Please help-i'm not losing weight!!

[LaurenaC]

Hello,

I desperately need some advice on my menu as I am not sure where I am going wrong. I am following the EE plan and keeping to my 15 syns a day but not losing any weight.

Any suggestions on where I am going wrong?? Please help
Last week's weekly menu!

Friday
Breakfast – Bran flakes and semi-skimmed milk (HEX A + B)
Lunch – ham salad with light vinaigrette (6 syns) +Muller light yogurt + fruit
Snack- Kit Kat 4 finger (10 syns)
Dinner – Steak, syn free chips and salad
(16 syns)

Saturday
Breakfast – 2 ww sausages (1 syn), Eggs, bacon (trimmed), tomato’s, mushrooms + 250 ml milky coffee (HEX A)
Lunch – Ham salad + Tesco light Caesar dressing (2 syns)
Dinner – Beef burgers (less than 5% fat mince), jacket potato (2 teaspoons of flora) (4 syns) and salad + wholemeal roll (HEX B)
Dessert – Tesco’s light choices chocolate mousse + syn free pancakes (4 syns)
Snack – 1 packet of skips (4 syns)
(15 syns)

Sunday
Breakfast – Bran flakes + milk (HEX A&B)
Lunch – Jacket potato + baked beans with no butter
Dinner – Beef (sliced, no fat), vegetable selection, 1 small yourkshire pudding (2 syns) and 4 tablespoons of Bisto gravy (2 syns)
Dessert – Tesco light choices Chocolate mousse (4 syns) and Cadbury Fair Trade Dairy Milk For Kids 1 bar (5.5 syns)
(13.5 syns)

Monday
Breakfast – Bran flakes and semi-skimmed milk (HEX A + B)
Lunch – Baked ham salad + 2 tablespoons of Tesco Caesar dressing(2 syns)+ muller yogurt + fruit
Dinner – Citrus salad with chicken not seasoned or cooked in oil (free) Vinegarette dressing 1 tablespoon (3 syns)
Dessert – Chocolate pancake from Franky and Benny’s(10 syns)
(15 syns)

Tuesday
Breakfast – Bran flakes and semi-skimmed milk (HEX A + B)
Lunch –baked ham salad with Tesco Caesar dressing (2 syns) + Muller light and fruit
Dinner – Slimming World Sticky chicken + salad (2 syns)
Dessert – Tesco light chocolate mousse (4 syns), Cadbury Fair Trade Dairy Milk For Kids 1 bar (5.5 syns)
(13.5 syns)

Wednesday
Breakfast – Bran flakes and semi-skimmed milk (HEX A + B)
Lunch – baked ham salad with Tesco Caesar dressing (2 syns) + Muller light and fruit
Dinner – Lamb cutlets, veg and carrot + potato mash (free)
Dessert – Tesco light chocolate mousse (4 syns), + packet of skips (4.5)
(11.5 syns)

Thursday
Breakfast – Bran flakes and semi-skimmed milk (HEX A + B)
Lunch – baked ham salad with Tesco Caesar dressing (2 syns) + Muller light and fruit
Snack – Kit Kat chunky (13 syns)
Dinner – Chicken fried rice with veg
(15 syns)

Total weekly syns = 99.5



I would appreciate any feedback, thank you xx

 

[toddles]

Hi Laurenac
how much weight do you roughly have to lose? and how much have you lost to date?
I have about 3-4 stone to lose so 15 syns a day would be fine and I still lose 2-3lb a week having 15 syns . But for someone who only has less than a stone maybe 15 syns a day is too many. The recommend 5-15 a day and aiming for 10.
Also do you have any superfree with your breakfast? I will have a couple of pieces of fruit with my cereal or if I dont fancy them straight away then maybe have them mid-morning.
I can see that your lunch and evening meals have lots of superfree which is great.

Look into also making your own dressings. it would save you so many syns. or using fat free vinegarette. less than 50cals per 100mls i think and they are free. double check that. so lots of free dressings on the market.

 

[Mandlegrot]

Seconded above post - don't feel like you have to have all of your syns each day and eat for the sake of it. Some days I have 3, some days 15 - depends on what I fancy. This is the great thing about the plan

Try getting superfree with every meal - breakfast looks a bit bare of fruit. I hate the texture of milk with fruit so have a fruit salad on the side if I have cereal.

 

[LaurenaC]

Seconded above post - don't feel like you have to have all of your syns each day and eat for the sake of it. Some days I have 3, some days 15 - depends on what I fancy. This is the great thing about the plan

Try getting superfree with every meal - breakfast looks a bit bare of fruit. I hate the texture of milk with fruit so have a fruit salad on the side if I have cereal.

