Stuck to my diet 100% - what am I doing wrong

ceriann

Full Member
Just wondered if anyone can help - for the past 10 weeks i've stuck to the slimming world plan - I have on average 8 syns a day - eat plenty of fruit and veg - walk bout half hour a day as well as my busy job as a till supervisor - I have 5 stones to lose - I have already lost one stone - but to me its going very slowly and last week i've even put on a pound - i'm getting disheartened even though i'm staying on it because I have to lose weight for medical reasons. A few at the club have told me to have one day off the plan a week to kind of fool the body into thinking its not on a diet so it wont go into starvation mode and not try to hold on to the fat - has anyone been told this - what can I do - I definately must try to lose 2 stones by march 2011 for me to have an operation for endometriosis. Thank you in anticipation!
 
I would NOT recommend a day a week off plan, it won't trick your body, it's just extra calories.
Something, somewhere must be wrong for you to not lose any weight hun.
Has your consultant seen your food diaries and offered any advice?
Saying that, 14lb in 10 weeks, whilst not as quick as you like is still over a pound a week.
Do you snack? If you do, try only snacking on superfree foods and make sure you have your third superfree with each meal.
Hope this helps. The weight will come off.
 
I also would not recommed going off plan for a day. Can i ask what kind of days you do? I mainly stick to red days with a couple of green as if i have too many green days my losses are not good.

Well done on the stone that you have lost, its a great start!!

xx
 
I do easy extra - I snack a lot but on fruit - I must admit I dont always have a third superfree with every meal but might try trying a red week and green week and extra easy alternatively - got to keep it going
 
Are you drinking enough water? I find my losses slow if my water in take drops.

Also I do red days only as I know carbs put weight on me - green days would be a disaster for me.

As someone else already said, it might be slow but its steady weight loss, you are going in the right direction. Try to keep in perspective that the weight didnt go on overnight so it won't come off overnight but each lb off is another little victory.

Youve done really well so far keep it up x
 
Try to have a third superfree, it will make a difference as you are limiting the amount of red/green foods on your plate.
Also, I only snack if I am really really hungry, not just because I can.
Small things like this can make all the difference - oh and vary your foods too (if you don't already)
 
whatever your meal plan is, it's obviously not working, so try something completely different.
If you eat bread, drop that for a start
If you have pasta or rice based meals, try not having those..
some people ( me included ) don't lose much when they have "easy" carbs such as in bread and pasta..
It might sound stupid, but for one week try having a roast chicken dinner every night for tea..
2-3 medium 'taters cut up and roasted, 1 large leek, 1/4 of a white cabbage, 2-3 good sized cauliflower floretts, and a skinless chicken breast..
tin of beans or spaghetti for dinner, and scrambled eggs for breakfast..
fruit as snacks
This is what I have and have lost just over 4 stone in 14 weeks or so..

in fact, this is my tea every night..

40094-albums2849-picture17032.jpg
 
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It is working - you've lost 1 stone in 10 weeks, that's bang on the average of 1.5lbs a week that you're advised to lose each week.

I know it's easier said than done, but try not to compare yourself to other people's losses, we're all different and our bodies all process food differently. Men especially lose weight a whole lot quicker (medically proved because of how women's bodies are programmed to store fat, men burn more calories naturally, and build muscle easier, which keeps the metabolism high), so certainly don't beat yourself up for not losing the same as a man.

I would also say that you need to have the Third super-free foods on your plate with each and every meal, as this is the most central part to restricting your calories, and is the basis on how the extra easy plan works. The principle with red and green is that you're restricting your calories by excluding, or limiting, one food group (ie, protein or carbs), with the extra easy plan you're restricting your calories by filling your plate with very low calorie foods. Without that heap of veg the calories can add up very quickly, even if they are in healthy food.

Good luck, and just remember that over the course of a year your average losses will add up to 5.5 stones. You didn't put it on overnight, so it won't disappear overnight (even though we all wish it would!).
 
Our consultant said the other week, even though fruit is good for you, it's also full of sugar. So eating a lot of fruit and not having regular meals around eating the fruit means your body is absorbing the sugar which won't help your weight loss much.

Also try altering your snacks and as suggested, cut down on the pasta, rice etc and have more super free foods like veg etc on your plate. Keep going and good luck!!
 
. . . A few at the club have told me to have one day off the plan a week to kind of fool the body into thinking its not on a diet so it wont go into starvation mode and not try to hold on to the fat - has anyone been told this . . .

Yes I have been told this, several times, and dismissed it as nonsense. I don't know where people get these daft ideas from!

You are not doing anything wrong - you are losing weight steadily and slowly, which is how it should be.
 
Have you got a diary on here? Try posting it up and maybe someone can suggest something you're not doing right... Are you weighing and measuring HExs and Syns?

(I don't believe the idea that eating fruit hinders your losses, thus far I have managed to lose 4.5 stones and I eat a terrifying amount of fruit- on average 3 satsumas, 2 apples, 1/2 a pineapple and whatever other fruit I can find... but I do always weigh all my HEx and syns to the gram and ml! )
 
The one thing that stands out to me is that you are not having your 15 syns a day. Make sure you have them all this week, as well as having the 1/3 super free foods and lots of water and you will see the difference.

