Flexi syns.. do you or not?

[StacieG]

Weighed in today and during image therapy there were some members that said that they tend to have a blow out on a Thursday and Friday because they know they don't have to weigh in for abohter 5 days. During this conversation it came out that some members would eat 5/6 chocolate bars a full hog at the curry house etc and then get onto plan on Sat/Sun/Mon.

As much as I respect my consultant and can see where she is coming from, I don't agree with her. She stated that instead of the members doing this and not considering how many syns its is or how it will affect them to flexi syn instead. Count what you are eating and how many syns it is and just say im going to give myself 'x' amount. I don't see that as being a lifestyle change, as slimming world is said to be.. I see that as people doing the diet for 5 days and then having 2 off. Surely as we all know slimming world can incorporate all the things that you love like chocolate, wine and curry without you having to have massive flexi syn blow outs every week.

Is this a strange opinion to have or do a lot of people flexi syn? I just feel like it puts added pressure on the rest of the week!
(btw after that conversation it made me more determind to have a 100% week lol)

 

[jaylou]

There's a huge thread on flexi synning on here somewhere.
My thoughts - it's a good idea. It's about exercising control - have your big meal out at the Indian but limit it to 50 syns (for example) - you may well have had over a hundred syns if you didn't exercise any control at all.
It is a good thing to do, but not really on a weekly basis.

Those who go completely off for 2 days a week are not really breaking the bad habits, and, to be honest, it's massively going to affect the losses.

 

[katty]

if i have an occasion to go to or a night out or something then i flexisyn. like last weekend i did it because i was away for the whole weekend. but i still had 5 syns round about for the other days in the week. i didn't consume as much food or alcohol that i once upon a time might have but i still enjoyed it and didnt feel deprived.
the bonus being i lost half a lb which i was well happy with.

so for me its a good thing to help me stay on track and not feel deprived. most of my weeks have a little flexisynning in x

 

[StacieG]

Ah... I dunno.. I guess it is the way in which people do the 'diet' I guess I don't go out out very often so don't often need to be concerned about the way in which im going to keep within my syns but then again when i do I don't think I have ever used flexi synning.. I suppose in my eyes its just throwing it out of the window but saying it is fine because you are only going to go up to a certain amount. If you had a chocolate bar and it was 15 syns.. you may think twice about eating that but because you have given yourself 50 it doesnt seem a lot? i dunno it just seem to be one of the aspects of slimming world in MY opinion I don't really feel is great.. but if it works for you then thats great! (trying really hard not to offend anyone!) xx

 

[katty]

for me its not a diet though, its my lifestyle. and theres times that come up where 15 syns just won't cut it so to speak. so rather than thinking sod it i'll just have what i want and deal with it later, i sort of plan what i'm going to have and stay within those boundries.
i won't have 15 syns a day or less for the rest of my life so i try to be realistic with myself, seems to be working ok so far

 

[scrummymummy86]

I flexisyn a few times a month, mostly on a Friday night.
I personally don't see it as going off plan, I still account for everything and if I think I've gone overboard then I will cut down in syns throughout the week and don't feel deprived. Its not affected my losses apart from when my partner proposed and we did a little too much celebrating!!
the way I see it, SW is a way of life for me now not a diet as such. And if my naturally slim friends can binge drink all weekend, and eat rubbish (not that I condone it!! ) without feeling crap about it, then why should I stop one night every couple of weeks that me and my partner really enjoy??
If it starts to affect future losses, then of course I will reassess my priorities, but for now I'm happy and it works for me

 

[delleh]

I suppose I flex after WI, as thats my "treat night" however if I know I have something big coming up then I will be as careful as I can be. I dont agree with people saying "ooops" because if you write it down it will really shock you into realising how much you have had! x

 

[joedenise]

Rather than flexisyn I tend to use my syns weekly so that I can still have a drink or three and/or an Indian at the weekend but then have less syns during the week.

It's worked for me, having got to target in February and now trying to maintain, which is more of a problem that it was to lose it in the first place!

Denise

 

[kudos_ni]

I think SW is a lot about the psycology of dieting and weight loss...not just the food.

Many other "diets" deprive us of sugar/carbs/meat etc. Many people "fail" on these diets because eventually they will just have all that banned food. Mentally they torture themselves about it, berate themselves and then decide not to continue and return to their old ways.

I think the psycology of slimming world aims to tackle the mental issues we have towards food. By giving it the name "flexisyns" SW is giving us permission to still enjoy the bad foods and accept that it is part of life that we will not always have a 100% healthy balanced diet.

By having it as flexisyns many more people will stick to SW and return each week rather than berate themselves after a drunken night out with a curry and never come back.

I do however still believe that it's important to realise the aim of flexisyns...the plan won't work if you flexi syn all the time! It's useful for special occasions/weekends etc so we can enjoy everything l like alcohol, eating out and take aways without feeling guilty.


Personally, I flexisyn quite a lot right now. However, I hope that as time goes by and my habits slowly change I won't feel the need to flexisyn so i can have my usual booze up on a Saturday! Hopefully in time I won't crave my chinese takeaway because I will get better at cooking and will be able to put something together myself. But while I'm still learning how to cook properly on plan it's nice to use flexisyns to eat out and have takeaways!