Couscous cake- to syn or not to syn- HELP!

[gorgehun80]

Hi all, so I have been doing the SW extraeasy plan for nearly 2 weeks amd loving it. My first week i stayed the same but i was literally stuffing my face, i.e 5 bananas and 4 mullerlights a day etc. I have started making these delicious coucous cakes. I have eating 2 this week and need to know whether to syn them or not as really want to lose this week. I know there is quite a few different thoughts on this and my leader says I shouldnt syn them but would greatly appreciate any advice on this. This is what i use to make it the cake:

4oz plain dried couscous
2 eggs
1 tub quark
juice and rind of 2 lemons
approx 6-8 tablespoons sweetner

then baked in the over for 30 mins


Its so delicious i usually scoff the whole lot and for only 2 syns i sometimes put a tablespoon of strawberry jam on top!
xxx

 

[Mumoftwo]

My consultant advises against using cous cous cake as free food.

She explained it that when you are making cous cous into a cake you should syn it as you would a normal cake. You wouldn't eat that amount of cake usually would you? But you could easily eat a whole cous cous cake just because it's free and eating that amount could affect your weight loss. She did however say, that if eating it hadn't affected your weight loss then have it as an occasional treat, if your losses slowed to stop eating it.

She also suggested if you really wanted to have the cake, to perhaps eat it for breakfast with 1/3 superfree fruit.

I eat it only occasionally as my weight loss is very slow.

Hope that helps, good luck.

 

[Happy Holidays]

I think if I was having a little bit each day & making it last I wouldn't count any syns. But if you are making lots of this & eating it all then I suggest you syn it. Everything in moderation.

 

[tracejovi]

I'd syn it. I used to make this and eat it quite a bit and when I stopped making it, I lost more weight. Try the Scan Bran cakes!

 

[silly sausage]

I was reading about coucous cakes recently and was interested to read this from an old thread.

There have been long debates about synning couscous cakes and one of the members here wrote to SW headquarters and they have stated that if you make couscous the way it is intended (ie adding boiling water) then it is still free do the couscous cakes are free.
If, however, you grind down the couscous it will be synned like flour.

http://www.minimins.com/slimming-world/70079-couscous-cake-recipe-best.html

 

[*honey]

I have made couscous cake before and i havent synned it, BUT i made 1 cake last 5 days ( i took a piece to have with my tea at work) but i think if i were having more than that i would syn it.
There is debate over it, but the end goal is YOU want to lose weight. So 'abusing' the free food, ,could affect your losses. The first month or so is trial and error, you may find you lose counting it as free, but if you dont, you know what is likely to be to blame. same as for the 6 mullers and 4 bananas.
I think i read somewhere that you need to eat 3500 calories less to lose a 1lb of fat. So if the total calorie count for the day of free food, still excedes more than 500 cals a day extra, you'll not lose.
eg the 1000 cals from mullers and bananas plus the other meals for the day.
Free food is unlimited, but there does need to be some common sense and moderation or you'll find the losses are slow.
Stuff yourself on SUPERFREE food. super free takes more calories to digest than you get from eating it.
eg apple 50cals, takes 60 to actually digest, so by eating it you burn calories

 

[time2bslim]

Personally if you are eating a lot of it - then be aware that in your 2nd week you may not lose weight - IF you lose weight then what harm has it done.

I also believe from many times at SW that couscous cakes are only synned IF you grind down the couscous to make a flour. However, again as someone else has said - everything in moderation so a quarter of the cake per day with a cuppa - enjoy !

(ah hem, and I have had two halves of two couscous cakes this week, I've been making the christmas mincemeat couscous cake - that too is delicious).

Gilly x 'blush'

 

[BritMumInCanada]

Unfortunately you do have to syn it. Anything that is used to replace flour in a recipe such as cake or bread, i.e. chickpeas or cous cous etc has to be synned (regardless of whether it is grounded down or not, that doesn't make any difference). I think the syns are about 4.5 syns per 28g of cous cous used.

free foods are meant to be used as part of a filling meal, it is easy to over indulge in foods when using things for substitutes to make cakes etc.

If I find myself wanting cake, then I will make up a recipe and just syn it, rather than trying to cheat the plan.

 

[Sparky67]

It's not a huge amount of syns if you count it, and common sense would say that eating two or three whole cakes a day is not going to help your weight loss! I'e ordered some plain cous cous with my shopping delivery tomorrow and will give this a go.

 

[lwtblb]

I've never synned it, but I've never made it every day either, just occasionally.

My thoughts are as long as you are not eating it every day, then it's got to be better than normal cake so I wouldn't syn it.

 

[Dodders!]

This was discussed in my class tonight and the leader relayed that she had synned som ones extra easy menu diary as a red diary and they had consumed the equivelant of 280 syns above allowance eating free foods.