EE, Red or Green??

[HelsAngel]

Sorry if this is in the wrong place, I have no idea where to ask this!

I've followed extra easy from my beginning (nearly 5 weeks) and I've recently got a little bit lost with it. It's easy enough to follow but I can't help thinking that I'm eating more than I'd want or need because I'm making sure that I have my 1/3 superfree. It's playing havoc with my portion sizes and I think I'm going over the top but let's be honest, salad doesn't fill you up unless you have a particularly large portion.

Also, I have skipped eating occasionally because I haven't fancied the 1/3 Superfree or any SF for the matter. Where I want to eat 5 x Scanbran with Extra Light Laughing Cow triangles, I've not bothered because a) I haven't got any tomatos/cucumber/SF etc with me b) I just don't fancy it, so rather than not have the SF and risk it all going wrong, I've gone without entirely. This is also know if wrong but is it worse to go without or worse to not have the SF? Don't get me wrong, if I was hungry enough, I'd eat it regardless but I don't want my C to tell me that the reason I didn't lose is because I didn't have SF!!

If I were to switch to red/green etc, do I still have to have SF with everything? I do enjoy it and can happily make up a portion of most of my meals with SF but I can't always do it every time.

Also, I'm unsure of what to do today.
For breakfast I had a bag of Ryvita Minis and a peach, Lunch has just been a blackened tuna steak salad. Tonight will probably be cold meats, salad and 2 or 3 new potatoes. ALso 3 cups of tea with SS milk, 1 litre of water and 2 cans of diet coke.

This would make me immediately think RED but I really don't know much about anything other than EE.

Any help would be gratefully appreciated.

Thanks,
Hels

 

[Cuba here I come]

Red/Green or EE?

A question for members who have been on SW for a while.

Do you find the Red/Green plan easier or the new Extra Easy?

I used to go to group when we just had the Red and green plans. I've read alot about EE and wondering whether to go back to group to find out more about it. Is it really easy to follow? Do you find you get better losses?

xx

 

[fairy3853]

I cant offer you much advise hun about the RED or GREEN days as for the last 5 weeks iv also been an extra easy girl, this is my first week trying RED and GREEN. on the days that i felt like being totaly naughty and not having any sfree, I had some fruit before hand

 

[Stackhead]

Red days you can have unlimited lean meat/fish etc... but have to weigh out your carbs and have them has your HEB
Green days are the opposite of Red days

If you look in your book the Red pages are everything you can have on a Red day, the Green pages everything you can have on a green day. Everything on an orange page you can have on both.

You also have 2 HEXA and 2 HEXB's on green and red days... but keep in mind that your carbs/protein are HEB's.

You don't have to follow the 1/3 SF rule either.

As for EE, if you want ryvita with cheese etc... have it, but maybe have an apple before you eat that. In essence the 1/3 SF rule is to limit the amount of free food you eat because the SF will help fill you up faster.
Generally as long as your day is 1/3 SF you should be fine.

xx

 

[elleandca]

i do green and hide veg in everything i cook peppers onions mushrooms then a handfull of whatever frozen veg at hand..

tonight we had quorn shepards pie with veg above with a huge courget chucked in there with garlic chives mixed herbs in mash topping

pre sw veg just kinda sat on my plate the small spoonfull of it i plonked on there to show my kids look i have veg to

if my veg near half filled my plate i simply couldnt eat it.. but hiden its eatable and i find it enjoyable

suggest you try recipes were you add veg rather then just have it to fill your plate

if i ate meat think i would do easy as well you get the best of red+green without the hassle of weighing pasta/meat

 

[busybee123]

I struggle with ee due to the 1/3rd plate.
Also I enjoy having two HE A's and B'S.

You do not have to have the 1/3rd of your plate greens but obviously it's not bad if you do!
I'm a carb girl!!

I ony have ee occasionally like today I made spaghetti bolognese with lots of veggies in the bolognese.

 

[Kia-Ora]

U say ur not hungry enough to eat the superfree but really the spirit of EE is to reduce the amount of free food & then combine with the superfree to have an overall better balanced meal. It took me a year to really grasp that concept & start doing it properly!! Best if u eat the superfree first so if u do get full then ur passing on the free food rather than superfree...

 

[HelsAngel]

Thanks all. Think I'm going to look into red green for the future. Maybe have a chat at group on thursday.

