can i really eat so much!

[aimz1414]

hello
I started Slimming world on line on Sunday and would really love to share recipes and ideas as its all very new and scary!
I did WW before for a long time and wasn't able to loose any more weight.
I have already been cooking some really yummy slimming world recipes but can I really eat this much?
Also has anyone else felt really bloated in the first few days??

 

[Mrs.S.]

Hi,

You really can eat as much as you like. The key is satisfaction. Don't eat because you can, or because its free, eat until your satisfied. Full up. Not stuffed to the brim!

The bloating is normal, it's just the change of diet. Drink plenty to flush it trough.

Good luck xx

 

[MartianMallow]

Hi Aimz, I've just started too. It's taking a bit of getting used to! Knowing there's not really any limits on the free foods apart is a bit daunting!

 

[aimz1414]

Hi Martian I know it's really weird! I need to make sure I check syns of things before I have them lucozade was 13!!! Have u done any of the recipes?

 

[MartianMallow]

Lol its crazy how syns can add up. Like I used to think nothing of eating two large muffins, I just pretended it "didn't count". If I did that now it would be like two days of syns!!
I haven't done any recipes yet, I'm going to work on being a bit more adventurous and try some new recipes.

 

[Happy Hippo]

You really can eat it all! I stuff my face something silly sometimes. Last night's dinner was a tin of stewed steak, six medium potatoes, a whole cauliflower and a third of a kg bag of mixed veg. With frozen mixed berry yogurt for pud. And two cans of lager! All that within my syn limit and all very yummy.

It is a lot more complicated than this but in basic terms one of the things the SW plan does is to boost your metabolism by getting your digestive system working overtime with all these bulky and satisfying free foods, which are relatively low in calories - superfree especially so. The key is to mix it up and use your syns cleverly - never go hungry but never plod through the same old foods feeling like you're on a restrictive diet. Basically because you're not Following the plan you'll automatically be restricting yourself to about 500 calories under your daily limit and also be burning more calories than usual with your metabolism. Stop eating and you'll stop losing, I know it seems daft!

 

[aimz1414]

Thanks happy hippo!! I just had a burger and chips and my partner is loving it I just hope I'm doing it right!

 

[aimz1414]

How do u work ur syns

 

[Happy Hippo]

Well, if I were to make burger and chips for dinner (yum!) I'd try and make it as "free" as possible so I could use my syns for things I love, such as booze, cheese and chocolate

With SW, it's a good idea to start by making something yourself rather than buying it. There are quite often less syns in something you make than something you buy. I think this is deliberate as SW are trying to get you to eat healthier by looking at what you put in your food. You'd not in a million years start putting tablespoons of sugar in your savoury food, but if you buy pre-prepared versions it can have exactly that inside.

For example with your burger, I'd think along these lines (I'm assuming you're on ExtraEasy):

1/2lb extra lean steak mince
1 small onion, finely chopped
mixed herbs
1 beaten egg
dash worc sauce
1/2 beef oxo cube
teensy bit chopped coriander leaf
1 finely chopped chilli (that's the way this hippo rolls!)

Mash that lot up and pat in cling film and you have free and extremely tasty burgers! Non-stick pan or grill so no need even for Frylight. Then use your 60g wholemeal roll as "healthy extra B" for the day. You'll already be making your "SW chips" with Frylight so they're free too. If you're not a coffee drinker and don't need your milk as a healthy extra A, you can buy mini Babybels, slice them lengthways and have cheese on your burger with no added syns.

So, lots of room for syns. I'd use my syns for a splodge of ketchup (1/2 a syn for reduced sugar ketchup, 1 for normal), a squidge of mustard (1/2 syn, or FREE if you make it up from powder, bit hot though!) and slice up a gherkin in there too.

There you have a whole meal for as little as 1/2 syn. Half a bottle of red wine is 13 syns and so we have one very happy (and slightly tipsy) hippo

 

[aaeasen]

Hey everyone I've just started SW too... I joined last tuesday and thought i did okay in my first week but i found i was pretty hungry....

