Hey Laura,
My C told me to have 20 syns a day as I have lots to lose...have you ever encountered this? I did it all last week and lost 6.5lbs, but last night only lost 0.5....I'm gonna try 15 a day this week, feel a bit weird having 20 syns on top of all the free food.
Hi Christiana, I have heard of it. In fact it used to be the rule years ago that those who needed to lose a great deal of weight had more syns than those with only a few stone to lose. It actually makes sense if you look at it from a calorie in/out point of view (just to confuse things further
). Just lying in bed we burn an awful lot more calories than our thinner friends and our bodies need a certain number of calories to keep us out of starvation mode, this means we need something to reduce as we near target. With more syns we can reduce them as the months and years go by. If I were to go on a 1000 cal diet then what happens when I have lost 15 stone and hit a plateau, do I then reduce it to 800 just so I can lose more? See what I mean? The greater calorie intake can be achieved with free food though, you and I probably eat more than someone who is 12 stone for example. I think the change made it simpler, everyone has the same number but I actually agree there is nothing wrong with offering more syns to very over weight people.
Personally I haven't been told to have more but I know that it happens, I really like my C but she isn't the most 'in touch' person around so I'm not surprised she hasn't said anything. Men are sometimes told to have more syns so you aren't alone.
I don't know what the official guideline's are about this. We always hear 5-15 but I wouldn't be surprised if C's are told to have a quiet word with the very overweight and tell them differently.
Well done on your 6.5 that's fantastic! Sorry about this last week, I don't think the added syns you are having would be enough to alter the weight loss by that amount though so it could just be one of those frustrating times there's no reason. I've had a fair few of those weeks too.
Have whatever syns you feel happy with. Your C won't have told you to have more without a good reason so perhaps just be a bit flexible with it. If you go over 15 some days don't fret but if you don't feel you need them all every day then stick with 15. Hope that helps!
Edit: Just read that back and it might be confusing so you can ignore me lol. Sorry if it seems i've hijacked the thread too!