"Plump Polly".....golden oldie..........Newbie

Well I stuck to my word and went on the bike..don't suppose I've burned the carvery off, but at least I showed willing! ...ladies bums are NOT meant for racing type saddles, talk about splitting the difference! Will have to try and find a way to pad it!
. I meant Bev that we were both about the same weight now.. Lyndsay I mean....you're waaay in front of me ( can't see any signs of a turkey neck on you! ) lol x

this made me chuckle
you defo do need to get padding on that seat
nothing worse than a saddle sore derrière
 
Get a gel seat cover Polly to protect your bottom, try amazon!

I tried a gel cover and it didn't help at all.
I just bought a new ver fat, padded seat - which is fantastic. Much more comfortable.
The gel cover cost me about €10 which was totally wasted. The whole new seat cost about €20 - and well worth the money.
 
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Hi Ladies, well I didn't know if I could get a replacement seat for the exercise bike.....you would think I had enough "built in padding myself" not to warrant one at all!
Well done Lucy, glad. WW is working for you. Hope you get that bonus!! I have to say I get a bit confused, one of our ladies was STS on EE and last week she did a week of Red original days and lost 4.5 lbs. Have no idea how it works when there are double the HEs! Am going to try and up my syns a bit this week, I'd love to have one really good week...although they've all been good I suppose, no matter what I lose.
How you doing Bev? x
 
Red days work because you have to seriously limit your carbs. On EE you can basically have as many carbs as you like.
At the end of the day these still contain a high number of calories, and it's calories that actually matter, never mind what SW says.
Calories eaten MINUS fewer Calories used = weight loss.

I'm a true devotee to SW - it has worked well for me for 7 long years. But I fail miserably on EE.
If I stick to red/green days I lose - albeit slowly. On EE I just gain :cry: as I overdo both the carbs and the protein.
STUPID really as I'm not unintelligent, but my brain switches off on EE days and I go berserk on the carbs (I'm a carb fiend but they affect me really badly - especially processed carbs like bread and pasta).

If you want to speed up weight loss then try a week of red days. They really shift the poundage!
 
Yoo hoo, I thought you were off till Saturday night? I'm sure I read that somewhere!
I hardly have any carbs Bev,,,have only had a handful of pasta once since I started, I've had 2 lots of rice, (last week I made the SW curry,) and I usually have 1 slice of wholemeal bread per day. If I snack I have fruit,,,and I only have potatoes if I layer them on a hot pot. Perhaps I'm not having enough syns after all> I'm losing, have no complaints but they're always small losses, I'd just like to boost it now and again. I don't even know if I overdo protein??? as in meat? I've changed from lean mince to turkey mince, no fat in that at all, never have any fat on anything, I always cut it off anyway, can't stand the thought of it being in my mouth. I don't think you can have too much fruit and veg...or can you? Some days I haven't had my HEs either which I know I should have, I was a tea pot till we had all this hot weather, but I've been having cold drinks and peppermint tea for the last 3 weeks or so x
 
Well today I read all about red days and green days, and all I did was totally confused myself.
Also looked on Amazon at the saddles and Gel covers, and confused myself even more!:sigh:
 
Just a quickie, have started having lemon in boiled water as a drink again today, after checking my diary the only thing I've changed is not having that, I changed to peppermint tea, but when I had the lemon for 2 weeks, I lost 3lbs both times, so here's hoping xx
Bev did you buy your saddle in England? Amazon perhaps? x
 
Bev did you buy your saddle in England? Amazon perhaps? x
No, I bought it here in Spain from a proper bike shop. Super duper padded and much more comfy.
I still have a rather large rear end but my bum bones still hurt on that after about 5 miles.

Bear in mind that mine's a real bike not an exercise one. Don't know which yours is.
 
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Well today I read all about red days and green days, and all I did was totally confused myself.

