i am so frustrated!

MommyNOriana

Full Member
I'm actually going a little crazy. I am so happy that I was able to join slimming world even though I live in the US but I am INCREDIBLY frustrated by the lack of information available to me. I have so many questions about food and no one to answer them. I've searched the internet for ppl (aka stalked) who live in the US and do slimming world. I find blogs etc but I need to connect with a real human being who will let me email them! Just the basics. I can't help but feel like sw left me high and dry here. I could be eating the wrong stuff and I'm none the wiser! I have the basics down, but some grocery staples are in question (baked beans, dried pasta/sauce packets, yogurt etc). Can anybody help me?! I am 110% commited to this. I just need a little guidance. Pretty please with splenda on top? Lol
 
Try looking for posts by Mrs. Harley, I think that is her user name. She is in America, also another young lady trying to remember her name. I am sure someone on here will be able to help you.

You can ask any questions you want on this Forum and there will always be someone to help you. There are sub forums for syn values etc.
 
britmum may be able to help you?? she lives in canada rather than the US but does mention popping into the US to get some of her food shopping.
she also has a website/blog that you would find helpful maybe www.slimmingeats.com/blog i think the link is.
 
Thank you all. I did a search for mrs. harley and managed to find her. I'm hoping this is the connection I was looking for! Britmum has a great blog, but she also buys a lot of stuff available in Canada and I can't get that either! :( So I'm hoping that this is it! Unless any of you know about US baked beans. Our major brand is Bush's and they are nothing like your Heinz beans in tomato sauce - which I can't get here - at least not where I live. I LOVE baked beans, but not sure if ours are free. :( Anybody have any clue about that?
 
Best thing is just to post the nutritional info of anything you are not sure about and someone will work out the syns for you!

Don't give up - we are all here to support you.
 
Well done for finding your way to SW!

You might find it easier to focus on fresh foods like fruit, veg, meat etc along with the cupboard staples of pasta, rice etc etc. That way things like brands shouldn't be so much of an issue as they are with processed foods. I find most of my shopping is done in the supermarket after I've been through fruit and veg & the meat aisle - I don't even bother going down the ones with biscuits, crisps, chocolates etc!!

I used to be super organised and spend 1 day a month cooking huge batches of SW meals and then freezing them so I had a freezer full of 'ready meals'. Not only were they made so they were syn free, but they were also in portions I preferred!!
 
Thank you all. I did a search for mrs. harley and managed to find her. I'm hoping this is the connection I was looking for! Britmum has a great blog, but she also buys a lot of stuff available in Canada and I can't get that either! :( So I'm hoping that this is it! Unless any of you know about US baked beans. Our major brand is Bush's and they are nothing like your Heinz beans in tomato sauce - which I can't get here - at least not where I live. I LOVE baked beans, but not sure if ours are free. :( Anybody have any clue about that?

I get most of my stuff in the US, so you should be able to get the majority of stuff I list on my blog.

The only free baked beans available in the US are the Bush's Original ones, which are flavoured with bacon etc instead of added bacon.

these ones:

bush_baked_beans.jpg


as for pasta/rice packets. The pasta sides, fiesta sides and rice roni/pasta roni's are all free if you make them up with just water instead of the milk and butter. As are the kraft macaroni cheeses.

As for yoghurts, there are only 2 types of flavoured ones in the US which are free.

these ones from Target:

img_9861.jpg


or Krogers own brand fat free flavoured yoghurts (couldnt find a pic of these for you).

Other than that you can use any 0% natural or plain yoghurt and just add some fresh fruit.

If you have a trader joes near you, I find their big tubs of 0% greek yoghurt a great substitute for quark.

If you left me know exactly what you are after I will do my best to help you :).

There is also a facebook Slimming World USA page if you search for it.

Also if you have access to the syns calculator online, that will tell you what items are free if you put in the nutritional information and select your free food.
 
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How come bush's vegetarian beans aren't free? And what determines if a yogurt is free. That doesn't make any sense to me! Why would a 100 cal yogurt be free but not the 80 cal yogurt? Kroger is only available in select parts of the country. And target is an hour drive from my house! Surely there is a mainstream brand available. Grrrr. I am aware of the sw usa site. I PAID to get info about the plan. Hence my frustration. They do not provide syn values for american food on the site. Or very few things if any. If sw said they would try to improve this I really hope they do. I paid good money for support and information and I feel like I'm not getting it. I'm sure there are many non brits facing the same issue. But thanks for your help britmum. I REALLY appreciate it. Sw should start paying u! Lol!
 
Jennyonaplate said:
Well done for finding your way to SW!

