Still can't get my head around how much I am eating??

[Morrigan96]

I know it works ... but I still can't figure out how it works. I started on this plan three and a half weeks ago and although I 'think' I understand the logic and the science of it ... I'm still getting that nagging voice in my head all the time, that says calories are calories whether they come in a banana skin or a chip wrapper.

I am eating soooo much, it just doesn't seem possible that I can put this much food down me and still lose weight. Today it seems like I haven't stopped eating .. and yet although I know it's 'free' food, even that has to add up to something if you eat too much of it surely?

I started off with two weetabix with skimmed milk and a chopped banana, plus a cup of coffee at 7.30am. By 10ish I was hungry again so I had two slices of nimble wholemeal bread with a filling of homemade SW coleslaw, marmite and sliced tomato, plus a glass of tomato juice. Lunchtime (about 1pm) I had two hard boiled eggs, another pile of homemade SW coleslaw and a pile of SW couscous with chopped cucumber, onion, toms etc (like the coleslaw I make this up myself and keep a big tupperware box in the fridge). Afterwards I had a big bowl of raspberries with natural fat free yoghurt poured over. For dinner (around 5.30pm) I had jacket spud with a filling of baked beans and 30g cheese ration grated over (I'm a vegetarian and I can have both cheese and milk as A choices on my healthy extras), plus a massive rocket salad with fat free dressing and a mini corn on the cob. I let that go down and about half an hour later, I fancied something sweet so had another bowl of raspberries with a fat free vanilla yoghurt poured over. I look back at that lot and see that only the tomato juice is a syn?? The weetabix and the bread are my two B choices on the healthy extras and I'm allowed two A choices as well - my skimmed milk and my cheese. The yoghurt is free, so is the spud, the beans ..... but it still doesn't make sense to me. All that other stuff - the beans, the potato, the bread, the weetabix, the fruit (I had two big bowls of raspberries, a banana for brekkie - they all have calories and add up to something surely???).

I know there has to be some science or logic behind it .. but I still don't quite understand how I can eat so much - my dinner was massive honestly and then a pudding afterwards, which I would never have had before SW ... and you can still lose weight? Isn't calories from a banana the same as calories from a bar of chocolate? So if a banana is 100 calories and you eat 12 that's 1200 calories, which might be equal to two bars of chocolate or something (I'm just guessing these as an example) but hopefully anyone reading will follow what I'm trying to say?

Can someone explain to me how it's possible to eat so much and yet your body burns up stored fat - which is basically what 'weight loss' is. How can it burn up fat when I seem to be shovelling food into myself all the time? I know I should get it .. but I just don't. I still can't get past that feeling that I'm eating too much and it doesn't add up somehow?

 

[liliferjade]

I love slimming world... it works but I often find myself asking the same thing. I looked at this and it did help a bit so hopefully it will help you understand too...
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Slimming world does work and from your 5lb loss I'm sure you have realised already We can eat all this yummy food and still lose weight, enjoy it xxx

 

[AnnaFaraday]

But you wouldn't eat 12 bananas in a day - well, ok, I wouldn't. It would be a huge amount. But I could quite easily eat that amount of calories in chocolate!

If you look at what you are eating then you will see that it is low in fat, high in protein, and very high in fruit and vegetables. Which is as it should be.

You do seem to be eating a lot, but it's all good stuff and according to plan. There may come a time when you are nearer to target when you might have to consider cutting back a bit, but at the moment you are losing weight, so the best thing is to trust in the plan and carry on. It's working!

 

[Fat_ted21]

I wanna know where this chocolate bar is that has the same amount of calories as a banana? Cos its one seriously low calorie chocolate bar!!

Yes there is calories is everything you eat, but all the foods that are free are all on the list cos they are pretty low in cals compared to how full they make you. Most of the free foods are fruit and veg which are really low calorie, especially veg which is why we are recommended to eat so flamming much of them.

Im also a believer that the body isnt simply a machine that can be summed up in a maths equation of cals in and out. The foods you eat on sw are generally food your body needs, so youre eating healthier,making yourself fitter, healthier and well run more efficiently if you are a machine! Its not just about losing weight, youre more likely to lose fat instead of any muscle mass which you can lose due to extreme dieting. Plus it is just a really healthy and easy way to eat for life. Get over the calories and you will be in a much better place to enjoy your food and your weight loss journey.

 

[Morrigan96]

I wanna know where this chocolate bar is that has the same amount of calories as a banana? Cos its one seriously low calorie chocolate bar!!

Yes there is calories is everything you eat, but all the foods that are free are all on the list cos they are pretty low in cals compared to how full they make you. Most of the free foods are fruit and veg which are really low calorie, especially veg which is why we are recommended to eat so flamming much of them.

Im also a believer that the body isnt simply a machine that can be summed up in a maths equation of cals in and out. The foods you eat on sw are generally food your body needs, so youre eating healthier,making yourself fitter, healthier and well run more efficiently if you are a machine! Its not just about losing weight, youre more likely to lose fat instead of any muscle mass which you can lose due to extreme dieting. Plus it is just a really healthy and easy way to eat for life. Get over the calories and you will be in a much better place to enjoy your food and your weight loss journey.

