Could use some SW advice

[lilly pulitzer]

Hello All, I am new here. I could really use some advice regarding SW. I am in America and there we only have the on-line program. I am posting here because I figure there are more experienced SW dieters in this forum. I am absolutely in love with SW. I love the concept of the program and all the kindness that the diet leaders offer people. I just couldn't get it to work for my body. I wanted to see if anyone here had the same issue and if there was a way to deal with it.
The problem I always had was that I couldn't keep my blood sugar stable. I don't have diabetes but I "flirt" with pre diabetes. I just felt I couldn't get enough fat to keep things stable for me. My leaders were so kind to me but they didn't have any suggestions on how to deal with it. My doctor is useless as well. He just wants me to get a gastric bypass surgery (which I refuse to do). Has anyone else experienced this? Does anyone have any advice? Thank you very much.

 

[Hoz]

Would adding more naturally fatty foods like salmon to your diet help? It's still a free food on SW so no need to measure or syn it. Or using your syns for the oils/fats you need and maybe having nuts for HexB? Sorry if that's not much use but didn't want to read and run.

 

[lilly pulitzer]

In North America, we only get 10 syns. And, a tablespoon of oil is like 9. So it was hard to balance. Thank you Hoz for responding.

 

[Hoz]

Only 10 :O That's a bit harsh. I can understand how it's difficult to balance on that limit. I can't see your stats so I don't know if this is any good but I've heard sometimes they suggest you use more syns if you're over a certain weight and then reduce as you lose. There's a thread here about it, it's a few years old but still accurate as far as I know https://www.minimins.com/threads/15-20-25-syns-a-day.254121/

 

[lilly pulitzer]

Thank you!

 

[NinaSadie]

It's still accurate. I joined SW last friday and was told to take up to 20 Syns by the consultant as I am 18st 1.5lb. That would be 253.5 lbs in American money. Or 115kg.

 

[lilly pulitzer]

The program in America is slightly different than in the UK. We are told, no matter our weight, to stay at 10 syns

 

[NinaSadie]

Well, I am diabetic too, so I'll see how I go on. But to be brutally honest I haven't dared check my BG for months because I know it's bad already. Should be seeing specialist near the end of May, and I'll be telling them the plan I'm on, so I'll report in if I hear anything that might help you.

For me, for now, I think getting my weight going in the right direction can only help my BG levels (however I do it). Slimming World always worked to get weight off me in the past.

 

[lilly pulitzer]

Nina Sadie, did you ever feel funny on the program with the amount of carbs allowed?

 

[NinaSadie]

No, quite the opposite. I've always felt really healthy while on Slimming World, and when it was Green and Red days, I always went for Green (which was high carb, low fat/protein).

Having said that, I have a history of eating disorder which means that once I start to lose weight, I drastically reduce what I eat to less than 500cals/day, so I probably (incidentally) put my diabetes into remission a few times. Something I have to watch for this time around.

It's possible to reverse diabetes with the Newcastle Diet, but if you're only pre-diabetic I wouldn't recommend it. Besides it's a diet you should only attempt with a doctor to supervise. And I shouldn't do it ever again.

Have you checked your BG after certain foods? I find bananas send my BG wacky for days when I am checking it regularly. This week I ate my first banana for a year (even though I really like them), but I still don't trust them. Check your response from a solid baseline. It may just be one or two foods in particular you need to avoid.

 

[lilly pulitzer]

Thank you for your help!

 

[NinaSadie]

No problem

As an aside, I am definitely not part of the "low carb" brigade. I feel extremely ill and unhealthy on a high fat/low carb diet, which is why I never did do Red days. Call me crazy, but I like the one that makes me feel good, makes me lose weight, and lowers my heart rate. As the weight reduces, the BG will no doubt improve alongside, even if it takes a little while.