do you HAVE to have it all?

ColJack

Gold Member
I'm new to this SW ( 2 weeks ), so I'm not certain on the exact "rules" yet..

do you have to have all of your syns and HexA and HexB's every day?

I'm not having any HexB's and probably only using less than half of my HexA as skimmed milk in the 5-6 cups of tea / coffee a day at work.

as for my Syns, I have 2 for gravy each day and that's it until sunday when I have some pork pie ( 10 Syns for 50g ) at mom's..
 
hey there!! ive just joined this week,and i havent a clue either,they say that the hea and heb are our calcium and fibre for the day,as for the syns,between 5-15 a day is there to use mainly so we dont feel deprived :) if we want something nice or not free basically,but i doubt we have to use all of them hun!! ;)
Im amazed at your first week loss also,thats just fabulous!!
 
Firstly congrats on your loss so far!

I joined again last week, and I too don't use up my syns, HEXA or B. I am not sure if you have to either. I don't miss them, If I wanted them then I would. I have my 2 slices of bread daily as a HEX but thats about it and then a small amount of skimmed milk for 2-3 cups of tea or coffee.
 
SW strongly recommends that you have the A & B for fibre and calcium, like someone already said. My C always says the calcium is actually pretty important, especially for women, to prevent osteoperosis in later life. Also most people find they actually lose more weight if they eat most/all of their syns, especially at the start. Basically I think you dont HAVE to include any of it, but you won't lose any more weight from leaving it out, and including them all would be the most balanced and realistic way of eating long term. Hope that helps :)
 
To be blunt if you aren't eating everything you should then you aren't following the plan properly. Syns, especially for those with a fair amount to lose are essential. No we don't count calories but if you suddenly drop the amount you eat by a lot then stick with similar amounts through your 'diet' weight loss will slow considerably. If you drop too suddenly then you have nothing left when the weight slows which it likely will. Say, for example, me at my start weight had dropped my calorie intake down to 1000 a day I would lose weight for sure but then when I'm 15 stone would I have to drop it to 500 just to get the calorie in/out to the same level? Very dangerous! Perhaps google BMR and have a look at what it means if you're interested.

Avoiding all syns per week won't give you the calorie deficit of even an extra lb. What it will do is make you feel like you're on a diet and make it far more likely to led to boredom. If we want the weight to stay off we need to follow the plan for life, this means eating 'normally' forever. Personally I'd hate the thought of never eating crisps/chocolate/takeaway ever again so while I'm changing my eating habits this includes having things I know I will want to eat once I'm a normal size. There's no point cutting it all out now then going back to it once at target because I wouldn't be at target for long so instead I learn how to sensibly include the things I fancy now rather than later.

Sorry if this seems like a lecture, I don't mean it to sound that way at all. Just something that I'm learning as I go along. I had a month or so of much slower losses which drove me mad. The only thing that changed to up them again was to religiously eat my HE's and syns. I thought I was being clever by missing out parts of the plan I didn't think I needed and it back fired! Our bodies need to feel they're being fed. Sorry to talk about calories with SW but sometimes it's the only way to explain.:eek:
 
Also I think the calories in the allowance of milk was about 100cals, when I was using soya milk or semi skimmed, I'd have to cut that out for 35 days straight to lose 1lb. Not worth it in terms of compromising the calcium you need for healthy bones. I don't want brittle bones in a few years time.

The fibre? It's up to you or not, personally I find I really know about it as got a dose of bum bung a few weeks in and was murder to shift, all going now though. Regular bowel habits are important to prevent uncomfortable tummies and fibre is important in preventing this. I know the majority of the fibre should come from fresh fruit and veggies, but the additional healthy extra will really help in this.

These are healthy extras for a reason, they are included in the plan to help you, not hinder you. If you don't want to eat them, no-one can force you, but it's your health you're putting at risk and the responsibility lies with you.

