EE seems too good to be true...which is why I'm a bit scared of it!
As has been said, some people don't get on with it and others are doing well. Not sure if there's a pattern corresponding to amounts of weight people have to lose, or if there are other factors.
I have started popping one or two EE days a week mixed in with my original and green days. So far, it's ok (I'm not losing much at the mo, but there are other reasons for that, namely my inability to resist wine!!!) and remarkably easy. You just have to remember your limit on HEs...but that's not hard at all really.
I'd say give it a try for a week, with the sample menu from the website.
With regards to class/books/ebay etc., it's worth getting the up to date stuff by pitching up to a class and paying the class and joining fee rather than getting books from ebay. Who knows, you might even like the class!
I believe joining online is good, but a bit pricey. I've never done it though.
Classes are flexible and you don't have to pay for missed weeks if you're a shiftworker - you just let the leader know and there's a box on the form for it.
Eating out isn't too bad. There are loads of choices you can make, but what I find hardest to resist is temptation itself. It's like any diet really. On WW you can point up any meal...on SW you can syn any meal and allow free foods...but ultimately, if it's not lower fat, healthy stuff, it's not going to help with weight loss. Step away from the sticky toffee pudding (that's my danger right there).
But once you're in the sw zone, eating out is ok. Steak and salads, pastas with tomato-based sauces, grilled chicken and fish, fresh veggies...all the usual more diet-friendly things. I like having a veg biryani from the Indian restaurant, feels really indulgent but is quite low syn on green days.
I could waffle on, but it's up to you if you decide to try it. Personally, having done WW for 3 years before a nice gap to gain my fat again and then joining SW for the new challenge, I like the ease of SW. Some people think it's complicated - it's a bit at first but once you're into it, not obsessively counting every half point is quite liberating and I think it's an easier 'way of eating' to follow long term.
We are lucky that this SW forum is really active, probably because SW itself doesn't have a forum. So, we have oodles of advice, recipes, ideas, moaning, inspiration...
Let us know what you decide!
Hellie x