scared that I won't succeed

Starting again on Tues. I did sw in 2010 and 2011 but I found it too expensive and too hard to stick to. I was disappointed in my weight loss (1lb a week on average but loads of sts/gains) and would often binge straight after weigh in.
My shopping cost went from 60 to 90 a week, 25 of which was Muller's and mugshots! I found the meat prices so much that I stuck to green all the time.
I have problems with f&v, and struggle to try new foods (been a faddy eater since early childhood), so I am worried I won't manage it.

I'm just having a big wobble. I know I need to get my weight down and do healthier family meals as 2 year old is starting to follow in my faddy footsteps. Though I got 3st off with calorie counting, I was basically eating 1500 cals of cakes/chic/crisps and no meals! Its just not healthy.

Thanks for reading, just needed somewhere to talk!

Hi you can do it if you put your mind to it!! Unfortunately it's hard! Are you gonna do the Cambridge diet or just healthy eating? I must admit I have tried every diet under the sun and Cambridge is the only one that works for me, with other diets that u can eat I would just eat and eat and it didn't work. You can talk to me....

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Are you cooking for yourself, or for a family?

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It is expensive I find if you try to accommodate the whole family into it (I have a husband, a strapping great teenager, and a bottomless pit of an 11-year-old) so I just buy and cook as normal for them, and do SW recipes for myself. Usually if I follow a recipe then I just freeze the leftovers which will save money further down the line as you'll have a good supply of 'ready meals'.

Also, do you meal plan? That helps immensley.

Im sort of similar. Im starting to cook from scratch after surviving on junk for the last 6 months and gaining 2st back! Iv got 2 young boys so try to shop within a budget. Lidl and Aldi are great for veg and fruit and they always have Quorn meat free chicken/mince for £1.50 and 1 bag is 4 portions and Asda do some nice meat free foods in the freezer section on 3 for £5 so for me I eat more veggie meat free products as its cheaper then real meat and I like the veggie meat now. Fat free yogurts are around 45p from basics ranges(and free) and you can get frozen fruit for £2 for around 400g in Lidl/other supermarkets to add to it. Or you could add flavouring from food flavourings (iv not tried it but have heard its an ok alternative to flavoured yogurts) I agree with meal planning helping. Iv just got a wipe board for my kitchen cupboard where I write my meals on it for the next day so I know what im eating. You will do fine x

I don't buy Muller yogurts at all, and wouldn't touch a mugshot with a very long pole. I am always a bit puzzled when people talk about the cost of SW that they so often mention Muller yogurts. They aren't compulsory! Nor is any other kind of yogurt, for that matter.

Thanks for all the replies!
Its me, hubby and our 2 year old son. We don't have an Aldi within 50 miles! Hubby works at asda so we get 10% off, so that is our usual. Hubby needs to lose weight, but doesn't like meals without some form of meat/fish/chicken, doesn't really like jackets. We always have some pudding, usually yoghurts, so trying to move to own brand is important.

I don't find SW expensive and our shopping ranges from £60-70 per week for a family of 4. I don't buy muller lights or mug shots very often. I buy a couple of big tubs of 0% greek yogurt and only the occasional mugshot/convenience food.
Our meals consist of meat, veg and a form of carb. For instance I bought a small lamb joint (on offer) for £5 this did a family roast and a curry which easily served 6. I bulked it out with lots of veg. I find planning the key to weight loss success and keeping within budget. I plan every meal and my syns at the start of the week and only buy what's on the list.

louise1982 said:

I don't find SW expensive and our shopping ranges from £60-70 per week for a family of 4. I don't buy muller lights or mug shots very often. I buy a couple of big tubs of 0% greek yogurt and only the occasional mugshot/convenience food.
Our meals consist of meat, veg and a form of carb. For instance I bought a small lamb joint (on offer) for £5 this did a family roast and a curry which easily served 6. I bulked it out with lots of veg. I find planning the key to weight loss success and keeping within budget. I plan every meal and my syns at the start of the week and only buy what's on the list.