It can be a bit confusing when you first read it up but they do work. In simple terms though:-

EE
As much meat, fish, spuds, rice or pasta as you like. But only 1 HexA (dairy, cheese or milk) and 1 HexB (bread or cereals)
GREEN
As much spuds, rice or pasta as you like. Plus 1 or 2 HexA (dairy, cheese or milk) and 2 HexB (bread, cereal, meat or fish - smallish portions)
RED
As much meat and fish, as you like. Plus 1 or 2 HexA (dairy, cheese or milk) and 2 HexB (bread, cereals, beans or 8oz spud or a tiny amount of pasta).
There are a few other things that come under HexB on Red days like peas, parsnips etc.

I've attached a file, I hope - that I put together for someone else that it a very simplistic view of Red & Green days.
Some of the weights will now be wrong - as lots have changed since I did this in Sept '11.
eg cereal is now 30g (not 28g).
View attachment Slimming World Food Choices RG Separate.pdf

The reason they work is that on REDs you have to limit carbs, and GREENs you have to limit protein. You limit fat on all plans.
So you are always cutting out something that is higher in calOries.

On EE you can basically eat what the heck you like - and as I said for me it doesn't work.

So when I want a spag bol or a chilli con carne I have them on a GREEN day and only use 80g mince mixed with 40g grated carrots, takinmg the meat as my HexB.
Now I know this seems counter-intuitive but you can't have rice on a RED day unless you syn it and you can only have a very small portion of pasta.
Now I know I could have this on an EE day but somehow I can't get my brain round it :(

To answer your question about "I don't think you can have too much fruit and veg...or can you?"
Veg - definitely not (except for the starchy veg like peas, parsnips and beans).
Fruit - now that's a tricky one. SW will say no - eat as much as you want.
Me - I say be careful. Fruit is full of fructose - which is just another type of sugar.
I try to stick to the superspeed fruits like melon and berries and steer clear of the high fructose ones like grapes and oranges (other citrus fruits too even though they often taste quite acidic .
Bananas always cause a "heated discussion" as some say you should limit the ampout you eat!

Here's a sample of some fruits and the amount of cals and sugars (from My Fitness Pal)
According to MFP you should only have 34 units of sugars per day - this lot come to a whopping 123 - so you'd be 89 units over!
So I would definitely say limit your fruit to 5 portions a day!
FRUIT
CaloriesCarbsFibreSugar
Orange - Large, Navel Orange - 100g Edible Portion Per Usda501329
Generic - Tangerine, 100 g5393421
Apple (Granny Smith) Adjusted - Green Apple, 1 Small Apple802250
Apple - 1 Small Golden Delicious, 1 small5615311
Fresh - Fresh Strawberries, 100 g33825
Fresh - Raspberries, 100 g27535
Grapes - Raw, 100 g6717116
Banana - Banana - Large, 1 Large Banana12131417
Generic - Fruit - Peach (Per Google), 1 (150g)5914213
Galia - Melon, 134 g - 1/4 melon5012111
Fresh Raw - Small Water Melon Slice, 1 slices86000
Generic - Honey Dew Melon Wedge, 1 wedge (1/8 of a 6" to 7" dia melon) (160 g)5815115
 
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It can be a bit confusing when you first read it up but they do work. In simple terms though:-

EE
As much meat, fish, spuds, rice or pasta as you like. But only 1 HexA (dairy, cheese or milk) and 1 HexB (bread or cereals)
GREEN
As much spuds, rice or pasta as you like. Plus 1 or 2 HexA (dairy, cheese or milk) and 2 HexB (bread, cereal, meat or fish - smallish portions)
RED
As much meat and fish, as you like. Plus 1 or 2 HexA (dairy, cheese or milk) and 2 HexB (bread, cereals, beans or 8oz spud or a tiny amount of pasta).
There are a few other things that come under HexB on Red days like peas, parsnips etc.

