New to SW. Questions

winters_daughter

Full Member
Hiya.

I posted last night asking for tips and advice and people have been very nice but as its my first day I have some questions. I thought I understood certain things but I need to know some things.

- Am I right in thinking that this plan is all about food made from scratch for best results with little or no sweet things i.e. chocolate sweets etc. I dont make things from scratch I eat mainly ready made meals, pasta and sandwiches. I eat friut and veg but looking around I find the amount I would have to spend on ingrediants and meat is a lot (for me). Could I still eat weightwatchers dinners etc would that be ok.

- I dont understand about syns. I a wholemeal bread a syn? I have a sandwich for lunch today 4 slices of wholemeal bread with turkey and cheese trinages (low fat) but in the syn section it has wholemeal has a syn value :confused: I thought bread was a free food.

- Yogurts- I have loads of yogurts in the fridge fruit corner like with chocolate granola and yogurt. Can I eat these would these be classed as syns?

Sorry for all the questions. I always thought I ate ok with the brown bread, pasta, weightwatcher foods, but I feel if I continue doing that I wont lose. I have to eat meat and potatoes all the time. Plus I can only have a bit of milk as a 'healthy choice' even skimmed.

I was told this isnt a 'normal' diet and you can eat what you want but I feel really restricted lol maybe its because Im not sure. Will have to speak to my consultant next week but any answers in the meantime will be greatly appreciated thanks x
 
Personally, and i might get shot down for this - you may be better on Weight watchers plan.

SW is a lot of planning, preparing and cooking from scratch (in my opinion) and the foods you like and describe would have a lot of syns in them, as they are ready meals, yogs with extras and so on.

You could do SW - but you would have limited ready meals, and use your syns on them and bread very quickly - leaving you not much else but fruit to snack on.

Read through the link Devon has posted, but i do think SW may not be for you.

x
 
I have added some thoughts below

Hiya.

I posted last night asking for tips and advice and people have been very nice but as its my first day I have some questions. I thought I understood certain things but I need to know some things.

- Am I right in thinking that this plan is all about food made from scratch for best results with little or no sweet things i.e. chocolate sweets etc. I dont make things from scratch I eat mainly ready made meals, pasta and sandwiches.

There is a reason you are overweight and that is down to what you have been eating. Unless you are willing to make some changes to your lifestyle then no diet plan will ever be successful.

On any healthy eating plan, be it SW or WW, making your own meals is preferable because you control exactly what goes into them. Yes there are low syn or syn free ready meal on SW but you will not get the range that you would on WW.

I eat friut and veg but looking around I find the amount I would have to spend on ingrediants and meat is a lot (for me). Could I still eat weightwatchers dinners etc would that be ok.

SW does not have to be expensive. With some planning it can be as cheap as you need it to be. Yes you could eat WW meals but they will be synned and the portions will be small whereas if you make you own you can eat as much as you want and make sure they are syn free.

The idea is to build your meals around free foods that you eat as much as you need to satisfy your appetite. This leaves your syns for your treats.

What meals do you like eating? Making your doesn't have to be time consuming or use loads of ingredients. Most meals can be made and ready to put on the table in under 30 minutes and a basic pasta dish in around 10 minutes.


- I dont understand about syns. I a wholemeal bread a syn? I have a sandwich for lunch today 4 slices of wholemeal bread with turkey and cheese trinages (low fat) but in the syn section it has wholemeal has a syn value :confused: I thought bread was a free food.

No bread is not syn free - you can have 2 small slices or 1 large slice of wholemeal for your Healthy Extra.

- Yogurts- I have loads of yogurts in the fridge fruit corner like with chocolate granola and yogurt. Can I eat these would these be classed as syns?

As said these would need to be synned and may be quite high in syns as they have a lot of sugar in them. There are loads of yoghurts that are syn free but you need to make sure you get the right ones.


Sorry for all the questions. I always thought I ate ok with the brown bread, pasta, weightwatcher foods, but I feel if I continue doing that I wont lose. I have to eat meat and potatoes all the time. Plus I can only have a bit of milk as a 'healthy choice' even skimmed.

Why do you have to eat meat and potatoes all the time? Even healthy foods like milk and bread can lead to weight gain if you eat too much of them.

I was told this isnt a 'normal' diet and you can eat what you want but I feel really restricted lol maybe its because Im not sure.

You are restricting yourself by your choice of foods and because you are not taking advantage of all the free foods you could be eating.


Here's what i am having today (I do green so I get 2 of each healthy extras):

(B) Quorn sausages, spaghetti hoops, fried egg and 2 small slices wholemeal toast (HEB)
(S) Banana and yoghurt
(L) Carrot and lentil soup, baked potato with coleslaw (synned) and cheese (HEA)
(S) Cereal bar (HEB) and yoghurt
(D) Thai vegetable curry with rice (syns for coconut milk)
(S) Hot chocolate and strawberries

You can see that I'm eating loads and not restricted at all. Actually I'm eating even more than is listed here because I'm at target and get even more HEs.

Will have to speak to my consultant next week but any answers in the meantime will be greatly appreciated thanks

It sounds like you are struggling to understand the basics of the plan so perhaps give her a call - I'm sure she would be happy to explain again. Better than waiting until the next class.
 
I always have to remind myself that I can't expect to eat the same things that I did before the diet and still lose weight, as if I didn't lose weight before then I won't afterwards if nothing else has changed.

You do need to look at the plan carefully and work out if it's for you. I'm wondering how much you've looked at the plan so far, as things like bread and syns are explained very well in all of the available literature. Yes this diet does involve some planning, but it is flexible and works, and also teaches healthy eating habits for life. It also doesn't have to cost a fortune- I've always done it by myself and spend between £20-30 a week, which buys absolutely loads, especially meat.

As ellebear says, if you can't face the switch from the foods you like, then it might well be worth looking to ww.
 
I was told this isnt a 'normal' diet and you can eat what you want but I feel really restricted

Unfortunately, it sounds like whoever you spoke to has either misunderstood the diet - or if this was your consultant, then you misunderstood her.

I'm afraid there is no such thing as a diet where you can eat what you want! You're not on a diet then, are you? ;) On Slimming World you can eat loads of food - but it has to be the right sort of food. If you want to give SW a proper go, I'd suggest reading and re-reading the info your consultant gave you (it can be confusing at the start!) and following some of the sample menus while you get your head around the plan. You will have to cook a bit more than you're used to, though, if you're going to get the best out of the diet - SW encourages us to steer clear of processed foods and cook from scratch which builds healthy habits for life :)

I think what ellebear says is true though - if you really don't have the time or the inclination to cook much from scratch, you'll probably find SW a bit too time-consuming and would do better with weight-watchers.

Best of luck!
 
My advice is to read the book! I read and re-read it many times in my first few weeks.

If you're still not understanding you should definitely call your consultant for further explanation - I'm sure she'd be more than happy to help.

Also...there are so many stickies on this forum for newbies, about common misconceptions about general SW questions... read all that.


I used to live on ready meals and sandwiches. However, when i joined SW, it was because I new I had to change my ways if I wanted to change my body and live a healthy life.

It does involve planning...but my planning typically making big batches of stew or chilli and keep them in the fridge/freezer for lunch/dinners throughout the week. When I have time in the evening I'll cook something from scratch like chicken,veg and potatoes...and if I'm short on time I'll have something I prepared earlier...so like a readymeal only something I made for cheaper and that is much much nicer!
 
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