How healthy is a healthy extra?

Brightonrosie

I want to be fitter again
Would you consider eating the following item as a healthy extra It has 30% syrup in it, 7% plain chocolate then some more sugar and 3% fruit purees, vegetable oils and added salt. So why can I have two of these but not a half of an avocado which has none of this rubbish in. It can't be because of the fibre content because you can have cheese and olive oil as a HEXB
Oh yes the ingredients have been taken from the back of an alpen light box !!!! Any ideas anyone ???
 
Got to admit I wondered about this too. I never think when eating an alpen light that it's particularly healthy, more a treat! :/
 
Not really on the subject of healthy extra's

But I do wonder why SW have mugshots, pasta n sauces and savoury rices etc as free.

You only have to look at the nutritional information and ingredients and it can be quite a shock really. Doesnt make sense at all, as they are far from healthy.

for example 1 packet of chicken and mushroom pasta n sauce has 455 calories. EEEK!!

Not to mention they all taste rank.
 
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Ive always thought alpen light bars are far too suspicious to be any good for me, and i know its only 3% fruit puree but im pretty sure a smoothie with fruit and yogurt would fill me up alot more than 2 rubbish little bars and yet i have to syn the fruit? baffled :/
 
Why can you have pasta n sauce pit of your ears ... But not a smoothie?!
 
i assume its cos you would not eat 5 or six packets of pasta and sauce but if you put a load of fruit in a smoothie its more than you would normally eat....

i like the fact they have some grab and go free stuff. I dont use ready meals but i like the fact that if i need a snack and fruit is not at home then i can grab a mug shot. perfect on a cold evening :)
 
FINALLY!!

to me this is the "unspoken topic" of slimming world. i have read loads of posts on this forum and have been part of two different sw meetings. no one seems to talk about why/how it's OK that they allow so much "junk"!

i'm not an expert on the consultants, but none of them that i have had have seemed very knowledgeable about the science-part of how sw works. how they explain the "blending fruit adds syns" thing is silly. i wonder if sometimes this plan has just dumbed everything down to the LCD rather than boring the masses with actual science!

i've been doing sw (on and off) since june and my feeling is that a lot of people think "well, i'm losing weight! so it's ok!" rather than thinking carefully about what they are eating.

well done, OP, for raising this topic!
 
I would never eat a pasta n sauce or a mugshot myself because they taste so artificial. I eat Alpen Lights though and TBH even though they might be processed and artificial or could be classed as 'junk' I think the plan would be less stickable-to (made up phrase) without these type of things.
It's up to us individually if we use pasta n sauce/alpen lights etc, it's completely possible to follow the plan without them though, we have a choice.
I think it would be unrealistic of SW to have a plan that prohibits all these things.
 
This is so totally true! Something else that confuses me is that 4 ryvita are a HEXB obviously for fibre, but 1 Dr krag (sp) cracker is also a HEXB now you can't tell me they have the same fibre content as 4 ryvita! There is lots of little things like that!
 
The ryvita thing - 2 ryvita has enough fibre to be classed as a B choice but due to the calories, you can have 4 if you like - so 2 make it a speed and 4 make it a non speed.

I think the reason you can have cheese or olive oil as a B (on a green day for the cheese) is because they assume you will be getting sufficient fibre from the green foods, eg pulses, potatoes with skin etc. However, you can do green with pasta in sauce and mugshots etc so lack in fibre that way.

It is about making the plan flexible - I choose not to eat alpen lights (due to the expense!), and I have mugshots and pasta in sauce when i'm desperate and have nothing else in (which isn't often) but a lot of people like them and find them imperative to their SW success.

Someone posted a bit make about "are some healthy extras healthier than others" and I think you make a similar post Rosie, and are quite correct.

I do wish we could have avocado as a B but then, I guess, that is what our syns are for.

Good thread.
 
I'd stick with the avocado too. For years other diet plans have slated them, but now add them (ww).
 
I guess again it's down to choice. I too would never buy pasta n sauces, mugshots and the likes as I don't like fake plastic food. Only once have I bought a ready meal whilst on this plan and it was a ww Mediterranean pasta....honestly never again, I could have made it better myself! :) I do eat alpen lights on occasion, but only for a sweet kick xx
 
I've just looked on the SW website - one of these cracker breads is 5.5 syns so you couldn't have anymore for a B choice anyway.

there may not be as much fibre as 4 (or 2) ryvita, but there must be sufficient for it to be a B choice or else it wouldn't be one surely?
 
that way.

I do wish we could have avocado as a B but then, I guess, that is what our syns are for.

Good thread.
Why should I have to use 6 of my syns for a healthy meal. There is nothing more nutritious and filling than a chicken and avocado salad. Would I use 6 syns for this . . . . rarely.( The same amount of syns for a curly wurly and they are not all comparable)
If anyone reads this and uses SW on line perhaps they could email them and ask for me x
 
It's funny reading about avocados...it has made me realise that since starting sw I haven't used EV olive oil, eaten nuts or eaten any type of healthy fats :( probably because I am too scared to. I would never sacrifice my hex for olive oil or use 6 syns per tbsp on it either. Anyone else feel like this?
 
It's funny reading about avocados...it has made me realise that since starting sw I haven't used EV olive oil, eaten nuts or eaten any type of healthy fats :( probably because I am too scared to. I would never sacrifice my hex for olive oil or use 6 syns per tbsp on it either. Anyone else feel like this?

i do. i understand they want to make the plan simple and have "on the go" options, but it does seem to really be a big gap in the plan, that they don't encourage eating healthy fats like olive oil, nuts, avocados, etc. but they DO plug mug-shots etc all the time!
 
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