Swapping Healthy Extras - cheating or not??

[JoRoger]

Hello, just wondering what your views on healthy extras are - I'm not really a cereal lover, I much prefer toast, but its not overly worth the syns...none of the cereals on the healthy extra list really catch my eye, apart from the occasional Alpen or Ready Brek. The only one I really like is Honey Cheerios, but thats not on the list the thing is tho, other cereals that are on the list come up as 4-5 odd syns each, so surely it is the syns that count rather than what the actual thing you are eating is? Confused --- breakfast is always my downfall, which is never a good start when it is first thing in the morning!

 

[Laddiesboy]

The idea of Healthy Extras is to plug nutritional holes that you may otherwise have in your diet by following SW.

That is to say, HEa's are there to bolster your calcium intake (through milk and/or cheese), and HEb's are there to bolster perhaps protein on a green day, carbs on a red day, and fibre on either.

I may have the details wrong, but the idea is correct.

You cannot simply substitute something you don't like for anything else of your choosing based on the syn value, as they are not just extra syns - they have a purpose.

It is worth checking on the SW website though as there are often more HEX's listed than you might otherwise know about.

Hope this helps

 

[mistyme]

I see what you mean, never thought about it that way before, but I am pretty new to it, there must be a reason for it, SW seem to work it out in some kind of scientific way, you should really ask your consultant about that, but it is a really good point, I am on on EE and I have 28g of special K i have not even checked if they are on the list, I just assumed they were! Hope they are cos I have gave 100% this week and hope havent messed up

 

[cocktailprincess]

Hi JoRoger

Why don't you have the toast? White nimble bread, or wholemeal nimble and weight watchers bread (in addition to lots of others) are a HEX B for 2 slices.

Why substitute cereals if you don't particularly like them- stick to what you like and you are much more likely to stick to this diet long term
xxx

 

[DisneyMumma]

Hi Mistyme,

Special K "Sustain" is on the HexB list but NOT normal Special K - I made that mistake a while back. Normal Special K is 5 syns per 28g :cry:

Jacqui

 

[jaylou]

, I am on on EE and I have 28g of special K i have not even checked if they are on the list, I just assumed they were! Hope they are cos I have gave 100% this week and hope havent messed up

You can have 28g of Kelloggs Special K Sustain but not the normal Special K.

Special K isn't high enough in fibre to count as a B choice.

 

[jaylou]

Oops, crossed posts Disneymumma!

 

[Littleslimmingbee]

Its all about the fibre content hon,..

I love me alpen lights as everyone knows.. butwhy dont you try 3 slices of ww brown danish bread for a HEB xxx

 

[jaylou]

, so surely it is the syns that count rather than what the actual thing you are eating is?

A few people at my group follow this school of thought with cereal, cereal bars and bread. They go on the proviso that a HEX is about 100-120 cals so have whatever they fancy, as a B choice, up to that calorie level.

It may not be detrimental to your losses but you will not be following the plan properly and you will not be getting enough fibre.

There's a huge list on the SW website which is updated as more cereals are added to the lists, for example, Dorset Cereals (some) are now a HEX B choice.

 

[Littleslimmingbee]

-as jaylou has said the wesbite constantly updates new healtjhy extra options were as the book does not.. have a lookie on there..

but i do agree, you essentially paying to not follow the plan properly if you begin to change your healthy extras based on your calorie intake rather than the way it is structured to work.. you might aswell save your money and calorie count.

xxxxx

 

[Busy_mam]

You could also syn you breakfast and have a HEb soup for dinner, if i have had a free breakfast like, quorn sausage, tin toms and mushrooms or omelet I often do this.

How about scrammbles eggs on danish brown or potato waffles are low in syns

 

[Mrs V]

I was going to ask why you felt the need to use your HE's for breakfast??
As I type, I have a plate with free bacon, sausages, tinned new potatoes, baked beans, eggs and mushrooms in front of me all free on EE day.
Because I start work at 8.30, I made this last night when I was cooking tea..simple!

 

[JoRoger]

Thanks for all your help! I was kind of sure that it wasn't really the done thing, my problem is that breakfast is the one thing I don't put a great deal of thought into, not because I just grab the first thing to hand when I get up without thinking, or even because I'm in a hurry, really its the opposite as I don't usually eat breakfast until about 9.45am, I'll have a cup of green tea with lemon first thing, then think about eating a bit later, otherwise I'm feeling hungry again too soon. Hmmm....am thinking that I may well use my lunchtime HE bread as my toast, and then plan something else for lunch. Really need to put a lot of thought into my menu for next week. Also, I suppose when you are a full time mum breakfast is the only meal that you don't have to share with anyone else, my little boy has his own thing, DH is at work, then DH and DS are both here for lunch and tea. A psychological thing maybe as to why I don't think to plan it . But really it should be planned as it dictates the whole direction of your day.