So for today, I suppose I can count it as ee do you think? Or would that pass as a red day? Counting my ryvitas as heb and my milk as hea.

 

[Tizy]

I used to do red/green days but now I do enjoy the EE, it is very convenient but I must admit that I probably don't have enough very sff etc. Thanks for post X

 

[kingleds]

My consultant told us last night that the 1/3rd superfree guideline is the same no matter which plan you do - was news to me, but have done a few red & green days this week & actually think i eat more superfree on those days anyway.

On the scanbran with laughing cows - there is inherent portion control in this, as they aren't free foods, so you only have a measured portion anyway. So i would just have it on its own. Of course it would be better to have some fruit or veg with it, but if you don't fancy it, don't force it.

With regards to eating to much as a result of adding the superfree you might be slightly missing the point of it i think. Pre SW i would cook 500g mince for 2 of us when i made soag bol. Now i cook 350g for a spag bol, and split that into 3 (1 for next days lunch) i don't eat a smaller volume of food, but alot more of it is veg. Its not about adding superfree to you normal meal sizes, its about replacing part of your free food with superfree. Took me ages to figure it out!

 

[Davey1984]

I am also questioning what plan to do?

I am not really a meat lover although I will eat this and I just feel like I am not following the plan properly as I dont feel like I am having my 1/3 SFF.

For instance today I have Pasta, Sweetcorn, Cucumber and Onions for lunch.

And tonight In have Jacket Potato and Beans for dinner.

Neither of those have a 1/3 SFF and I feel like if I follow EE then I am not filling up on the 1/3 SFF which will mean that the plan will not work for me.

But then there are days when i like a chicken salad or a spag bol or chilli.

Any ideas or advice please?

xxx

 

[kingleds]

I am also questioning what plan to do?

I am not really a meat lover although I will eat this and I just feel like I am not following the plan properly as I dont feel like I am having my 1/3 SFF.

For instance today I have Pasta, Sweetcorn, Cucumber and Onions for lunch.

And tonight In have Jacket Potato and Beans for dinner.

Neither of those have a 1/3 SFF and I feel like if I follow EE then I am not filling up on the 1/3 SFF which will mean that the plan will not work for me.

Any ideas or advice please?

xxx

This is a green day if ever I saw one - unless you happen to be eating half a pack of bacon for brekfast? Have 2 HEBs and 2 HEAs and do green days if you don't like meat.

It also really doesn't seem like enough food in general no matter what plan you're following.

I now do a mix of days, so have al ook at my food diary if you want to see how much you can eat & still lose!

 

[Davey1984]

This is a green day if ever I saw one - unless you happen to be eating half a pack of bacon for brekfast? Have 2 HEBs and 2 HEAs and do green days if you don't like meat.

It also really doesn't seem like enough food in general no matter what plan you're following.

I now do a mix of days, so have al ook at my food diary if you want to see how much you can eat & still lose!

Not enough food?? Really?

How do I see your food diary?

xxx

 

[HPSaucy]

The first time I did SW a couple of years ago for some reason I didn't know about the 1/3 sf rule, EE was brand new and I converted to it when the rest of my group stuck to red/green, my weight loss was 5lb that week, I continued to lose but my losses were slower and that was without realising I should have been having 1/3 sf.

This time around I am doing it properly, I feel like I'm eating more but my losses have been better, the majority of the time I am following the 1/3 rule but if for example I just want to bung a jacket potato in oven and have with beans as its quick and easy and I can't be bothered to make a salad I won't beat myself up about it, if I was having cheese and crackers using HEA & HEB I'd maybe add tomato to it, it's prob not as much as a 1/3 but it's something.

So what I'm trying to say is I wouldn't worry too much if not all your meals are SF every single day as long as the majority are, you will still lose weight but it might be slower.

 

[HelsAngel]

My consultant told us last night that the 1/3rd superfree guideline is the same no matter which plan you do - was news to me, but have done a few red & green days this week & actually think i eat more superfree on those days anyway.

On the scanbran with laughing cows - there is inherent portion control in this, as they aren't free foods, so you only have a measured portion anyway. So i would just have it on its own. Of course it would be better to have some fruit or veg with it, but if you don't fancy it, don't force it.

