Extra Easy Confusion

Victoria_30

Full Member
Just wondered if anyone can clear something up on EE for me. As far as I understand if following EE we are supposed to eat a third superfree with EVERY meal. Looking at some food diaries on here some people don't do this. For example they would have a normal SW breakfast, then noodles or pasta (without veggies etc) for lunch then sometimes have an EE dinner with veggies but not necessarily or maybe just rice, pasta or noodles again.

Am I missing something?
 
No, you arent missing anything. The plan is designed to encourage you to make sure you get lots of filling free foods at each mealtime, but remember that if someone says a meal that they have had, then they might not detail every ingredient that has gone into it. Something like a bolognaise for example, can have your third of superfrees contained within the sauce.

And of course, there will always be days where people don't quite get there because they are busy or don't have time to prepare something and go for a quick meal, that may not contain all the superfrees they should be having.

As much as you can, you should definitely try and get 1/3 superfree into each meal though.
 
Thanks for the reply, it seemed to me like there were lots of continuous "missing the superfree" though, day after day in one week. Using ready made noodles and mugs shot for luches etc.
 
Sometimes, if I don't fancy it with the meal I will have lots of superfree snacks in between. I think as long as you have at least 1/3 superfree throughout the day (and ideally with majority of meals but we know sometimes ideal doesn't come into it!) it will work!
 
Well I can't speak for the individuals that are posting their food diaries, but the point of a food diary is really to detail what you are eating so that you can see if you need to up intake of a certain group, or find a reason as to why you aren't losing the way you would like to. If we all ate perfectly all the time, there would be no need to keep a diary to monitor it.

Remember, these are real people writing down what they really are eating. It is important for them to do that, for their own benefit in terms of seeing how well they are sticking to the plan, and how much of an effect that has on them. But its not really something we should stand in judgement of, because as I said, not everything will necessarily be detailed down to the last ingredient.

We are given the plan, and in an ideal world, we would 100% stick to the plan. But there will always be days, or even sometimes weeks, where its not so easy to do that, but it doesnt mean we shouldnt keep a record of it, because while it would be very easy to fictionalise our food diaries and make them look as though they fit the plan, we are only fooling ourselves if we do that.
 
I completely understand what you're saying madame but hope you aren't under the impression I am judging poeple, I'm merely trying to grasp the EE side of things. I have been a Red/Green day SW member most of the time and want to get it right if I'm going to try EE. It's daunting to try something new when you trust the plan as it was hence looking at the food diaries for ideas and an undertanding of what these real people" are eating when following EE.

I'm all for keeping a food diary, I have done on my "many" SW journeys. We're not all saints that's why we are here in the first place.

My post was for personal advice that's all.
 
Sometimes, if I don't fancy it with the meal I will have lots of superfree snacks in between. I think as long as you have at least 1/3 superfree throughout the day (and ideally with majority of meals but we know sometimes ideal doesn't come into it!) it will work!
having superfree snacks in between doesn't work as well. Think of your plate size, if you fill that with pasta and have your superfree after you would be consuming far more pasta than if you first filled the same plate with 1/3 superfree and then fitted the pasta in the gaps. it does say somewhere if you are having mounds of one food then perhaps you should consider having the appropriate red or green day instead. Our consultant said if you are having your meal and it's a healthy extra eg breakfast cereal then you don't have to have the 1/3 free at that meal. hope this all makes sense xx
 
I thought along those lines too brightonrosie, my understanding is that whole point of a third superfree is to reduce your portion sizes/calorie intake of your meals without realising it. Not that SW advises calorie counting but the whole point is to fill up on good food to stop us eating the bad! :)
 
I completely understand what you're saying madame but hope you aren't under the impression I am judging poeple, I'm merely trying to grasp the EE side of things. I have been a Red/Green day SW member most of the time and want to get it right if I'm going to try EE. It's daunting to try something new when you trust the plan as it was hence looking at the food diaries for ideas and an undertanding of what these real people" are eating when following EE.

I'm all for keeping a food diary, I have done on my "many" SW journeys. We're not all saints that's why we are here in the first place.

My post was for personal advice that's all.

Of course :)

The problem with looking at peoples food diaries for inspiration though is that they are unlikely to give a guide as to how to go on with extra easy in its purest form, because people will adapt things to suit their needs.

I have only ever done extra easy, having only recently become a SW convert.

I probably end up having MORE than 1/3 superfree with each meal, simply because its all good and free and filling. But if you are having something like a mugshot, (I have never had a mugshot so dont know what it contains in the way of ingredients) then it is easy enough to top up the super frees, by having say, some cucumber sticks or a handful of cherry tomatoes, or carrot sticks to add in at the same meal time.

I guess what I am trying to say is that it doesnt necessarily have to all be on the one plate, to provide the same balance.
 
having superfree snacks in between doesn't work as well. Think of your plate size, if you fill that with pasta and have your superfree after you would be consuming far more pasta than if you first filled the same plate with 1/3 superfree and then fitted the pasta in the gaps. it does say somewhere if you are having mounds of one food then perhaps you should consider having the appropriate red or green day instead. Our consultant said if you are having your meal and it's a healthy extra eg breakfast cereal then you don't have to have the 1/3 free at that meal. hope this all makes sense xx

As I said, in in ideal world you would always have 1/3 with your meal but I like most, don't always feel that way so do have days where I am flexible and have never found it to be a problem. I have lost over 6 and a half stone in 9 months so by bending the rules on the odd day, I simply haven't seen it to have hurt my weight loss.
One of the reasons I like slimming world so much is that you can be flexible with it. EE is designed to have you have 1/3 with every meal but we are all human and most of us will deviate from the plan on the odd occasion and I think that's fine.
 
As I said, in in ideal world you would always have 1/3 with your meal but I like most, don't always feel that way so do have days where I am flexible and have never found it to be a problem. I have lost over 6 and a half stone in 9 months so by bending the rules on the odd day, I simply haven't seen it to have hurt my weight loss.
One of the reasons I like slimming world so much is that you can be flexible with it. EE is designed to have you have 1/3 with every meal but we are all human and most of us will deviate from the plan on the odd occasion and I think that's fine.
and can I add how good you are looking on it xx
 
i've found that a day with a 3rd superfree makes me feel a bit more energetic. with things like rice, you definately need that extra fibre to help you digest it. whether you eat vegs with your meal or fruit after, it'll all do the same job as long as you make sure you eat all your superfree. it's to help a balanced diet, so it's all relative really. nobodys perfect, i have my "cant be arsed" days where i slot in what i can. but as everyone says, slimming world can be tweaked as long as you're still losing weight. my mum does it "80%" so when she stops losing she has a way to reign it in without having to reduce her syns straightaway. x
 
I would say that I have 2/3 superfree and 1/3 free. I know it's only my first week back, but that's what I did last year too. My take on SW is that it encourages you to make meals from scratch.You know what's in it so there are no nasty surprises, and it's so much more filling than things out of packets. I know mugshots are popular, (I've never had one) they may be free but are quite high in calories and like mullerlights, (and bananas) if you have too many you won't lose the weight.
 
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