I never said there was a chocolate bar that had the same amount of calories as a banana. What I said was - a calorie is a calorie wherever it comes from. If you read my post again I made the hypothetical comparison of 12 bananas equalling two chocolate bars and I also stressed that I was 'guessing' the amounts.

I asked the question in good faith because it has been genuinely puzzling me, not to invite ridicule.

 

[AnnaFaraday]

I never said there was a chocolate bar that had the same amount of calories as a banana. What I said was - a calorie is a calorie wherever it comes from. If you read my post again I made the hypothetical comparison of 12 bananas equalling two chocolate bars and I also stressed that I was 'guessing' the amounts.I asked the question in good faith because it has been genuinely puzzling me, not to invite ridicule.

Good heavens, where has been the ridicule? We have answered your questions and tried to be helpful, each in our own way. OK, with a bit of light-hearted banter as well, but no ridicule was intended, I can assure you.

 

[Morrigan96]

Good heavens, where has been the ridicule? We have answered your questions and tried to be helpful, each in our own way. OK, with a bit of light-hearted banter as well, but no ridicule was intended, I can assure you.

Anna, my comment wasn't in reply to your post, which I am very grateful for and have 'liked' - thankyou .

It was the comment from the poster I quoted in my post i.e. 'I wanna know where this chocolate bar is that has the same amount of calories as a banana? Cos its one seriously low calorie chocolate bar!!' when I clearly haven't said anything of the sort in my opening post. I may not quite understand the science behind being able to eat so much and still lose weight, but I am not a complete idiot - which is why I used 12 bananas to equal two chocolate bars as an example, and even stressed that I was 'guessing' those estimates.

My point is purely that a calorie is a calorie wherever it comes from .... and eating too many of them whether it's a mountain of bananas or a couple of chocolate bars or a bag of chips or whatever, is still going to prevent weight loss.

My question was a serious one ... I am having difficulty in understanding how this works in terms of the sheer quantities of food I am eating. Hope that clears up any misunderstanding.

 

[3106Catherine]

I would guess the theory is having a third free/superfree means you're bulking up your meals with very low calorie foods but still feeling full and eating a full meal. I follow red though and have no idea about the theory behind that but I know it works!

 

[Morrigan96]

I think you're right Catherine. It's the 'visual' effect and the amount of munching I do .. I think is making my thinking skewed.

For breakfast today I had two weetabix again with skimmed milk. Normally I'd have semi-skimmed milk and a spoonful of sugar or two on that, and maybe a bit of toast afterwards ... but instead I had a sliced banana and a handful of berries. It obviously looked a lot 'bigger' in the bowl with all the fruit, plus it takes longer to eat .. and I felt like I'd had a really big breakfast.

Lunchtime I had beans on toast. Normally I'd have ordinary size white bread, with butter, instead I had smaller wholemeal nimble with no spread .. but I put a big pile of my homemade SW coleslaw on the side - so again the plate looks a lot fuller and it takes longer to eat .. and I felt like I'd had a really big lunch.

I know I'm sticking to the plan, and I know I've lost 5lb in the first three weeks ... so it's obviously working. It's just the psychological effect of eating what feels 'so much' that sets off this nagging voice telling me 'this can't be right'.

Thanks for the responses everyone. Much appreciated.

 

[WelshJojo]

Isn't calories from a banana the same as calories from a bar of chocolate? So if a banana is 100 calories and you eat 12 that's 1200 calories, which might be equal to two bars of chocolate or something

I think this is where the confusion has arisen-you were merely making the statement that calories are calories, irrespective of where they come from, however this could have been misread-I even did so myself the first time! Everyone is trying to help, there was no malice intended I'm sure

 

[kingleds]

I wanna know where this chocolate bar is that has the same amount of calories as a banana? Cos its one seriously low calorie chocolate bar!!

.

It's called a Curly Wurly - about 110 calories, the same as an average size banana x

The difference is that the banana will fill you up, and the curly Wurly won't, and that's how sw works.

OP - you are correct that you can overheat on free food, and as Anna says, you do seem to be eating a lot. As long as you are eating because you are hungry, not out of habit then you will loose weight. But be careful of overheating carbs on green days, and try to keep the amount of SUPERFREE you eat high to avoid this.

 

[judimac]

I must admit the thing that worried me was you ate after half an hour as you fancied something sweet. You couldn't have been hungry. I'm not saying it's wrong, but it's appetite that leads us to overeat not hunger, you might get away with it now, but SW is all about retraining your appetite, eat till you're comfortably full. Being able to snack on free food isn't a green light for snacking all day.

 

[Fat_ted21]

I never said there was a chocolate bar that had the same amount of calories as a banana. What I said was - a calorie is a calorie wherever it comes from. If you read my post again I made the hypothetical comparison of 12 bananas equalling two chocolate bars and I also stressed that I was 'guessing' the amounts.

I asked the question in good faith because it has been genuinely puzzling me, not to invite ridicule.

I wasnt trying to ridicule you, I was trying to explain something in a light hearted way. Im sorry for any confusion. I dont respond to many posts and I only ever do so to offer what I consider to be helpful advice.