With regards to eating to much as a result of adding the superfree you might be slightly missing the point of it i think. Pre SW i would cook 500g mince for 2 of us when i made soag bol. Now i cook 350g for a spag bol, and split that into 3 (1 for next days lunch) i don't eat a smaller volume of food, but alot more of it is veg. Its not about adding superfree to you normal meal sizes, its about replacing part of your free food with superfree. Took me ages to figure it out!

Thank you, I totally get the whole fill up on SF foods first and 80% of the time I think I have over half superfree anyway. It's just those times, like right now for instance, I'm at work at my desk and for breakfast I've got a Toffee Mullerlight and some ScanBran for my HEb. This is fine for my breakfast and will take me right through until lunch but it doesn't qualify for EE as it has no SF. So, up until last week, I'd have a banana or some cherries or the like with it. This is what I mean by eating more than I would want. Eating fruit with it would defeat the object, it's more than I would want.

Lunch, I have access to a toaster and a kettle and a microwave. I'm happy enough with a Mugshot or Spaghetti hoops on toast, scarambled eggs or anything else that can be made this way. But again, I've got to go out to the supoermarket to get fresh salad or fruit every 2-3 days and really, I could just eat the egg on toast without it and be full enough.

So, would it be easier for me to do Red/Green to eliminate this shovelling of fruit down my neck for breakfast/lunch?

Evening meals are fine because I either eat the vegetables that the family have and cook some quorn sausages (now synned!) or have a salad with a jacket potato. Evening meals are easily interchangable for green or red. ie. I can either have pasta or meat!

 

[HelsAngel]

So what I'm trying to say is I wouldn't worry too much if not all your meals are SF every single day as long as the majority are, you will still lose weight but it might be slower.

My losses are averaging 1-2lbs a week following plan 100% and having about 8-15 syns a day. My first week was 1.5lb. I don't think I can afford it to be any slower!!

 

[kingleds]

Not enough food?? Really?

How do I see your food diary?

xxx

Its in the food diary section on here hun. I eat far more than this & lose consistently. I have a fair amount to lose tbh, but still. If you look at Shrimpy's diary as well, she is at target & has always eaten loads! In fact, i lose more on weeks i eat more.

Helsangels- sorry - did not mean to implyyou didn't know the rules - just tend to assume that everyone is as dim as me & takes agea to get it! I do still think that you don't need to worry about the SF if all you are having in a meal is your HEX's though x

 

[HelsAngel]

Helsangels- sorry - did not mean to implyyou didn't know the rules - just tend to assume that everyone is as dim as me & takes agea to get it! I do still think that you don't need to worry about the SF if all you are having in a meal is your HEX's though x

Not at all, I didn't think you were being rude, just very helpful. I know that a lot of the advice that I've taken over the past month or so has been from helpful posts in reply to other things so it's always best to just imply that no one knows anything. There will always be people who go all high horsey about it but rest assured, I'm not one of them!!

 

[Circes]

My losses are averaging 1-2lbs a week following plan 100% and having about 8-15 syns a day. My first week was 1.5lb. I don't think I can afford it to be any slower!!

I'm sorry but this is not slow - this is exactly the amount you should be losing each week. In fact it's perfect!!! I would not be worry too much if this is what you are losing each week.

I get quite annoyed that people think losing one or two pounds a week is slow and blame it on the weight-loss TV programmes for creating unrealistic expectations. Out of interest how much do you reckon you should be losing each week?

 

[HelsAngel]

I'm sorry but this is not slow - this is exactly the amount you should be losing each week. In fact it's perfect!!! I would not be worry too much if this is what you are losing each week.

I get quite annoyed that people think losing one or two pounds a week is slow and blame it on the weight-loss TV programmes for creating unrealistic expectations. Out of interest how much do you reckon you should be losing each week?

I knew I would get picked up on this! Please don't think that I'm moaning about the speed of my losses. I'm delighted with my 6.5lb so far and I even got SOTW week a couple of weeks ago and won the fruit bowl last week. At the start I was disheartened because I wanted to report a massive loss in my first week like everyone seems to do. 1.5lbs was not the massive loss I had hoped for but that was weeks ago now and almost forgotten.

The point I was making then was just that I'm following plan 100% and I'm losing 0.5lb-1.5lb a week, give or take. If I'm following EE without the Superfree and it slows me down, it'll stop. I was more in jest than anything!!