is free really free?

[Mags12]

Hi everyone

Apologies if this question has been asked before I'm just restarting plan after falling off the wagon as it were recently. I have read on a few places on the net that free food isn't strictly free...it should be in moderation....by my reasoning that doesn't make it free, does it?

The SW website and magazines say as much of it as you like when you like but I'd love to hear from experienced SWers what your take on it is?

Thanks!

 

[krupskaya]

That's a good question BikiniQueen. By my reckoning you have to exercise some kind of portion control or the amount of calories you take in will stop any weight loss... What do others think?

 

[IanH]

It is free in terms as eat as much as you want - but it is in moderation.

The basic science fo any weight loss plan is that the calories eaten must be less then the calories used in order to loose weight. Slimming World/Food Optimising takes away the counting calories bit but it's still the crunch of the matter.

The superfree foods though help to make you feel fuller for longer for minimal calories - i.e. they're high on saiety value - hence if you need to have more food to feel full you should try to take it from the superfree food list as much as possible, and then the free foods.

The key is to recognise when you are full or when you're not actually hungry anymore and stop there rather then eating the way through a mountain of food just because it's free.

 

[Sarah-Jayne]

I see what you mean and i'm in agreement. Even thought SW isnt strictly calorie counting its the same sort of principle. For example, if you had some supernoodles for lunch (roughly 300 cals per packet) then just because they are free on green and ee you wouldnt have another packet if you were still hungry (well i wouldnt anyway) as then you would be consuming the best part of 600 calories for one meal. Fruit and veg bulks out a meal, plus they are good for you and are less calories.

But like I said, its not really about calorie counting, its just about being sensible about what you eat I guess.

 

[Mags12]

thanks everyone that makes sense and I do agree that portion control and things in moderation is what is needed on any diet or healthy eating plan. I do think it's confusing though that it's marketed as 'free food' when it's not strictly free. That's not to knock anyone that has followed it successfully but for people without a clue (like myself lol) there's a tendency to take things literally and seeing it put across as free food that's exactly what I would do.

thanks again

 

[krupskaya]

Hi B,

No, strictly speaking they're not 'free' foods are they, as you have to exercise caution and eat in moderation to satisfy your hunger - rather than eating them whenever you feel like...(which for me would be all the time lol!)

I've been eating loads in this my first week and having taken a sneaky peek at the scales before monday's WI seen that I haven't budged a pound. If anything I've gained! TBH I think I've overindulged on the 'free' foods. It's gonna be a day of superfree foods tomorrow. Just hope the scales register a loss on monday...Wish me luck!

 

[Mummy_Helen]

I've been eating loads in this my first week and having taken a sneaky peek at the scales before monday's WI seen that I haven't budged a pound. If anything I've gained! TBH I think I've overindulged on the 'free' foods. It's gonna be a day of superfree foods tomorrow. Just hope the scales register a loss on monday...Wish me luck!

First thing you need to do is ditch the scales! The scales we have at home can be up to 4lb out!! I was a serial weigher when I started, but got disheartened when I hadn't budged. But at WI I had LOST. Now the scales are in the cupboard and I rarely get them out.

As for the 'free' food, no it's technically not free, as in you couldn't eat them all day everyday and still lose. But moderation is the key. You can eat until you are satisfied, but then you need the willpower to stop there. I used to eat for the sake of it, and not really be hungry, but eat anyway because it was 'something to do'. Although SW is the easiest healthy eating plan (for me), all 'diets' require willpower and restraint to some degree.

For me, I think if it were portion controlled then I would fall off track much more easily, but being able to eat until I am satisfied is much easier. And if I still feel hungry, then I have speed or super speed foods.

 

[Happytigger]

It still boils down to self-control, dont just eat because you can. But if you dont have time to sit down to a meal then you do have the option to craze during the day on healthy foods.

Off course "free foods" are not free - but if you break it down and look at it in a differant way for example if you made yourself a massive chicken/bacon salad you could craze on that all day, but i bet you wouldnt be able to eat it all.

Its the variety of foods that you are given that makes it such a good eating plan, you are not restricted on what you can eat, but after time your body adjusts and you realise because you are eating better that you dont need and want what you used to have to eat.

Its all about being sensbile and thinking about why you want to eat - is it because you are hungry or just because you know that you can eat it.

Getting your head around the diet is just as important as the type/amount of food that you are putting in your mouth.

Sorry I have rambled..

 

[JemmaBe]

I see what you mean and i'm in agreement. Even thought SW isnt strictly calorie counting its the same sort of principle. For example, if you had some supernoodles for lunch (roughly 300 cals per packet) then just because they are free on green and ee you wouldnt have another packet if you were still hungry (well i wouldnt anyway) as then you would be consuming the best part of 600 calories for one meal. Fruit and veg bulks out a meal, plus they are good for you and are less calories.

Indeed. Also, there is a difference between 'free food' and 'zero syn' food. Free food is what you want to fill up on, something with zero syns should be eaten less and not make up the majority of your food intake.

 

[Mags12]

thanks everyone for taking the time to reply and Tigger you're not rambling at all hun you're absolutely right about needing to get my head around the plan that's definitely what I need to do.

The dilemma is that I bumped into someone I hadn't seen in about 5 years and had lost 7 stone! as well as stopping smoking at the same time. She said she followed SW and ate as much as she wanted exactly when she wanted, sometime eating literally all day as she had such a huge appetite. Of course the quitting smoking at the same time appealed to me lol...but the eating constantly I didn't think was possible.

