Having a week off...

Emsie thanks for the reply! I only mentioned not being on it for as long as other bigger losers because it was just my personal plan to lose it in 4 months, as opposed to years, I do understand that others take longer to lose (it took me 3 years previously to lose 0lbs till i discovered SW!!!)
 
Thank you who_la_hoop i shall give the extra Healthy extras a try, it does still worry me that even increasing my food by that tiny amount will make me put on weight which i know is silly, i just need to get my head in a place where im not frightened of changing what i eat.
 
I guess the issue of what will happen when you get to target is deciding what works best for you which is why there is the range of 3lbs above and below target to experiment. I also think that getting to target isn't the end of your journey and a period of working on maintenance is needed to work out how you respond to increasing certain foods. My understanding from what you've said is that your normal eating pattern before was one that involved bingeing which SW has helped you to stop doing. So perhaps part of maintaining for you might be looking at what your triggers to bingeing are and whilst on maintenance always being aware of them as they could cause you to get back into unhealthy eating patterns. This might be something to look at in your week off. I do understand what you're saying about a normal way of eating but I suppose you will have to look at what you want that "normal" eating to look like and if it involves lots of things which helped you put weight on in the first place then it may not be the best eating plan for you. The other thing is the "creep" of certain foods back into your eating plan which may sabotage things. At the end of the day there is no such thing as good food and bad food (which is one of the reasons I don't like the idea of syns with all the connotations that brings) there are just some foods we should eat in different quantities to others. Working out those limits is probably very individual and will involve effort after the weight loss has happened so you don't end up back at square one which a lot of people unfortunately do (myself included). However fantastic that your bingeing has stopped as that is such a horrid cycle and well done on your loss. Good luck with the rest of your journey.
 
jezzi999 said:
I have a history of anorexia, bullemia and then most recently just binging.

Ever since I have been on SW (3 months) I've not had a single binge. This is due to a mix of the plan being balanced and leaving me satisfied, and keeping a reflective diary that lists everything I eat and how I feel about what I ate, my moods, and life in general.

For me personally, after a lifetime of disordered eating, if I need to keep writing this diary every day for the rest of my life, that's what I'll do.

For the sake of 10 minutes out of my evening it's worth it, compared to going back to the misery and depression of binging, and the damage it was doing to me.

If I had diabetes and had to take insulin for life, or thyroid problems and had to take thyroxine, I'd have to suck it up and stick with it. So for me this is the same. If it keeps me from wasting my life away its worth it.

Incidentally recent studies show that people that have been overweight and lost it, will continue to need less calories than "normal" people, even after they reach target weight. So bearing that in mind, staying on plan but with more healthy extras seems a sensible way to maintain.

Here's the link about the study, sorry it's to the Daily Mail but the original study is in a medical journal you have to subscribe to view so although I could see it at work I couldn't link to it Diet tips: Cut out 300 calories for good or you'll pile the pounds straight back on | Mail Online
Click to expand...

Like the idea of keeping a personal journal, wondering if that may help me at the moment, I keep a diary on here but sometimes feel am moaning and people aren't going to want to read it.
I agree that it is worth the efforts to be healthy but it doesn't make it easy.
The article says its because of how muscles work or don't work I watched a programme that said it was because of the fat cells in dieters bodies there's lots of different theories like for most things but whatever the reasons are I do think dieters do have to eat less to maintain :confused:
 
Okay, I have been following SW for over 5 years and I'm afraid you can NEVER forget about healthy extras, syns, the right choices etc.

I lost 3 stone, it took me over a year to do that and in the last few years I have slowly crept to a stone over target. This is by continuing to go to group week after week. The reason I gained is because once at target I added a few treats, days off because I wanted to be "normal" and I didn't want to count syns and healthy extras all my life.

When I do get back to target I will increase my healthy extras and not have extra syns. It is so so so much harder to lose the weight having been at target, it doesn't come off easily as there are fewer changes you can make.

Yes, the SW principles are embedded and by having a week off you will still make the right choices, but things creep in.

Naturally slim people make these choices subconsciously, we SW'ers make them consciously - I don't see it as a problem, it is what it is.

So many people think that once you get to target SW stops, it doesn't. It is a way of eating for life.
 
Oh, forgot to add, there is a new book out now for Target members at SW groups, which gives a whole load of advice on how to maintain the target weight. You also now get awards for maintaining target, a badge for a year etc etc.
 
jaylou said:
Okay, I have been following SW for over 5 years and I'm afraid you can NEVER forget about healthy extras, syns, the right choices etc.

I lost 3 stone, it took me over a year to do that and in the last few years I have slowly crept to a stone over target. This is by continuing to go to group week after week. The reason I gained is because once at target I added a few treats, days off because I wanted to be "normal" and I didn't want to count syns and healthy extras all my life.

When I do get back to target I will increase my healthy extras and not have extra syns. It is so so so much harder to lose the weight having been at target, it doesn't come off easily as there are fewer changes you can make.

Yes, the SW principles are embedded and by having a week off you will still make the right choices, but things creep in.

Naturally slim people make these choices subconsciously, we SW'ers make them consciously - I don't see it as a problem, it is what it is.

So many people think that once you get to target SW stops, it doesn't. It is a way of eating for life.
Click to expand...