You might find it easier to focus on fresh foods like fruit, veg, meat etc along with the cupboard staples of pasta, rice etc etc. That way things like brands shouldn't be so much of an issue as they are with processed foods. I find most of my shopping is done in the supermarket after I've been through fruit and veg & the meat aisle - I don't even bother going down the ones with biscuits, crisps, chocolates etc!!

I used to be super organised and spend 1 day a month cooking huge batches of SW meals and then freezing them so I had a freezer full of 'ready meals'. Not only were they made so they were syn free, but they were also in portions I preferred!!

I don't buy branded stuff. Just basics. Fruit veg etc. Beans and yogurt are the big ones for me. They r a staple for me. Dried pasta mixes etc don't bother me as I don't generally buy them but it is nice to know in case I ever want a little variety. I don't buy choc or cookies etc. I buy them for my daughter but I don't like them so it works out great. And she likes to eat the same things I do.
 
When on holiday in Florida for the month I used the dannon light and fit yogurts they work out at 1 syn each for the ones I had including key lime flavour but they were a godsend for me also some of the bigger grocery stores publix, walmart and wynn dixie did the heinz beans hth xxx
 
mistysmummy said:
When on holiday in Florida for the month I used the dannon light and fit yogurts they work out at 1 syn each for the ones I had including key lime flavour but they were a godsend for me also some of the bigger grocery stores publix, walmart and wynn dixie did the heinz beans hth xxx

I've been eating the light and fit and assumed they would be the most syn free. I'm still losing weight and I don't use a whole lot of syns during the day anyway so it will still work out nicely. When I first moved to england I didn't like ur beans but by the time I left I loved them! American baked beans are sweeter (go figure) but I I've in wisconsin - aka the middle of nowheresville - and finding international food is difficult. The walmart near me has some stuff but mostly caters to the local ethnicities. Asian and latino. However, I WAS able to find tetley there. I prefer pg tips but decent tea was a god send! I'm wading through the cultural food differences but I reckon I'll manage! Thank u all for your help. The support is great. The online membership is good for recipes and such. But again, they cater to a british palate. So I'm just hanging with what I know best. I am an excellent cook but its like I'm back in the dark! Its weird not cooking with all that fat, flour, sugar etc. So I'm relearning how to make this a healthy hobby!
 
How come bush's vegetarian beans aren't free? And what determines if a yogurt is free. That doesn't make any sense to me! Why would a 100 cal yogurt be free but not the 80 cal yogurt? Kroger is only available in select parts of the country. And target is an hour drive from my house! Surely there is a mainstream brand available. Grrrr. I am aware of the sw usa site. I PAID to get info about the plan. Hence my frustration. They do not provide syn values for american food on the site. Or very few things if any. If sw said they would try to improve this I really hope they do. I paid good money for support and information and I feel like I'm not getting it. I'm sure there are many non brits facing the same issue. But thanks for your help britmum. I REALLY appreciate it. Sw should start paying u! Lol!

none of the other branded fat free yoghurts are free because their sugar content is high and the protein is lower. That is taken into account too, it isn't just about calories unfortunately. If you find fat free yoghurts, you can test them out in the syns calculator which will accurately tell you if they are free or not, selecting yoghurt as a free food. But from what I have been told those are the only ones that are free, I have tried various other brands which have all had syns, anywhere from 1.5 to nearly 3 syns a pot. (The Yoplait fat free ones are 2.5 syns I think - I have those ones occasionally, as one yoghurt a day at 2.5 syns isnt too bad and the red velvet one is yummy). I have found one brand of free fat free yoghurt in canada, but of course that will be no use to you and they only have about 3 flavours.

No idea about the Bush vegetarian beans, have you tried them in the syns calculator, making sure you select your free food? I managed to find out about the ones that are free from a blog by a lady called LaurelWright. Sometimes I can buy heinz baked beans imported from the UK in some stores in the US but they are over 2 dollars a tin.

Your frustrations I can totally understand, as I had the exact same when starting out, but I mostly rely on fresh produce now anyway. It is far far healthier.

I didnt bother renewing my Slimming World online subscription once it ran out, as I didnt think it was worth paying for, when they dont have the relevant information available to us. All you are really pay for is the use of the syns calculator, which isnt worth 20 pounds a month in my eyes. I was hoping the site may of changed with the recent revamp, but from your post it doesnt look like it.

I think the only way to be heard is to email slimming world directly with feedback. It will be the only way they will eventually make changes. Everyone with problems should be doing the same.
 
MommyNOriana said:
The vegetarian ones are free on green and ee! Yay!

Oh that's good to know. I presume they are not flavoured with bacon in any form. Will have to keep an eye out for them.

I will do a list later of stuff I have discovered on the overseas thread :)

By the way the Facebook slimming world USA page is worth joining because it is set up by the consultants in Texas.

This is it

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Slimming-World-USA/141124019271295
 
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