I've attached a file, I hope - that I put together for someone else that it a very simplistic view of Red & Green days.
Some of the weights will now be wrong - as lots have changed since I did this in Sept '11.
eg cereal is now 30g (not 28g).
<img src="http://www.minimins.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=101718"/>

The reason they work is that on REDs you have to limit carbs, and GREENs you have to limit protein. You limit fat on all plans.
So you are always cutting out something that is higher in calOries.

On EE you can basically eat what the heck you like - and as I said for me it doesn't work.

So when I want a spag bol or a chilli con carne I have them on a GREEN day and only use 80g mince mixed with 40g grated carrots, takinmg the meat as my HexB.
Now I know this seems counter-intuitive but you can't have rice on a RED day unless you syn it and you can only have a very small portion of pasta.
Now I know I could have this on an EE day but somehow I can't get my brain round it :(

To answer your question about "I don't think you can have too much fruit and veg...or can you?"
Veg - definitely not (except for the starchy veg like peas, parsnips and beans).
Fruit - now that's a tricky one. SW will say no - eat as much as you want.
Me - I say be careful. Fruit is full of fructose - which is just another type of sugar.
I try to stick to the superspeed fruits like melon and berries and steer clear of the high fructose ones like grapes and oranges (other citrus fruits too even though they often taste quite acidic .
Bananas always cause a "heated discussion" as some say you should limit the ampout you eat!

Here's a sample of some fruits and the amount of cals and sugars (from My Fitness Pal)
According to MFP you should only have 34 units of sugars per day - this lot come to a whopping 123 - so you'd be 89 units over!
So I would definitely say limit your fruit to 5 portions a day!
FRUIT
CaloriesCarbsFibreSugar
Orange - Large, Navel Orange - 100g Edible Portion Per Usda501329
Generic - Tangerine, 100 g5393421
Apple (Granny Smith) Adjusted - Green Apple, 1 Small Apple802250
Apple - 1 Small Golden Delicious, 1 small5615311
Fresh - Fresh Strawberries, 100 g33825
Fresh - Raspberries, 100 g27535
Grapes - Raw, 100 g6717116
Banana - Banana - Large, 1 Large Banana12131417
Generic - Fruit - Peach (Per Google), 1 (150g)5914213
Galia - Melon, 134 g - 1/4 melon5012111
Fresh Raw - Small Water Melon Slice, 1 slices86000
Generic - Honey Dew Melon Wedge, 1 wedge (1/8 of a 6" to 7" dia melon) (160 g)5815115

Very well explained there Bev
 
Oh I've been trying to copy the fruit list. I've done the chart thanks Bev, but the fruit one won't copy. Thanks so much for doing this.....Well I've had loads of grapes, well if I fancy something sweet I have a pick at the bunch, also satsumas, apples and always my 1/2 pink grapefruit every day.
Perhaps you could comment for me on my diary for yesterday?

1/2 pink grapefruit , banana...black coffee
SW curry + rice
satsuma + apple as snacks
S|F Jelly with strawberries + Mullerlite...sprinkle of meringue
4 x scan bran + 2 cheesey triangles light cucumber and marmite.
Drinks were tea, (about 1/2 or less of my milk allowance) cordial, NAS, fresh lemon in boiled water.
I'm not hungry...peckish sometimes so I usually have an apple or banana....or melon......just pick something quick from the bowl..perhaps have 4 bananas per week......but I have Golden Delicious apples, don't like Granny Smiths.

Was working all day yesterday, so just ate when I felt hungry.

Day before was
1/2 PGF + banana
satsuma
hot pot with turkey mince......5 slices of potato....all different sorts of veg in the hot pot, + stock cube
full salad with 1 egg...........salad cream. 2 syns
3 scan bran + 1 cheesey triangle + marmite and cucumber (HEb)
Large HiFi bar...6 syns
milk allowance HE a.