Syn wise, try to aim for at least 5 per day. Psychologically speaking it helps you remain on plan, calorie defeict wise, even cutting out the full 15 a day, would save max 300 calories, meaning after 12 days you MAY drop an extra pound. Not worth it IMHO. In fact at our meeting I know a few of the larger ladies who have a lot to lose are actually on 20 syns a day.

The BMR will have a slight impact on this, but, basically calories in have to be less than calories out to lose weight. When you have more to lose this weight will come off quicker. for example whilst at the moment I weigh 14 stone 4 lbs, but avoiding my HEX's and SYNS, I will save say 400 calories a day, or 2800 over the bourse of a week, meaning I will drop 0.8lbs. Which at this weight when my BMR is higher is fine.

In fact at 10 stone I will still lose that 0.8lbs a week by cutting out ALL my SYNS, and ALL my Hex's. But at 10stone my B,R will be substantially less, meaning the basic calories I take in will have to be less to lose any weight. Meaning, to cut a long story short, I have to reduce my intake of free food, as from the very starts I've tied my hands with any wriggle room I had in the form of HEX's and Syns. I'll feel very trapped having no joy in my food apart from my basic free foods, which makes me feel bored, which makes me come off plan, which makes me over eat, which makes me put on weight.

It's your diet, but to be very blunt you are compromising your health and making a rod for your own back.
 
thank you's to Lexie and Laura, that's exactly the kind of info I needed..
I don't feel deprived yet so I wasn't / am not really missing my syns.
as for the HexA's and HexB's, I'll try and make sure I have what I'm supposed to..
 
It always worrys me when peoples say they dont feel like they are missing out and don't need thier syns. We all ate the wrong things etc or too much of one thing otherwise we wouldnt be on here trying to lose weight.
The syns are there to be used as part of the plan. It helps keep us on track. You may not feel like you are missing out just yet BUT theres a high chance that you will end up binging because you havent been allowing yourself a little bit of something "naughty" regularly.
Obviously this is just my opinion but i love my syns and am embrasing the fact that i can still eat choc for example and lose weight. Why go without if you dont have to?
You
 
hi coljack just wanted to say well done on your weight loss so far! your doing really well xx
 
I don't always feel that I need my syns, but I would certainly miss them if they weren't there - who doesn't want a dollop of salad dressing, or a bit of mayo with their tuna, or a spot of gravy on the sunday roast etc etc. It's not all about eating bars of chocolate for the sake of it, it's just adding the little extras sometimes to make what I'm eating a bit yummier.

Of course, after having a very low syn day today, I have just eaten a handful of Cadbury's Roses, all carefully counted within my syn allowance :D

As for the healthy extras, I think women are prone to cut out the dairy to save the calories, but we need it to avoid problems in later life, so I think SW makes these a "compulsory" part of the plan, rather than an option.
 
I did used to eat the wrong things, but mainly due to convenience rather than anything else..
It was all pizzas and kebabs before, but I also love a sunday roast, which is what I'm having most nights..
I do use some syns for gravy and / or some extra light mayo, and for my beloved pork pie on a sunday, but it's not like I need a chocolate bar every day
 
I think yes, you should try and stick to the plan as much as possible. My take on it has been that I signed up for a three month period online, I am going to do exactly what the plan says, and then evaluate. I'm six weeks in, and to me I've had a bit of a lightbulb moment:

Yes, you can eat as much as you want of free foods, so long as it's balanced by 1/3 of super-free foods every time
You are also meant to have the HEA and HEB choices, so have them

Crash dieting has never worked for me, I'm aiming for a slow, steady weight loss which stays off forever and which means I've learned a totally new way of eating. I think this is the right system, and I think that if I modify it, then I am going to self-sabotage potentially. So why not give it a chance, follow it exactly for a while, and then evaluate in a month or two and modify based on experience?

Because I am overweight because I overeat, so I need to try and get my head in a place where I lose weight and keep it off for the rest of my life. I think that this is one of the healthiest systems I have ever tried to be honest!
 
I see you too had a large loss the first week, and then a small / no loss the second..
Glad to see it wasn't just me then..
 
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