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Couldn't agree more with this. ...planning is the key. I use a free app on my phone to plan the week's meals. I took a while to type in the ingredients to the approx 20 to 25 'usual' midweek dinners I tend to do but then it makes shopping so easy...and as a result I found I was wasting less food and my weekly bill was approx £10 less than it was.

You can do it !! It's not easy but every step closer is so rewarding, planning is essential takes the stress out of it all. I've found sitting down with a cuppa (cuppa optional ) lol writing down meals for the week helps plus if I get caught out for time for preparing a meal I have a quick fix meal in the freezer so I don't end up blowing it and going over my syn allowance. It's normally a SW meal left overs place in foil containers to just stick in the oven job done! while I deal with the kids. Keep at it, best of luck .

I saw that someone uses a meal planner app? Which one would love to give that a go! X

Littlestar_kc said:

I saw that someone uses a meal planner app? Which one would love to give that a go! X

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The one I've got is called "food planner", it's logo is a knife fork and spoon on a red background and it was a free app. Be warned though, it takes some time to program your recipes/ingredients lists in but once you have you can add the items to a shopping list and can then see at a glance eg how many cartons of passata you need for the week.

jo.b said:

The one I've got is called "food planner", it's logo is a knife fork and spoon on a red background and it was a free app. Be warned though, it takes some time to program your recipes/ingredients lists in but once you have you can add the items to a shopping list and can then see at a glance eg how many cartons of passata you need for the week.

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Thanks I will see if I can find it and give it a go

Hey, I'm a student and did SW for a long time so I know how it can be expensive! But like others have said it is the Mullers/Mugshots that add up, if you go for own brand low fat natural yogurt and just add some honey to it, that's much cheaper. Mugshots are 'free' on the plan but expensive and full of rubbish, you're much better off buying a big cheap bag of pasta and making up a giant batch of quick tomato sauce
Green days are v cheap as well - pasta bake, beans on toast, jacket potato with beans/cheese. I also found low fat cheese/Babybel lights etc are more expensive than just buying a chunk of cheddar. You have to eat less of it but it tastes nicer anyway and costs less.
Frozen fruit/veg is also a life saver, Sainsbury's have a really good selection. Even things like frozen spinach. Berries are always more expensive than apples/bananas also so if you're really strapped for cash, just go for cheaper fruits/veg. You can also get own brand equivalents of things like Weetabix which are fine to use on the plan and cost less.
Hope this helped! It is quite daunting to start, whenever I start SW I do a big shop to fill up the cupboards with stuff like beans, passata, chopped toms and spaghetti hoops so you've always got something there if you're peckish. Green days are the cheapest I find

If you like yogurts I buy the 500grms Asda's own yogurt ff ones which are £1 each & some are free or low syned.

are you doing SW or calorie counting?

there is a thread on here 'where the bargains are' (or something) subscribe to that for bargains

Just to update
I lost 5.5 so I'm really pleased. I've made a real effort to reintroduce foods that bothered me (beans, sweetcorn, pineapple) and introduced foods I've never eaten (carrot, spring onion, broccoli, leek, watermelon). This is a huge step for me, it's more new veg than I would usually try in a year!
We've also started eating at the table instead of in front of TV. It's improved my 2 year olds mealtime behaviour and eating

Seriously, well done! It's not easy to make changes from what you're used to, and you've ploughed in there and made loads, and coped really well with it. 2 year olds are like sponges, now is a great time to start instilling some great eating habits

Well done on your loss hun. it is hard at first it took me a few weeks to get in go sw. I never really ate fruit before now I love it. I make up batches of food esp soup it's great for lunchs even the kids like it. I do buy the odd muller and mugshot just to have in an emergency and I have used the mug shots the tomato one is nice. I find we are probably saving a bit of money now because not buying takeaways anymore . Ps I love the aldi Greek style yogurts there really cheap and free on sw.