Would be grateful if you would comment xx
 
Polly - both days look fine - although I would say the yesterday looks very light on veg!
You had your 5 fruit and veg - but all fruit and nary a veg in sight! :(

Funnily enough, I had a conversation on someone else's fred only last week about fruit and veg and your 5-a-day.
It went as follows (it starts with baked beans 'cos she asked if they counted as veg)


Looks like baked beans count!
Info taken from here Fruit And Veg "5 A Day" Advice Backed By New Findings

The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends a minimum of 400g of fruit and vegetables a day for adults.

In the UK, where a 2012 poll suggests that only one in five Britons consumes the recommended "5 a day," health authorities encourage people to think of their 400g a day of fruit and veg in 5 portions of 80g each. This would constitute for example, half a fresh grapefruit, two dried figs, eight cauliflower florets, three heaped tablespoons of baked beans and an apple.
In Australia it's 2 and 5 a day (2 fruit and 5 veg servings). Which is what I aim to eat every day.
In Japan they aim for an astonishing 17 portions daily

Yesterday I had a big bowl of fruit for lunch - probably 3 portions as there was lots of melon, grapes, pineapple, whole kiwi, plus a whole peach.
Big salad with my steak (another 3 portions) plus sweetcorn, coleslaw, onions, red peppers and mushrooms.
So yesterday I probably had 10 portions of F&V, of which 3 were fruit and 7 were veg.

Your average portions are here 5 A DAY portion sizes - Live Well - NHS Choices

I limit myself to a MAX of 3 fruit a day - especially if they are the high fructose ones. And try for a minimum of 5 veggy portions.
I also try not to snack. This is a killer for me - although I know SW recommend it, and Kally has always had snacks I think.
If I snack - it never stops at a nibble on something, it can lead to something akin to a whole meal !!! NOT GOOD.
I try to make sure that I've had enough filling food at each meal so that I'm not tempted.

I have got better on not pigging out on snacks and when I do, I make sure now that it's veg.
I always have carrots in (which I love) and some low fat dips like humous or raita to dip them in.
I make my own really low fat humous from chick peas that has just 2 level tablespoons of olive oil in and makes me enough to last a minimum 6 days. So just 2 syns a day.
I also make home made raita - 0% plain yoghurt, lots of cucumber and garlic so totally syn free.
Works for me thank gawd! But probably wouldn't cut the mustard for a lot of people.
 
Hi Ladies, well I didn't know if I could get a replacement seat for the exercise bike.....you would think I had enough "built in padding myself" not to warrant one at all!
Well done Lucy, glad. WW is working for you. Hope you get that bonus!! I have to say I get a bit confused, one of our ladies was STS on EE and last week she did a week of Red original days and lost 4.5 lbs. Have no idea how it works when there are double the HEs! Am going to try and up my syns a bit this week, I'd love to have one really good week...although they've all been good I suppose, no matter what I lose.
How you doing Bev? x


Hi. I started sw on red and green days and got confused with ee. Find it better now. I must say that I struggled for a long time for one reason or another. Recently I have tried to do 2-3 red days per week and have found this has helped. Whatever the reason a lot of people say the same.

Also on another thread you had mentioned 1/3 superfree which you had a problem with. Have a look at pages 52 & 53 in your food optimising book, it may give you a couple of answers.

It also says 5-15 syns per day. You don`t have to have them all. Also `they` do say if you cut down to nothing too soon, when you near target you won`t have any syns to cut down. But it is personal choice.

Those pages helped me. Hope it does the same for you. SW has helped lots of people lose weight. Calories do matter but we are not counting calories we are doing slimming world. It will work.

I hope you don`t think I am being patronising but there is a lot of confusing info on this site because of different experiences and different Consultants telling different things. Please read those pages and goodluck with your journey.
 