Thanks for the full english ideas - great for weekends and holidays xxx

 

[Littleslimmingbee]

planning is deffinatly the best thing to do hon, when i first started i never ate breaky at all, so i do get how much of an ajustment it is to suddenly plan your day round your healthy extras etc.

youl get there, expierment! x

 

[Mrs V]

I dont eat breakfast until late morning either Hun....cant face it too early! Lol.
Have a look at my food diary if that helps too, it should give you some ideas so that you wont get bored.
Also, you dont have to eat breakfast at a "normal" time either, especially with SW...I think people sometimes get into their heads that you have to eat certain meals at certain times of the day...well you dont, its only habitual and upbringing that dictates what times we eat, so if you dont want breakfast until 10am, dont have it until then Hun.

 

[JoRoger]

Glad to see there are others like me! When I was working, I'd have breakfast at around 7.30am then I'd be starving again by 10am. Even though I'm still up and about from 7am most days, I find that I can get on with a lot of my mummy jobs while drinking green tea (been soldiering on with green tea for about four months now, no difference in weight loss as not been dieting but main difference is in my skin and eyes). Anyway, yes I shall write down lots of ideas, I have to be so regimented in what I do, and I just think well I won't be a full-time mum forever (you wouldn't believe how much I want a part-time job but there's nothing that works round a 2yr old) so I just think this is my time to get my life in order, get things sorted, looked through the magazine with DH last night, he is a good cook and enjoys eating really healthy dinners with lots of veg (not a typical man at all tg), and because he is diabetic he was interested to see how many SW recepies use artificial sweetner rather than sugar. So all in all I do think he is going to be a great support to me in terms of planning for evenings and weekends. I know I can do this thanks for your help everyone xxx

 

[elizabeth]

They go on the proviso that a HEX is about 100-120 cals so have whatever they fancy, as a B choice, up to that calorie level.

I've been doing this since I went vegan. Obviously I can no longer have dairy as my Hex A, and I don't like soya milk. Therefore I was simply not having Hex A anymore. (I take a calcium supplement instead.)

I know that Hex's are around 120 cals, so I decided to just substitute 250ml of fresh orange juice, which I would normally have to syn. I use it to make my fruit smoothie for breakfast, counting it as my 'Hex A'.

It hasn't affected my weight loss and the way I see it, my new Hex A is still providing me with essential nourishment - just in the form of vitamin C rather than calcium.

 

[elizabeth]

.. you might aswell save your money and calorie count.

xxxxx

I disagree, actually. For me the truly liberating thing about the SW plan, the thing that's enabled me to adopt it as a way of life and stay with it, is that it frees me from that whole obsessive calore counting mindset that just isn't sustainable long-term. It provides a blueprint that I can work with very easily on a day-to-day basis, and the fact that I've been able to tweak it a bit to accomodate things like becoming a vegan, without it affecting my weight loss, just reinforces what a brilliant blueprint it is.

 

[fat*n*40]

I dont have my breakfast till 10.30, and I have egg, beans mushrooms and tomatoes and sometimes bacon if its an extra easy day, and toast.
Then that does me till 3 or 4pm when I make my dinner, everyone else in my house eats late aprt from me, i cant eat early or late lol. so I end up having 2 big meals a day but that suits me fine. if I eat breakfast early I am starving an hour earlier and usually for the rest of the day.

 

[jaylou]

I disagree, actually. For me the truly liberating thing about the SW plan, the thing that's enabled me to adopt it as a way of life and stay with it, is that it frees me from that whole obsessive calore counting mindset that just isn't sustainable long-term. It provides a blueprint that I can work with very easily on a day-to-day basis, and the fact that I've been able to tweak it a bit to accomodate things like becoming a vegan, without it affecting my weight loss, just reinforces what a brilliant blueprint it is.

This may work for you hun and I understand it must be difficult being vegan with A choices (what do SW recommend for vegans?) but it isn't following the plan 100%. It's not something consultants and staunch SW followers would recommend!

I'm a bit of a stickler for the rules and when I follow the plan properly and don't do my own version then I lose weight.

If it works for you then great!!