New and needing help

missyp284

Full Member
Hi, I've been reading the forums for about a week now and can see you all give great advice. Which I really need :confused:

I'll give you a bit of background (sorry if its a bit long).

About three years ago I lost 4.5 stones, just by eating healthy and going to the gym. I went from 19.5 stone to 15 stone. And then just stuck. For the last three years I've been trying and trying to loose more and nothing seems to work. I've tweaked what I eat, changed my training regime and all to no avail.

All that trying has resulted in some setbacks and me thinking 'whats the point' now and again, and I've gained a stone. So now I was back up to 16 stone 2lbs.

I decided to join SW on the 4th August to see if this would help at all. I followed the plan in my first week, the only thing I didn't do, was eat a lot of syns. I averaged about 3-4 a day. Not because I felt I needed to deprive myself, but because I didn't really feel the need to eat anymore than I was.

I went for my first WI last Wednesday and had lost 1lb. I had been hoping for more, but hey, 1lb is better than nothing and if I could lose 1lb a week that would be great.

However, everyone in my class, and my consultant, were all telling me I should eat my syns, as they had better losses when they ate theirs. So, being a good girl, this week, I've adjusted what i've eaten and my syns have been around 10-15 a day.

And I feel terrible. I know I've gained that 1lb back, and probably more. I go for my next WI tomorrow night and I'm dreading it.

I'm still going to the gym, 5 times a week, I do weight training one day (usually circuits) and cardio the next. So exercise isn't the issue.

I understand that because I've been eating healthily before I started SW that my losses may not be as big as some peoples, but surely I should't be gaining when I'm following the plan!!!!!

Can anyone give me some advice? I'm at my wits end. I really don't know what to do next if this doesn't work :cry:
 
(((hug)))

Aww keep at it hun! At least wait and see what happens at weigh in before you throw in the towel! You may be pleasantly surprised :)

I'm not an expert at SW, I lost 2st 2 years ago, and I've come back a few times but not had my heart in it. I'm back with a vengance now. But it works for many people, so give it a try for a bit longer.

I am a tad taller than you and my initial target is to get to 15stone, and my start weight is a bit higher than yours was. So you have done very well in getting there.

Good luck hun

x
 
Wait and see how you get on at WI before panicking that you're having too many syns! You might be surprised...

I would hazard a guess that pre-SW my diet was basically SW EE with about 30-40 syns per day. This was leading me to gain weight. I have changed fairly little in my diet (Have 5-10 syns per day usually) but am slowly but surely losing (nearly a stone in three months).
Good luck, give it at least a month's trial before deciding, and hopefully you too will start to see results :)
 
Don't panic! First of all you don't know if you're gaining. It's not until you weigh in that you'll know for sure.

If the worst comes to the worst and you have gained then you have learned that you can't eat all your syns but must keep to the original figure which led to a lb loss.

Treat it as a learning curve where you are finding out how you can consistently lose on SW. Panic over! ZXXX
 
I certainly won't trow in the towel just yet. I plan on giving it a month, it;s just so frustrating, especially when you go to class and people are losing hand over fist :sigh:

I haven't weighed myself at home, I can tell from my clothes. I have a particular pair of trousers that have become impossible to wear this week :eek:

My consultant did say that if someone doesn't lose for the first 4 weeks they get their money back. She was adamant that in 40 odd years that has NEVER happened. Theres a first time for everything lol.

I wonder though, what kind of hoops you have to jump through to get your money back if the worst came to the worst and you didn't lose!!!!!

Lets hope it doesn't come to that.
 
Well you did loose the first week so it show's that it did work, so well done there :)

This week, as others say, till you get on them scales tomorrow you just never actually know for sure. I have had many a time where I expected a gain & luckily it didn't happen.

My one bit of advice would be to wear the same to WI each week. I always wore the same pair of jeans & a light top, that was I couldn't blame my clothes if I had bigger losses/gains.

Also - great that you are giving it a months trial, as many again will say how they seemed to loose weight in patterns, dowm alot of the time to *week.