Hi ladies,and Hello Doreen, the confusion I think I mentioned (would have to read it to be sure) was the superfree and superspeed foods? I've read all the books from cover to cover, but it takes time to sink in ...with me anyway!
BEV, Everyday (apart from the curry which I've only just learned to make for the first time in my life(how embarrassing is that?) ) all my big meals are full of veg. e.g, the hot pot day, I had broccolli and cauli, and the hotpot has as much in as I can get, plus turkey mince. In the curry, well it's mushy peas isn't it? but also I put onions, tomatoes, celery, courgettes,carrots & mushrooms, there's never a day that I've not had half a plate of veg. The carbs in the rice, I have no idea.......but beings as it's only one time I think they would be negligible.
I know our bodies all work differently, but I was following another thread where she puts all her food on every day, and it included muffins, chocolate, ice creams, Freddos? lots of syns, and still lost a lot more than me.
Doreen, I don't think you're being patronising at all. I'm being totally honest with myself this time, after all the diets I've failed on, the only person I've let down is me. I've stuck to plan 99% since I started, had a hiccup last week when I went out for a meal, but someone smashed my car lights and the same day we had a death in the family, and I needed cheering up.........I counted the cost later, and adjusted my syns as well. I just have to take it that I'm not perhaps going to get big losses, but all this extra weight took a long time to go on, so it's probably going to take a long time to come off.
have to say though, I really can't see me managing to fit in 2 x HE As and Bs,,,as well as having all my syns. At the moment I don't feel deprived, and definitely not hungry. xx
Doreen, just reading through your post again, and I wanted to say, I don't actually cut down on syns, because the majority of the time, I haven't realised I haven't had them. I also have a friend that HAS to have some popcorn, or chocolate her "treats" as she calls them, but I haven't found the need. I DO miss my nuts. I have a sedentary hobby, which is cardmaking, and if I fancied a snack I would have a bowl of unsalted peanuts to nibble, I wouldn't be able to stop at 15 so have cut them out altogether. The only thing I really missed to start with, was cheese on toast, if I felt like a nibble, I'd have 2 slices oozing with cheese.......so now I don't buy it. I get my "fix" with cheesey triangles with marmite and cucumber on ryvita or scan bran, but rarely more than once or twice a week. xx
 
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Polly - you need to change mindset regarding "fitting in 2 HexBs". You're already doing it when you are on EE because of the fact that meat AND carbs are free. On Red/Green something becomes a Hex.

Do you dry fry? If you do then great. But if you aren't and just adding olive oil to the pan then you are probably using about 6 syns.

Lets take your menus for the other day.

1/2 pink grapefruit , banana...black coffee . . . free whatever the day
SW curry + rice (incl mushy peas and lots of veg) . . . EE - all free. Green - Rice, Mushy peas, veg are free, Meat in curry = HexB. Red - mushy peas = HexB, rice = syns, veg & meat = free
satsuma + apple as snacks . . . free whatever the day
S|F Jelly with strawberries + Mullerlite...sprinkle of meringue . . . free whatever the day - except for the meringue which you have to syn
4 x scan bran + 2 cheesey triangles light cucumber and marmite. . . . whatever the day then Scan Bran = HexB , Cheesy triangles = ½ HexA
Drinks were tea, (about 1/2 or less of my milk allowance) cordial, NAS, fresh lemon in boiled water. . . .
Milk = ½ HexA

So your totals would be as follows:-
EE = 1 HexA & 1 HexB
Green = 1 HexA & 2 HexB
Red = 1 HexA & 2 HexB & lots of syns for the Rice

So your meals above fits perfectly into all 3 plans!
I thinks this is because you aren't having massive amounts of carbs anyway which is where most people struggle if they want to do red days.

You could do the same exercise on the day before and I suspect it would be very similar.

The difference is that you can have bigger portions of carbs and small amounts of protein on green.
But on red you limit your carbs but can have lots of protein.

If I was to have a spag bol with 80 g of mince, 40g carrots, a big salad and about 3½ oz of pasta.
On a red day the pasta would be 3 HexBs and the meat free.
But the pasta would be free on a green day and the meat would be just 1 HexB.
On EE it's all free!

