't broken why fix it'

Thanks folks, I know I'm worrying a bit prematurely considering I've still about 4stones to lose! lol! Just worry that I wont be able to reduce my portions when the time comes as I eat so much and that's what I'm loving about Slimming World!

my mum bumped into one of the ladies from group in tesco who went on to tell my mum how well i am doing (4stone 4.5lbs) and asked how i am doing it. To which my mother replied "she never bloody stops eating!" To be fair she is right. I have learned the more pressure i put on myself trying to lose weight the harder i find it, is i just stick to the basics and enjoy my food it comes off nicely. This lunch time i did leave a lot on my plate because i was full. and that is the key. eat until you are full, not beyond.

Encouraging Fran - my full switch maybe doesn't work too well though but I am getting a bit better.

Same here. I thought my mother passed out in shock when i told her. I was raised to clear your plate, so it is an adjustment, and mostly i still do clear my plate, but i don't pick at things afterwards too! I honestly have found the more i over analyse the less well i do.

Fran, funny you saying that, that's my experience on this too. Anytime I go on diet I obsess and over-analyse. This time I have basically jsut been getting on with it, (apart from this rant) and it's happening for me and I'm finding it dead easy, so I suppose this is how we eat now and we don't need to think about it too much, maybe that's why I'm fat in the first place cos I'm always thinking about food and eating.

"Slimming world? Isn't that the diet you can eat loads and loads on and still lose weight?"

I've had this from loads of people.... Remember though, SW isn't magic, it's just a very clever calorie controlled diet in which you don't need to count the calories because the rules if you follow them, actually make it quite difficult to eat more than your body needs.

But that said there are certain things that are the same however you choose to diet. The amount of energy (a calorie is a unit of energy) your body needs during the day varies from person to person. Height, sex, weight and the amount of physical activity carried out all make a difference.

As with all weight loss there is a sweet spot, and this isn't fixed. As you lose weight you progressively need less energy per day, thus what you could eat and lose weight on at 17st is not the same as 12st. Thus the idea of reducing syns.

Why that doesn't always work though is your body does not like to lose weight. If it senses a sustained period of under nourishment it will start to slow down its metabolism to conserve its resources.

For a lot of people this kicks in at diets below between 800 to 1200 calories.

Broxi, I was worried about this exact thing when I started SW, I though well ok this is great I am still stuffing my face and loosing weight, when will it stop? it must stop soon? I was dreading the weight loss stopping and having to look at my portions.

What I did not factor in though is that my tummy has shrunk and so has my stomach, my body has done the hardest work for me, I cannot eat the quantities I used to even if I wanted to.

This was proved to me beyond a shadow of a doubt recently, we went on a holiday of a lifetime to NYC for 14 days, I had planned this for a year and decided long in advance that, whatever the consequences, SW was not coming with me, I had two weeks off SW and ate loads of yummy things, the biggest surprise though was that I could not eat as much as I wanted or as much as I would have before. Your body changes as you loose weight and follow the plan, and you will find at as you get smaller the amount it takes to fill you to full will get smaller and it WILL become easier.

As an aside I gained 12lbs in NYC in 14 days, there is a picture record here if you want to see but don't look if you are faint of heart :-) 10 of it gone now though and I am aiming for my 5 stone award for Christmas. https://picasaweb.google.com/1055159...n12lbsIn14Days

Originally Posted by rootsfran

Broxi, I was worried about this exact thing when I started SW, I though well ok this is great I am still stuffing my face and loosing weight, when will it stop? it must stop soon? I was dreading the weight loss stopping and having to look at my portions.

What I did not factor in though is that my tummy has shrunk and so has my stomach, my body has done the hardest work for me, I cannot eat the quantities I used to even if I wanted to.

This was proved to me beyond a shadow of a doubt recently, we went on a holiday of a lifetime to NYC for 14 days, I had planned this for a year and decided long in advance that, whatever the consequences, SW was not coming with me, I had two weeks off SW and ate loads of yummy things, the biggest surprise though was that I could not eat as much as I wanted or as much as I would have before. Your body changes as you loose weight and follow the plan, and you will find at as you get smaller the amount it takes to fill you to full will get smaller and it WILL become easier.

As an aside I gained 12lbs in NYC in 14 days, there is a picture record here if you want to see but don't look if you are faint of heart :-) 10 of it gone now though and I am aiming for my 5 stone award for Christmas. https://picasaweb.google.com/1055159...n12lbsIn14Days

OMG-I want to go, I'm so jealous, bet I could beat your 12lbs as well haha

Rootsfran, thanks for that ' very encouraging.
And Gazter, are you eating less now than you were at the beginning?