I have followed SW half heartedly before without actually understanding the plan as well as I need to. I have lost some weight but I think a lot of that comes from stopping anti-depressants as I knew they were 'puffing' me up as it were lol thankfully I don't need them now and I have been losing a bit of weight just by calorie counting...which is horrific lol I don't have the time to be constantly counting calories.

I will get stuck back into finding out as much as I can about the plan and keep reading on here too. I think it makes sense for me to go back to class though. I was hoping to do it myself but I don't think I know enough to do that.

Thanks again everyone x

 

[malaika]

I have found, for me anyway, if I eat too many of the "free" foods, like muller lights and fruit, particularly bananas and graped, it effects me.
When I first re-started SW last year I ate a lot of those, and STS my 2nd and 3rd week despite sticking to plan 100%.
Only when I cut right back on those did I see weight loss.
Now I hardly have any of them.

 

[krupskaya]

Yes, I want to say thankyou to everyone who replied too. As a newbie I need to get my head around the plan . I might or might not have messed up this week but I need not to weigh at home (that way disaster lies!). So far I'm loving the plan - so much easier than weight watchers which I did for four months last year. There you have to count peas even (well weigh them anyway) and all fruit is pointed. Needless to say when I came off plan I piled all the weight back on...I'm just not gonna spend the rest of my life counting how many peas I eat :8855:!

Thanks all,

ZXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

[Pinksparklybirdy]

Hiya

I agree with all that's been said so far, but I'll give you a real example of how "Free Food" works for me.

I have a huge appetite - always hungry, no "off" switch etc. I am doing mainly EE, and at the weekends, I have a fry up for breakfast, and it's huge.

Yesterday I had:
3 Sausages (1.5 syns), 4 rasher bacon (free), Mushrooms, Tomatoes, Tin of baked beans (free), Scrambled Egg (free), Wholemeal Roll (HEXB). It was a huge plate full and I was feeling very full by the end.

Now, I would totally agree that there isn't much "moderation" going on in that one meal. HOWEVER, what I find is that having polished that lot off, I literally don't begin to feel hungry again until about 4.30pm. So I have no need for lunch and can get away with just having a cereal bar or Yoghurt to tide me over until dinner time. So, the huge amount of free food for breakfast actually stops me from eating as much as I would normally do during the day, so it balances it out.

During the week, when I just have yoghurt/fruit/cereal bar for brekkie I'm hungry by 12 noon. So then I need my lunch.

So, unless you have the appetite of a Yeti, I think it's pretty impossible to literally eat unlimited Free Food. Even MY high capacity tummy is full after eating a lot of it, and so that's how the "moderation" thing works for me. Not necessarily because the "moderation" is happening at every meal - but because the overall impact is to "moderate" how much I can eat in a day.

I hope that helps a bit
Helen x

 

[krupskaya]

Hi Sonia - that's just what I've been doing, eating too many bananas, grapes and muller lights would ya believe it, so I'm very grateful for your post. I think I'll have to cut back on those depending on what the scales say at WI tomorrow.

Thanks again,

ZXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

[krupskaya]

Hi Pinksparklybirdy (love that user name!),

I see how the moderation works over a day so thankyou for that post. I'm new to SW so all this information is invaluable.

Thanks again,

ZXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 

[Mags12]

Helen that makes perfect sense, I have quite a big appetite as well so it's good to hear that it can actually be balanced out. thank you hun

 

[elizabeth]

I think it helps to see 'free foods' in the way that SW obviously designed the concept - ie that it's about taking away the feeling of being hungry and deprived that causes most diets to fail, not about encouraging you to eat lots of food you don't actually need. This is why SW say you can eat free foods until you are satisfied, meaning until your stomach isn't rumbling with hunger! There's a world of difference between satisfying your hunger and stuffing yourself for the sake of it.

People who've been used to eating exactly what they like sometimes lose the ability to tell the difference between 'I'm hungry' and 'I want', but it comes back to you as you go along on SW. It's all part of the learning process.

 

[CAPRICORN]

Morning all

I avoided SW for years as the idea of "free" food scared my silly , at the time I knew I would see it as a personal challenge :gimi::gimi::gimi:....
I joined 10 weeks ago after a lot of thought and having sorted out my ability to "eat a pea more than a pig" :giggle:. the only area I have had to tweak is the fruit -now I can eat enough fruit to keep a baby gorilla well nourished. Instead of having 3 fruit bowls on the go (for just me ) -I now love melon and pineapples in particular -I chop them into tubs and keep them in the fridge, and then sit with a bowl when I want fruit -rather than mindlessly sticking my hand in the fruit bowls
I have at long last distinguished between "Im hungry" and "hmm I want something nice" -totally different things. Also I realise that when SW say "free foods" I take it to mean -eat as much as you need to be satisfied... and not eat as much as you want...
Hope that makes some sort of sense :8855:
Have to say I LOVE SW ....

 

[BritMumInCanada]

I think there are two differences here, yes it is free food which you can eat unlimited.

But, eat until you are satisfied, do not eat until you are so full you can't move from you chair. Slimming World is about teaching you to eat healthily without feeling deprived, but knowing when to recognise when you are satisfied.

No one should be eating food just for the sake of it because it is free so to speak, because the chances are you will be the eating well over what you body physically needs and it will come to the point where you will not lose any weight.

 

[cmcewn]

I think I am eating too much too I have eaten only free food but seem to have put 4 pounds on! I was talking to my OH about this and he says Im eating far too much ....... I didnt think I was until he said so.

Why are grapes so bad? I can eat a whole punnet at one time then read the literature on the box and I had 5 times the recommended portion size which is 100g ... see what I mean