It really is just a case of thinking differently - not having to fit things in.

You can use your syns up with things like gravy, salad cream, full fat mayo, butter and jam on your toast, olive oil to make a salad dressing, cornflour or ordinary flour to thicken a stew or casserole or fry your liver in, tomato sauce, HP sauce on your bacon butty . . . let your imagination run riot.
They don't have to be things that you have to "squeeze in" - just the odd thing you love that you don't want to give up that you have IN a meal - not as extras treats or snacks.

And if you do like the odd glass of wine etc then it is VERY easy to use them up! :)
 
Hi polly hope you're doing ok :) you'll get the hang of red/green, it can be very confusing at first cant it! You may even find you prefer them, I know I do because I'm greedy and like having more healthy extras lol
 
I use 1Cal for frying, did that even before I started dieting, I don't like anything greasy or oily. I usually have my HE As, as my milk allowance which when I first started I had all of it, but now I don't make as many cuppas, I think I've just had 2 today, because I have alternatives, and always have a bottle of NAS drink on the table when I want a swig. My HE.B was wholemeal bread for my breakfast 2 small slices with toms or bacon etc, but I'm a really bad sleeper, and to me that was a big breakfast and all I wanted to do was go back to bed! Now I have fruit unless I feel really hungry.
I do exactly that with my syns, light salad cream on my salad, and decent gravy...was Bisto, but I now have stock cubes which are "lighter" I haven't bought any choc or anything, if I want some I have a Hi Fi bar. I think actually my tastes are changing since I started. My friend kept going on about the meringues so in the end I bought some, and I really found them too sweet now. I used to love them 2 nests filled with cream....but I couldn't eat it now. I've gone much more savoury, and am really enjoying it!
SO.....if anyone asks me what plan I;m on, I'm doing a bit of each! lol ol.
Thank you so much for taking the time to write all this, you've been a damned sight more helpful than my group leader!! It's really appreciated xx
:thankyou:
 
Thank you so much for taking the time to write all this, you've been a damned sight more helpful than my group leader!! It's really appreciated xx:thankyou:
It's nay a problem chica. I'll be as helpful as I can be to anyone. I was sooooo confused at first and it took several weeks to sink in.
But I was doing it totally on my own without a consultant or online.

I think most C's just don't have enough time to talk to members on a 1-to-1 basis and I think they are told to emphasise EE as opposed to Red / Green.
Although being a cynical old bar steward I have my thoughts on this.
Most people I know, aprt from the first few weeks, lose slower on EE than Red/Green.
So it means it will take them longer to get to target and therefore more income for SW!
See I told you I was cynical.
 
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Hi Lyndsey, yes am fine thank you.You? What's your weigh in day? I've done loads of cooking today and filled my freezer with cooked meals, am hoping for that club 10 award this week!
Bev I'm very grateful. I couldn't get my head around it to start with because I didn't get the plans explained to me, well I didn't even know there WERE different plans!. She sat me down, and started talking but she'd had 2 weeks on holiday, and every other person that came in was talking to her at the same time, so what she DID say went straight over my head. My friend does it at home and if it wasn't for her help I think I'd have given up, I seem to be paying just to get on the scales every week. There's over 80 in the group now, and we've moved into a biug hall, can't hear what anyone is saying..........just annoying really! She said last week about dividing the group into 2, so I hope she does. I shall stick going to group till Christmas but I have doubts about driving in the snow in rush hour to jump on the scales and off again, I can do that in the warm in my own bathroom.
Oh I joined up to My Fitness pal today, seems a lot of people use it, (you do don't you Bev?) and you can more or less convert calories to syns quite easily.
Hi B44, as Bev explained to me yesterday, seems I'm doing a bit of everything. Green wouldn't suit me because I have very few carbs, but I do like my meat, so A|TM am looking into everything xx
 
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