I've just been reading on the forums and i must say.. i am so confused now more than ever. So much so that I don't have a clue what to do. I'm in my 2nd week. I lost 7lbs last week which was amazing but then again i would have lost some weight doing any plan as i had a really super unhealthy lifestyle before... but reading all of the posts about free foods not actually being unlimited etc has totally scared me off if i'm going to be honest. I know portion control is important but SW isnt exactly teaching that as much as WW does... (im an ex ww from last year and i thought SW would be less stress because only having to weigh healthy extras etc but now I'm even more freaked out and worried and stressed regarding slimming world than before.


OMG. Sorry just needed to say something. I'm so unsure now if i should continue with SW. I am so stressed about it.




does SW actually work in the long run?

someone help put me at ease. I really wanted to enjoy this plan as from the looks of it there is more freedom to it than ww where you have to count weigh and track everything!

again I'm sorry if this is the wrong place or wrong thing to say!

 

[Happy Hippo]

Where did you get the idea that free foods are not unlimited? If you read the book, you can eat as much free food as you like. Obviously don't make yourself sick though! The rule about 1/3 of your plate being superfree (most veg & fruit) at mealtimes is not a cast-iron rule either but handy to follow. As for the rest of the free food - fill yer boots! Then measure out your HE's, finally choose 5-15 syns. You'll get the hang of it, don't worry. And you WILL continue to lose. If you hit a plateau as we all do, talk to your Consultant (and to us too!)

My top tips for starters are:
1) Read all the books you were given at group - that means cover to cover. Spend time over it. Then follow it!
2) Keep a food diary for your first month - record everything just while you get the hang of it.
3) Don't go hungry!

7lb in your first week is absolutely fantastic. Sounds like you don't need to worry, just keep it up.

 

[aaeasen]

I'm sure i read it somewhere on here! maybe I took the wrong end of the stick from it though. I think they maybe meant the free things such as a muller light and mugshots etc!

Ahh great thank you! I did read my books and then when i read whatever i had read on here i was questioning myself. Yeah i am keeping a food diary so fingers crossed i get the hang of it! I'm struggling to know how many syns things have! I dont find the syns online bit on the app really easy to use! Must just be me! For things that are not on the syns guide is there a calorie amount per syn?

And one last question sorry I'm totally full of the questions! So difficult to get my head around the SW way after being brainwashed to WW!

How do you use your syns? I keep wanting chocolate! I'm hoping the cravings will pass!!

Thank you for all your advice! I appreciate it!

 

[GalVeg]

Good info here, Thanks!

 

[hedgewytch13]

Just follow the plan and don't worry about scare stories about eating too much free food. I think one of the great things about slimming world is that psychologically it takes off alot of the "dieting" pressure. There's always something you can eat and I found because I didn't have that restriction I didn't feel deprived and was less likely to binge. I think your body naturally adjusts and you find yourself needing to eat less. Don't over think it just follow the rules and if you're hungry get something free. I've lost over 4 stone and I've even gone under target because I still follow it and I eat lots. I haven't made any conscious effort to reduce syns or food as I've gotten closer to target as I know if I follow the rules 100% I will lose or maintain. It's second nature now. I did read scare stories on here about eating too many bananas and yoghurts....no offence to anyone but everyone is different and I eat loads of bananas and yogurt and still lose. I try to use as few syns as possible during the day so I can have chocolate at night. I have chocolate nearly every night. There's a list of lower syn chocolate in this months slimming world magazine. I have my own chocolate cupboard lol with 2 finger kit kats, fun size maltezers and curly wurlys.

It works, my husband can't believe how much I eat. Just have faith in SW.

 

[aimz1414]

All ur posts are really helpful thanku!! I have my first way in on Monday! Just another question I had is about healthy extras if I only have half the daily amount of say milk can I have half the amount of something else aswell eg cheese as my healthy extra?