Also, as everyone else has said, your weight loss is absolutely fine and you are losing steadily. Feel proud for what you have done so far and enjoy the new way of eating.
 
I'd up your syns to 15, and swap your HE's about.Look at your portion sizes, are you eating too much/enough? Do you eat breakfast? Post a diary and we'll have a look.
A day off may just undo all the good of the previous 6 days.
 
I would not say drop bread/pasta/rice and I would not advise having the same meal every night for dinner - surely variety is the key?

It IS working - just concentrate on that third superfree, less snacks and look for speed and superspeed foods in your book.
 
Thank you for replying ColJack - your plan looks interesting but what do you have for syns and healthy extras?

I wouldn't mind putting on my food diary so people could see where I'm going wrong. Don't get me wrong - I'm grateful for losing a pound - but most at the club is losing more than 2 pounds. I just want to know if it is my body (i have endometriosis) or the food! Food diary to come!
 
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Hi there, just to echo what a few of the last posters have said - you do need to make sure that you're eating all your syns - this could be something as simple as some pick n mix sweets or a nice mug of hot chocolate in the evenings, or a few celebrations.

Also up your water intake and really have a good honest look at your exercise levels - are you definitely moving as much as you could each day? And even though you are sticking 100%, are you getting bored with what you're eating? Also are you definitely having just one healthy extra for a and b? (and I don't mean this to be patronising; two people from my WI this week had just trailed a week of EE and stuck 100% but put on weight - then they realised that they'd still been eating two lots of healthy extras for A and B).

All in all though you need to remember that you have done really well, you must feel the difference and the benefits of not having that extra weight, and remember that your SW journey is just that - yours! Good for everyone else if they've lost more weight than you; they may well find they're at more risk of putting it on quicker. This is your plan for your life, not theirs. Just keep on going, look at a few of the areas that could be improved on or increased, and try not to lose your focus.
 
Thank you for replying ColJack - your plan looks interesting but what do you have for syns and healthy extras?

can't say I'd call it a plan, it's just easy to make, I enjoy it and it works for me so I stick to it..

syns I have are gravy with the dinners, a piece of pork pie at mom's on a sunday night ( and worth every bite for the 15 syns for it.. ) and things like extra fruit 'n' fiber or an extra hifi or alpen lite bar.

hex's I have milk ( in the egg or cerial and in drinks throughout the day ) and either some cerial or alpen lite bars etc..
 
my weekly food diary - thank you so much to all who've answered so far

Day one - Breakfast - 2 Weetabix with 250ml semi skimmed milk Lunch - Baked Potato with Tin of Baked Beans - Dinner - Extra Easy Meal of Meatballs and Spaghetti (meatballs made with extra lean mince)
Evening Snack - Cereal Bar 6.5 syns
Snacks through the day - 2 bananas, 4 Pears and some melon.

Day two
Breakfast - 2 Weetabix and 250 ml s.s. milk
Lunch - Slimming world chips
Dinner - sweet and sour chicken (ee recipe) with rice
Evening Snack - cereal bar - 6.5 syns
Snack through day - 2 bananas, 4 pears a plum and tangerine

Day three
Breakfast - 2 weetabix and 250ml ss milk
Lunch - tin of baked beans
Dinners - shepherds pie (ee recipe) and peas
Evening snack - cereal bar - 6.5 syns
Snack through day - 5 bananas, 2 pieces of melon

Day Four
Breakfast - 2 Weetabix made with hot water
Lunch - a syn free mug shot and 3 triangle cheese (he)
Dinner - Steak and syn free chips (got an actifry - gorgeous) and cabbage
Evening snack - cereal bar - 6.5 syns
Snacks through day - 1 satsuma, 1 plum, 1 banana and grapes

Day Five
Breakfast- 2 Weetabix and 250 ss milk
Lunch - 3 bananas and syn free mug shot
Dinner - left over shep pie and cabbage
Syns - 2 cereal bars - 9 syns

Day Six
Breakfast - 2 Weetabix and 250ml ss milk
Lunch - 2 banans and syn free mug shot
Dinner - Beef Stew (syn free recipe)
Snacks - 4 x Cereal bars - 16 syns

Day Seven
Breakfast - 2 Weetabix and 250ml ss milk
Lunch - Syn Free Chips and TIn of baked beans
Dinner - Beef Stew again
Evening snack - 2 x cereal bars - 8.5 syns
Snacks - 3 bananas and 2 pears

Total syns for week 59.5
Weight loss/gain PLUS one pound :eek:
Exercise - my job (busy) and half hour walking dog each night



I would be REALLY grateful if someone can enlighten me
 
Where's the 1/3 superfree food with every meal?! It seems to be lacking in vegetables, which are so important, not only for the EE plan to work as it should, but also to provide the vitamins and minerals your body needs.

I also notice that there are quite a lot of bananas there. I know for me, if i eat more than one a day it can slow up my losses.

Without having that 1/3 superfree the extra easy plan won't work. if you don't like to have veg with your meals then maybe using the red and green plans would be better for you.
 
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