Can I ask why you think you will be able to stick to those principles when next at target? Is it just because you are determined because have learnt what happens if you don't? Hope this doesn't seem like am being critical just as am in similar situation and trying to get my head in right place!
 
I don't know if I can Emsie. I just know it didn't work for me by having a day/night off and increasing syns and not following the SW recommendation of increasing healthy extras.

So when I get back there, and I aim to do so by Christmas (get hols out of the way!!), this is what I am going to try.
 
jaylou said:
I don't know if I can Emsie. I just know it didn't work for me by having a day/night off and increasing syns and not following the SW recommendation of increasing healthy extras.

So when I get back there, and I aim to do so by Christmas (get hols out of the way!!), this is what I am going to try.
Click to expand...

Blast! Thought you had the answer then ;)
 
Nope, I just know the answer isn't to forget about SW. It means going to group for life, it means following the plans for life, it means never ever forgetting about it. It is so easy for the old habits to creep back in bit by bit, little by little and a pound here and there equals over a stone on. Obviously I can only speak for myself, but I know I've seen so many target members leave group and never return until a stone has crept back on.....

I just think what the OP is suggesting is a recipe for disaster.
 
Jezzie999 well done on getting to a place where you can eat healthily. It is beyond admirable cos eating disorders are so destructive in so many ways. I hope you continue to remain healthy. Good luck with the rest of your journey.
 
If you think about it logically, the main difference between overweight people and naturally slim people is that Slim people know when to stop eating, and will generally eat in moderation. They will typically leave food on a plate, and they are unlikely to eat 3 takeaways in a dy (don't lie, you know you have all done it at some point). Even more basic than that - Hands up if you've considered it completely acceptable to have 2 rounds of cheese & pickle sandwiches in the past :)

It all depends on how quickly you plan to be back on here trying to loose the weight again. If you're quite happy to Yo-Yo, then you will get to target, resume your previous eating habits, and be back here again fairly soon afterwards. I am not even saying thats a bad thing. Aside from anything else, its not my place :)

So, you might find that you can decide to not eat those 2 rounds of cheese sandwiches when you get to target, and just have one round, like a slim person would, and you may be fine. But unfortuantely most of us aren't built like that, or we wouldn't be here in the 1st place, and thats why people say SW is a way of life.

You just get used to the way of eating, and when you've been doing it long enough, you find you don't need to check syns in everything, and you know which Healthy Extras you can eat, and the quantities you can eat them in.
 
Over the years I have yoyoed with the best of them. I lost 7 stone with RConley, and despite appearing as a success story in the magazine, put it all back on within 2 years. I lost 5 stone on SW about 10 years later, and regained the lot. The fatal flaw both times was by not staying a member of the class that helped me lose weight. I have never been able to lose weight successfully on my own, and have realised that this time, if intend to get to my target weight and stay there, then I will have to food optimise for the rest of my life and continue going to a SW class. At the moment, I do find it quite tricky to stick to my 2 HEBs each day, but console myself with the fact that when I reach target, I may be able to increase that to 3. It can be annoying to have to think about syns and HEs on a daily basis, but when I was trapped in a cycle of binge eating that was utterly soul destroying. I had no freedom. Now, I feel that even though food optimising can be restricting, it offers me far more freedom than when I was trapped in the bingeing cycle.
 
Im struggling with a mixture if everything on this thread.

I got down to target of 9st 3 in January, which was a fab 3st 1.5lb loss. I then decided to try and get to 8st 11.5 (3st 7lb).... But my body settled around 9st 5lb. This was fine, I figured my weight would go up and down by about 2lbs either side which it did. Then I went on holiday..... I had part of SW ingrained in me but th binge eater in me was stronger... I came back 9st 10. 4 months after coming back and the scales said 10st 1.5lb!!

So I'm back trying to lose the 1st 1.5lb to get me to my new target of 9st. I'm 4.5lb down (9st 11lb) in 2 weeks but the scales jump back up to 9st 13 after a bingey night.

I think some of us find easier to stick to plan riligously and continue losing, yet some of us take the scenic route but in both cases we are still finding maitance an issue, which lets face that's why we are here in the first place.

Xx
 
Kingleds, lardylady and Nikki thanks for your responses! "trapped in a cycle of binge eating that was utterly soul destroying" is key for me here and yes yours everyone else's responses have helped me realise that it probably is going to be one extreme or another for me and I pick syn obsessed over binging any day!

I am also rethinking this 'week off'!! :confused:
 
Once you reach target you still stick to the slimming world plan for life, if you want to keep of the weight, you can't just start eating 'normally' again, or it's likely that you will gain weight again, unless eating 'normally' is following the sw plan. :)
 
You are right about binging and that's where I seem to be back at again. I think that it started when I was still attending group and eating to gain and stay in that 3lbs brackets but maybe it was just inevitable that I would end up doing it again.
Its a shame there don't seem to be more succesful maintainers around that could tell us how they've done it :-( I really thought I was going to be one of them! Maybe there's still hope for me yet!
 
After the thought provoking by this thread am thinking of going and rejoining sw tonight! Just got the childcare issue to sort! In lots of ways its the wrong time to join because I've got birthday celebrations the weekend and an all you can eat buffet Sunday but maybe that meas its exactly the right time?
I can't believe how much of it I feel have forgotten though after doing it for so long!
 
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