Thanks so much to you both for replying.

I forgot to add that I always have a banana mid-morning because I hate fruit on my cereal.

I am 12st 4.5 as of this morning and my starting weight at the beginning of January (2nd) was 12st 5, so I've only lost .5 since doing it. I need to lose at least 2 stone!

Perhaps I should cut down on my syns but I was told that I must use the syns for the plan to work

I've just ordered a new tracksuit online, so soon as it comes I am going to start walking to work which is 3 miles a day there and back. Do you think exercise will boost it??

Thanks so much xxx

 

[Mandlegrot]

Exercise will certainly boost your weight loss - and tone you up and make you feel/look better too, so an all round winner take it easy though if your not used to doing it!

RE syns, SW advise 5-15 a day, depending on size/height etc. I started off having all of my syns each day, but losses were slow - I now aim for different amounts...last week I was having 3-8 and lost 2lbs, this week I've had 10-15 and lost 2.5lbs, so its impossible to tell BUT if you cut all of your syns for the whole week, it only adds up to 2100 calories which is just over a lb of fat...not much really. So syns won't be where your losses are slow - maybe reduce them to 10 a day and see if it makes a difference?

It took me months of tweaking the plan to find why my loss was slow - i was eating too many carbs (I'm vegan so my diet is very carb heavy) so cut back to normal portions (not OMG ITS FREE ILL STUFF MYSELF portions) and really worked on eating 'until i was full'. now i have much better losses - so it might take you a bit to find what works, but the great thing about SW is that as long as you follow it, it will work. you just need to find what isn't working for you then it will be full steam ahead

 

[Mandlegrot]

Syns are there to make you feel like your not on a diet, and to allow you to enjoy your food and a little bit of something naughty. If you cut them out completley you might feel deprived and end up gorging.

Saying that, there is a girl I go to group with, she uses no syns a day (she ain't into snacking, and is happy without them - only really uses them when she drinks on the odd night) and she loses well...i lose better when I'm using my syns...message being, we're all different, fiddle around with it and see what works/what doesn't work, write everything down

 

[LaurenaC]

Thanks for the advice, it's good to hear that it does work. And I think I might be guilty of the (OH MY GOD IT'S FREE I'LL EAT MAMMOTH SIZE PORTIONS)!!!!!

OK so this week the mission is to stick to my diet plan as above BUT cut down on my portion size. Then the following week I will slightly reduce my syns each day to between 8-10. Then once the tracksuit arrives from the catalogue, add the walking exercise and hopefully I will be falling down the cracks in the pavements I'll be so thin by summer!! Ha ha ha ha xx

 

[PatchworkPuss]

The only things that stand out are as said there are several meals where you do not have superfree it seems and you could perhaps do a bit more variety in your meals as the same ones pop up quite a lot

Was your chicken fried rice a takeaway? If so did you weigh the portion?

Other things you might want to consider

- are you weighing everything you should be?
- are you drinking enough water?
- are you bloated or bunged up (sorry tmi lol)
- some days you have no carbs so perhaps do a red day those days so you get more healthy extras
- what was your eating like before, were you on a restricted diet like vlcd?
- are you on any meds that could be affecting losses?
- could it be hormonal changes?

Dont give up hun, it sometimes takes a bit of time to get the balance of foods right xx

 

[LaurenaC]

Thanks for the additional advice!

Well I have the same lunch everyday because the canteen where I work only sell really fatty foods! I could start to prepare my own meals to bring to work but time is limited in my evening as have three children and don't finish work late so it's easier to get a salad made for me by the chefs!

I drink lots of fluids, but mainly decaf tea and coffee, perhaps I should replace some with water. Took some Ducalax earlier in the week to give me a clearout (eeeewwww) so don't think I am bunged up. Before I started SW I would eat everything and anything and literally lived on take-away's (Because of work, kids, laziness and love of chinese!) I've been taking fertility drugs on and off for 4 four months, which say could cause me to put on weight according to the leaflet but my GP says not. Wierd.

Anyway, I'm hoping that next Friday morning's weigh-in will be much better xx

 

[Mrs CC]

Thanks for the additional advice!

Well I have the same lunch everyday because the canteen where I work only sell really fatty foods! I could start to prepare my own meals to bring to work but time is limited in my evening as have three children and don't finish work late so it's easier to get a salad made for me by the chefs!

