They say unlimited, but I don't think it's true

Yasmine

One last chance
It's said that you are allowed unlimited fruit, unlimited spuds, unlimited rice etc according to what day you have. But I don't think that's true.

I had a gain even though i just followed what it said, I don't know if it's due to me still adjusting even though I've finished a TFR diet weeks ago.

I was being asked about my portion size, I didn't think it mattered if we're allowed unlimited things.

So are we or are we not allowed as much as we truly want and still lose weight?

I'm not trying to be negative or anything, I'm just really annoyed and on the brink of giving up and really need help :(
 
Although they do say unlimited, they also say eat until you are comfortably full and not stuffed.
Have you been having your 1/3 superfree foods with your meals? Having for Hexs and syns?
Everyone is different, but for me SW works much better if I eat when I am actually hungry and not eat just because it is a specific mealtime.
I think your body is probably adjusting to proper eating after previous restrictive diets.
 
The idea is that you eat until you are comfortably full Hun. I used to have this problem as I am someone that doesnt have a full cut off point until I had my band and now I cant over eat :)
The thing is to eat a variety of foods including fruit and veg and to mix the plan as much as possible, so dont do one week in one plan type such as EE. Try and vary each day.

Lol basically the same answer as Sonia!!!
 
Hiya -

Personally I think our 'unlimited' foods are based on the fact they don't expect us to be able to eat too much of anything unlimited. I.e. pasta is filling, so though techincally you are allowed to eat a huge bowl, could you?

Also, I try to stick to the 1/3s rule. If I am having pasta, I don't often just have a pasta and sauce...I'll stock my plate up with S or SS foods. Lots of veggies etc. This is important on EE plan too. I try to do 1/3 of the carby foods and 2/3 of free foods (as in S or SS free foods).

Even though this isn't a calorie diet...you can't change the fact that pasta can be high incalories. If you eat lots of it, you will see an impact. I mentally try to make sure my SW plans for the week are sensible calorie wise (both not too high or too low!).

If you eat a lot of green day foods (either on green or EE days) try to mix it up a bit with different veggies, be it with the spuds or pasta. Or introduce more red days or lean proteins into EE days.

Maybe you're adjusting too, as you said. Give it time. SW does work and it's worth the effort. It takes time to settle into a routine so don't worry.

Good luck hon! x
 
Sorry don't mean to be replying in all your threads, but think this is important. I personally don't think that unlimited means eat as much as you want. Example- yesterday I had 1 egg, baked beans and made the SW chips. I made about 3 potatoes worth of chips as I was giving my kids as well, but they didn't like the spices on top. I could have gone and finished all the chips myself, but I know that if I did I would have been extremely full and I probably wouldn't have seen much of a loss this week. I think although they say unlimited we need to think of sensible portion sizes (without going hungry).
 
Theres a lady at my class who gained 1lb this week - it was her first week heres the suggestions that went around the class:

- Snacking between meals should be something out of your syns, HEX, or superfree foods not something like a bowl of rice etc
- Make sure your drinking lots of fluid
- Eating 1/3 superfree foods with every meal
- Eat regulary as it helps keep your metabolism going

Thats all I can think of at the moment x
 
It is unlimited, honest! Really, you shouldn't be able to overeat enough with free and super free foods to cause a gain. If you have been on a restrictive diet until now, you might find you need a few weeks for your body to adjust its metabolism now that you are eating plenty of food again. If you are on a very low calorie diet, your body will sense this and your metabolism will slow down to preserve energy. When you start eating normally your metabolism will speed up again, but not instantly. Also if you have suddenly started eating carbs again (I don't know if this is the case foe you but in case it is) then your body will make and store Glycogen. If you have been eating few carbs on a restrictive diet previously then your Glycogen stores will have been depleted. Glycogen holds on to twice it's weight in water, so your gain could be this. You may have actually lost some fat but it is hidden by the Glycogen related gain.
 
Yep it's unlimited but you need to exercise some restraint and only eat until satisfied. That's the key.
I think the downfall comes when snacking on some free foods. I think pasta in sauce, savoury rice, mugshots, noodles etc shouldn't be a snack (not suggesting you do this, but people do). A snack should be, as suggested, superfree fruit and veg, or a yoghurt or your HEX's or syns.
I eat very big portions but since EE I've been thinking about it a bit. I can easily eat half a plate full of chips and was going to do so with my lasagne tonight, but I've decided not too, I'll have half a plate of salad instead. I don't have to but I've chosen too, if that makes sense?

I think, look at the snacks and make sure you have at least a third superfree foods at each meal hun and stick with it.
 
Hi Yasmine,
I agree with the guys above. As a new starter I too am still learning. I just polished off a mugshot and some ham for lunch, but was still hungry. I was about to have a second mugshot and then I decided to have a big bowl of fruit salad and natural yog to fill me up instead.

It is hard getting the hang of it all- but stick with it and remember to have your full 1/3 superfree foods b4 you eat anything else. I suppose if you were still hungry you could then have a second mugshott- but to tell the truth- I'm stuffed now!