 

[lickthelid]

There are conflicting views on splitting your HEXs. The way I look at it is if you use your HEXa for milk you wouldn't drink it all in one go. It's spread across the day. I can't honestly see any harm in having half milk and half cheese as long as you weigh or measure it to make sure it is half and you are not approximating. Really, if you don't use much milk it may be worth synning what you do use and then having the full amount of cheese or vice versa. Recently I posted about not eating enough and I had STS for three weeks. I was doing exactly that, using milk as a hexA but actually only having one dash in a morning cuppa. Last few days I have synned in the .5 syn that's worth and has 30g cheddar instead. Mmmm cheesy chips. I have already dropped 1lb since Thursdays weigh in.

Dont worry about how much you eat, over time the ttype of foods you eat, lean protein in particular, naturally curbs your appetite and you gradually need less and less to feel sated in the same way. The idea iis to feel comfortably full, not stuffed and your approach naturally adjusts to this. It's nice to know the blow out is still possible though!! That's the key, knowing you CAN

 

[Happy Hippo]

Aimz and aaeasen - have you both signed up to Lifeline Online, SW's website group? It's super, and the app is rubbish in comparison to the mobile website. You'll get a PIN code in group for you to register. Once you've logged in, scroll down to the bottom of the page on the main website and click on the small link for FAQs. Right on the first page you'll find SW's own words on both how much you can eat, and on splitting HE's. I didn't realise you could, officially, but I have done if I've needed to. To be honest, most of us were scoffing cheeseburgers and chips like no tomorrow which is why we needed to come to a weightloss group! Worrying about 125ml of milk and half a weetabix is really not important in comparison, is it Good luck to both of you for your WI's, let us know how you do!

As Hedgewytch says, it's not really a diet but a plan to get you eating a healthy and balanced diet for life without realising it - that's what is so clever! NOTHING is banned, so if you want chocolate, you'd better have some then Hedgewytch is also spot on about it becoming second nature in a while, so don't panic. And a lot of the scare stories are people who still have bits of other diets/plans in their heads. You DON'T need to think about carbs, you DON'T need to count calories, portion control is not necessary. Just follow that book

My chocolate fix is treated with those Riesen choc chews you get in bags from the 99p Stores. They're 2 syns each (I worked it out) and you can eat them slowly for a really intense choc hit. Just don't eat the whole bag in one sitting like my OH does!

Also read in your book about flexi-syn days, that way if you want to you can have an occasional blow-out and completely remove the guilt which is often associated with "bad" foods or "naughty" days (for me, nothing food-related is "good" or "bad"; knocking that on the head straight away is a good idea if you can).

Lickthelid is completely right, especially the last paragraph, although to be honest I still have ridiculously big plates of free food for dins, but then I'm not called HappyHippo for nothing

 

[Happy Hippo]

Just to answer your other Q - there is a handy way to work out syns if it isn't on SynsOnline. If the product has NO freefood allowance (for example a choc bar wouldn't have any free food in it, but supermarket mashed potato would) then it is one syn per 20 calories. A lot of foods only give the nutritional value per 100g so make sure you know the weight of what you're actually buying/eating.

No need to take a calculator shopping though, the easiest way to do it very quickly is:
Round Kcal up or down to the nearest ten,
Remove the last digit which will be a zero
Halve this number - and there you have the syn value.

If the product DOES have free food in it, there is a calculator on the SW website, but it can get quite complicated. While you're losing weight nicely don't worry too much about it, but if you hit a brick wall talk to your consultant if you've worked out any syn values yourself or need to find out what's going wrong. If in doubt, leave it on the shelf and have some free food instead!

 

[aimz1414]

All this is really helpfull and I think next week due to a better understanding I will b on track I think due to not double checking syn values I may have gone over on syn allowance for the week but we will see! Going to aim for 10 a day next week. The bloating is already going away which is good! I might record on here my daily food diary just to get people's views on if I'm doing it right

 

[aimz1414]

Yay 2.5 loss plus it's TOTM!!!