I drink lots of fluids, but mainly decaf tea and coffee, perhaps I should replace some with water. Took some Ducalax earlier in the week to give me a clearout (eeeewwww) so don't think I am bunged up. Before I started SW I would eat everything and anything and literally lived on take-away's (Because of work, kids, laziness and love of chinese!) I've been taking fertility drugs on and off for 4 four months, which say could cause me to put on weight according to the leaflet but my GP says not. Wierd.

Anyway, I'm hoping that next Friday morning's weigh-in will be much better xx

The thing to watch for is if the salad is made by someone else is that the foods being put into it are free and the syns for the dressing are right, have they told you how the ham is cooked and do they measure the quantity of dressing that goes on for you?

I always make my lunch for the next day while making my tea in the evening, chop up a salad while it's cooking or take in some left overs. Mug shots are also a life saver for me!

 

[Squares76]

How long have you been following the plan?

 

[heidiseeky]

It looks to me like you're not consuming enough superfree as they are the foods that really help your weight loss. I don't like salad at all but I always snack on fruit and have tonnes of different veggies with my meals.

I also agree with the advice about syns, I tend to stick to around 10/11 per day but I know I have extra if I need them. Are you weighing/measuring your healthy extras as this can make a big difference too.

Finally, don't be surprised if you don't see the results you want straight away when you start exercising - it can sometimes take a week or two for your body to adjust to the change.

Good luck

 

[cat yoyo greaves]

Thanks for the additional advice!

Well I have the same lunch everyday because the canteen where I work only sell really fatty foods! I could start to prepare my own meals to bring to work but time is limited in my evening as have three children and don't finish work late so it's easier to get a salad made for me by the chefs!

I drink lots of fluids, but mainly decaf tea and coffee, perhaps I should replace some with water. Took some Ducalax earlier in the week to give me a clearout (eeeewwww) so don't think I am bunged up. Before I started SW I would eat everything and anything and literally lived on take-away's (Because of work, kids, laziness and love of chinese!) I've been taking fertility drugs on and off for 4 four months, which say could cause me to put on weight according to the leaflet but my GP says not. Wierd.

Anyway, I'm hoping that next Friday morning's weigh-in will be much better xx

I make a batch of something once a week for lunches at work a bit boring but i love it

 

[missclare85]

Have u tried sticking to 10 syns a day only?

Reason being sometimes there are hidden syns or that little drop of milk for tea we didnt count for etc they all add up.

I know when i have slow losses i try and put more super speed an speed foods into my diet.

Keep on goin tho hun. I know uve losy 1/2 lb and are dissapointed BUT if u hadnt of been following sw maybe u would of been 7lb+ heavier.

Big hugs xxx

 

[SlimmingKitchen]

I'd recommend mixing up your healthy extras a little Hun, it seems like you eat bran flakes and milk quite a lot & also are you measuring these correctly as that could be where you are going wrong.

I try and mix my healthy extras up and try something different a few times a week. Also plenty of fruit, vegetables and salad are a great help.

Ive also invested in a thermos flask and I take lots of different yummy homemade soups to work now.

Love Stacey xxx

Here are a couple of threads which may help you too Hun:

http://www.minimins.com/slimming-world/182282-where-could-you-have-gone-wrong.html

http://www.minimins.com/slimming-world/182283-slimming-world-abuse.html

 

[kingleds]

Just out of interest, do you need the deserts in the evening or are you eating them to use your syns?

I rarely eat desert as I'm full from dinner. If I'm not full I will give myself 10 mins before I eat anything else. A low syn desert is meringue with fat free yogurt & fruit.

Also, try to snack on superfree throughout the day rather than have a bag of crisps, that way you will have more syns left for the evening

Finally, I'd be really wary of the salads at your work. You would be shocked at what people think is acceptable for a salad! I use a food flask & just heat up some soup or a stew portion etc in the morning. That way I never need to worry about where I am.

 

[malamobile]

Hi

Hope your weigh in this week brings you happier numbers!
It is so tricky as I always thought 'if they say its free/unlimited then why should I limit it'? then i should be able to do that. I found I couldn't. I do feel sw need to change this and be very clear it is eat until you are satisfied and not til you're stuffed! They are after all dealing with people who eat too much and will eat large amounts and because of this lots of people find they don't lose and give up. It does work though and mandlegrot is right you have to find what's holding you back and tweak it. I am a veggie but I have to limit quorn as it doesn't agree with me if I have it every day. Sw is renowned too for 'stopping' you up. so I'd say don't push the syns to the limit, drink lots of water as tea and coffee are diuretics and watch portion sizes a bit.
Let us know how your next weigh in goes

 

[malamobile]

Actually ignore that about coffee as just read some research from last year that says it is not dehydrating and contributes nearly as much as water ... Off to make one!!!