Best of Luck. x
 
well its about moderation really.


you could sit and eat plates of bacon and steak all day long and then bowl after bowl of pasta because they are free!! but a you wouldnt want to and you probably couldnt and you definatly wouldnt lose weight.

I dont mean this about you yasmine but some people gain because they abuse the system but i dont think for one sec you and many other who have gained have abused the sytem.

but some people see Sw like chinese all you can buffet they just stuff!!! it depends even though free foods are free they still have a calorific content even though we dont count calories if you ate 2500 calories worth of free rice, pasta and bacon you would put on.

but like you said you have just come off a meal replacement diet then even though you might not of gained to start with your metabolism might have slowed down.


its like any diet its about balance
 
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I dont mean this about you yasmine but some people gain because they abuse the system but i dont think for one sec you and many other who have gained have abused the sytem.

but some people see Sw like chinese all you can buffet they just stuff!!! it depends even though free foods are free they still have a calorific content even though we dont count calories if you ate 2500 calories worth of free rice, pasta and bacon you would put on.
I can't say it better than what's already been said just thought I'd add on another SW forum (a good few yrs ago) there was a lady who's weight loss was pretty slow but then she posted up she was sometimes eating 10 mullerlights a day! That's a 1000 calories, and that was on top of eating lots of other free foods. She couldn't understand when we tried to tell her that there has to be a limit somewhere!

Wendy
 
I can't say it better than what's already been said just thought I'd add on another SW forum (a good few yrs ago) there was a lady who's weight loss was pretty slow but then she posted up she was sometimes eating 10 mullerlights a day! That's a 1000 calories, and that was on top of eating lots of other free foods. She couldn't understand when we tried to tell her that there has to be a limit somewhere!

Wendy

yeah thats exactly what i meant, sometimes it so hard to put it in to words with out offending someone. but i'm not suggesting that yasmine is doing something like that either!! lol i cant say right for saying something wrong!
 
Before my band, I used to see eating a whole chicken as a challenge rather than something to enjoy and nourish you!
Definitely things in moderation!!
 
As much as I'm loving SW at the moment, having joined just over 3 weeks ago and lost 4.5 pounds, I think that they should make it clear that it is not eat as much as you like. If I'm told unlimited, that means to me that you can eat as much as you like and have big portions.

If this isn't the case, then I think it needs to be stressed that you should eat until you are comfortably full, which is not the same as unlimited food.

I asked my Consultant about this, and she said that you should eat until you're satisfied and not feeling sick, but it reality even if people are eating large portions, she has rarely seen people eat so much that they put weight on.

I'm personally not eating tons of food, and strangely enough my appetite has reduced and I'm eating less if anything. Think reverse psychology is working in my case :)
 
yeah thats exactly what i meant, sometimes it so hard to put it in to words with out offending someone. but i'm not suggesting that yasmine is doing something like that either!! lol i cant say right for saying something wrong!
I think you said it just fine, we're not discussing anyone in particular just the subject, and I think it's an important subject because it is an integral part of SW and I think it does confuse things when they say 'unlimited'. I agree it should be stressed at the meetings about eating till you're satisfied.

Wendy
 
Surely it is all about common sense and how you feel. I can't believe that anyone would want to eat so much food that they feel so full they can hardly move!
 
I don't really have anything to add to the excellent advice you've already had, which I absolutely 100% agree with. I just wanted to say that I think an 8lb gain in a week cannot possibly be down to what you've been eating. I've looked at your diaries and they look pretty good.

IMHO I think that there is something else going on. Your first diary was dated around 10 January. If prior to that you were on a VLCD then it's almost inevitable that when you start eating normally your body will say "way hay" and hold onto every calorie that passes your lips just in case you're going to start starving it again. My advice, for what it's worth, would be to give yourself a month on the plan to allow your body to level out.

Most importantly, hang in there and don't let it get you down. We could pretty much have predicted you would have a gain.
 
Malaika, you say that it's about common sense and that nobody would want to eat till bursting point, but I disagree. No offence meant! :)
I used to be able to stuff my face until fairly recently to the point I felt uncomfortable. With me, it was about greed and huge portion sizes, hence gaining lots of weight.
I do think that SW is clever, in that saying that you can eat unlimited amounts takes away the greed factor for me. Now that I know that I can, I don't seem to be that interested in doing so.
Having said that, I'm sure plenty of people do eat to bursting point because it says unlimited, and this could prove to be a problem if people take in more calories than they burn off.
Just my opinion :D
I would probably prefer to be told to eat until satisfied and that would remove any doubt
 
Sorry sugarlove. Perhaps I am just being ignorant! I have never ever been able to eat until bursting even when I was not dieting so I am presuming that everyone should be like that. In fact, if I ever see a plate of food overloaded it put me right off eating!
In that case, you are right, SW should mention that people should eat until satisfied and not bursting!
 
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