Good luck!! x
 
If it's just that your clothes are feeling tight then that is more likely down to fluid retention rather than weight gain. Your extra syns only amount to an extra 1400 calories and that's not even enough to cause a 1lb gain. So make sure you are drinking enough water to support your very active lifestyle and perhaps cutback on the carbs for a few days.
 
Thanks for the replies, I appreciate it.

I always make sure I drink at least 2 ltrs of water every day, and I don't drink any caffiene so as to avoid any water retention from that.

As for carbs, I do eat minimal carbs. Well starchy carbs like potatoes/bread/rice etc. I only have one portion a day, usually with my evening meal. The rest of my carbs is made up from things like salad veg and fruit.
I did try cutting out starchy carbs a year or so ago, but I suffer badly from migraines and this just made them worse. My neurologist advised me to keep one portion a day as this seems to be enough to keep them at bay.

I've just come back from the gym and given it some welly with a new military fitness session. Somethings gotta give :eek:
 
Why not post your food diary on here for people to have a look at:)
 
It strikes me that if you are doing a heavy fitness regime, you probably need MORE to eat than you are doing. You can stay the same or gain from not actually consuming enough calories, strange as it sounds.

I know SW isnt about calories but I would definitely recommend starting a food diary and writing down EVERYTHING that passes your lips for a few days. It will give you and us a better idea of how to adjust to help your losses :)
 
ok, well heres what I've eaten today (this is based on increased syns as per advice from SW). I'm doing EE:-

b/fast - 2 weetabix (HEXB) with muller light and strawberries
snack - cherries & Trek protein bar (11 syns)
lunch - turkey salad with 50g low fat coleslaw (2.5 syns), 28g cheddar (HEXA) and 1tbspn sweet chilli sauce (1.5 syns)
actimel fat free yogurt
dinner - pork steak with baked potato, beans, mushrooms and onions.

Total syns = 15

I won't be eating anything else today.

Gym was an hours workout before lunch, which was military fitness style circuit training. Basically a mix of short bursts of cardio and weights designed to keep your heart rate high and burn fat while building muscle.

I've drank at least 2 ltrs of water/sugar free squash throughout the day.

Any tweaks would be gratefully accepted :D

I'll post tomorrows food tomorrow if thats ok?
 
Looks okay to me (presumably you are trimming the fat from your pork steak)

Variety seems to be another key thing that seems to make a difference - obviously thats hard to judge on a single day's food diary, but as long as you are varying your meals across the week I'm sure its fine. Remember, your syns dont need to be unhealthy chocolate bars and the like - just add syns to your cooking (olive oil, tomato puree, mayo etc) - or take another healthy extra and syn it (eg bread, cooked/dried fruit)if you don't want to be adding "bad" foods to your diet, there are ways of injecting those syns in other ways.

The main thing though is to give it a chance. It could be that tonight's weigh in surprises you - but even if it doesnt, you've only been going for a few weeks, sometimes it takes a while for things to settle down.

Good luck for tonight!
 
Thanks Mandy, yes, all fat was trimmed before cooking.

The only meal which stays the same would be salad for lunch, but I do vary the protien I have with it each day, could be ham, beef, mackerel, tuna. We have a salad bar at work so I'd choose what looked to be the best option that day.

It's once in a blue moon I'd eat anything unhealthy like chocolate tbh. Even the Trek bar is all natural ingredients, which is why I choose those.
 
actually, while I'm here I'll post todays food as well:-

b/fast - 2 weetabix (HEXB) with muller light and strawberries
snack - cherries & Trek protein bar (11 syns)
lunch - ham salad with 50g low fat coleslaw (2.5 syns), 28g cheddar (HEXA) and 1tbspn sweet chilli sauce (1.5 syns)
actimel fat free yogurt
dinner - low fat cottage cheese with baked potato and salad
Total syns = 15

Gym today was just a rest day after my weights session yesterday so just 40 minutes cardio. Split between the exercise bike, treadmill and the cross trainer.

WI tonight so fingers crossed!!!!!!!
 
When you talk about an actimel yoghurt what do you mean? Is it the drinking yoghurts? Or did you mean activia ff yoghurt?
 
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