Tweaking the plan

BritMumInCanada

Gold Member
I often see members giving advice re the slimming world plan saying I don't syn cooked fruit, or I don't bother with a 1/3 superfree or I eat heaps of cous cous cake and don't syn it etc.

and it just had me thinking (as you do lol), why members choose to jeopardise their weight losses by tweaking the plan.

Is it because Slimming World is a more relaxed type of weight loss plan?

I mean I haven't seen those on weight watchers saying, oh I don't bother counting that as points etc I just have it as free.

I understand that some can do those little tweaks here and there and still lose weight, but unfortunately it isnt the case for everyone and I don't think it is good advice, especially for newbies to see members saying oh I don't bother synning that etc. It becomes confusing and is hardly surprising to then get some distraught new members seeking advice because the weight is not coming off for them.

Every little tweak soon adds up.

I just wondered what others think?
 
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Personally for me, if it has a syn value I syn it. The only time I go against this is when say a whole recipe has 1 syn and it's shared....it's not worth it. But i always save a few syns over just in case :) xx
 
I hate tweaking with a passion. I noticed tonight on the facebook sw group people were having a debate about mashed up bananas.
Also noticed some people eat lean minced beef as free & also use wholemeal pitta breads which are not a heb but still class them as one.
Personally I stick to the plan as the book states, whats the point in tweaking something if it is wrong. The plan should be followed as it is written :D

And cous cous cake/ chickpea dahl loaf & pasta & sauce quiche all sounds so bloody wrong to me lol!
But that's my opinion on it. I know of people who do tweak the plan and still lose but thats up to them if they wish to go against the rules lol. xxx
 
If you are still losing weight and are happy to continuing doing little tweaks then I suppose it doesnt really matter, but I hate seeing advice for these little tweaks being given to other members. It just makes things confusing and is hard to untrain those things if a new member has picked it up. Not to mention it does mean you are going against what Slimming World advises. I personally just don't see the point in not following the plan 100%

Can you imagine just how many extra syns one might be consuming by doing every one of the little tweaks that you see floating around.
 
I syn everything if it's got a syn value, however theres been a few times (only about 5 or 6 since I started) I made SW crisps and not synned them (when I used to go to meetings the consultant said she thought it was ok to do sometimes).
 
While I can see what you are saying, I think its important that we are as honest as we can be on these boards. Yes, its important to reinforce the SW plan as it stands to new members and not be advocating tweaking, but I also think its important to have honesty about our own consumption because a) it will help when we can source where there might be a problem and b) if we hide it away we are not being honest with ourselves and thats a sticky path to walk down.

I will be honest - If I used cooked fruit, which I never do, I would syn it, but if I am using a portion of tomato puree in a bolognese that is going to serve 4, I most likely wouldnt because the syn value over the portion is negligible, and I dont use all of my syns every day so know I can afford to not worry on occasion if I do something like that.

I DO use cous cous to coat the "syn free KFC" and I dont syn it, but I dont have extra carbs as part of the meal and make sure I call that day as an Extra Easy one and have at least 1/3 superfree with it. I dont, however, make a cous-cous cake and snaffle the lot, because that is snacking and not a meal.

But then I calculate everything in my head on a day to day basis and always know where I am up to.

Ultimately, every time you dont syn something that would make a contribution to your overall syns then you are leaving yourself open to making mistakes with your counting and not losing as effectively.
 
Also I would love to see a post from anyone admitting that they tweaked the plan and it eventually stopped working for them.

I know for me, even when I have had a planned flexi day in the past and I am talking about not even going hugely over my syns, I end up with a sts and have sometimes had a small gain.

So I know I have to give my 100% to the plan if I want to lose weight.
 
Here is something my sw friend sent me just before Christmas, It really does open your eyes......

Christmas in the Sogood household (what's yours like?)

It’s Christmas morning, the children are up and it’s only 6am, Mrs Sogood didn’t get to bed until 1am – after eating Santa’s mince pie and drinking his glass of sherry, not to mention (for a bit of speed food) eating Rudolph’s carrot

She puts on the kettle and makes a cup of milky coffee and adds just one spoonful of sugar.

Presents opened in record time, she decides to have breakfast. Bran Flakes and 1 Ryvita is her first HEB of the day. She tips them into a bowl then remembers to check the weight. Yes, just as she thought, well over an ounce. She takes out the extra and puts them in her mouth. She sloshes on the milk and adds a spoonful of sugar to sweeten. As it’s Christmas day she treats herself to a small glass of fresh orange juice. The children only want toast, so she butters 4 slices, cuts off the crusts and without thinking, eats them.

Mid morning while preparing the veg, she enjoys a glass or two of champagne……well, it is Christmas! For lunch, Mrs Sogood enjoys a starter of melon and prawns on a bed of lettuce, with a drizzle of sauce. For the main course, she has mashed potato made with a dash of cream, roast potato and parsnips cooked in the turkey fat, sprouts, broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, turkey (113gms), pickled onions, a dollop of stuffing, home made gravy and 1 tablespoon of cranberry jelly. All this washed down with a toast of champagne and a bottle of white wine.

She serves the family with Christmas pudding and hot brandy sauce, testing the sauce to make sure it is piping hot. She feels very virtuous for resisting the pudding! As she clears up, she finishes 2 potatoes from the children’s plates.

Mrs Sogood then prepares the cheese and crackers, just tasting crumbs from each of the 6 cheeses. She allows herself 5 crackers and puts what looks like an ounce of Camembert on her plate as her second HEA. This is enjoyed with a glass of port.

After lunch, the family sits to watch television for a couple of hours. Later, the children open the tin of Roses and give Mum 5 of her favourites (the purple one with the nut in the middle). It’s ok she thinks as she didn’t have any Christmas pudding so this is her reward.

At 7pm she makes turkey, stuffing and cranberry sandwiches. It’s on brown bread, so she counts her second HEB of the day with one mince pie and a smallish slice of Christmas cake for afters. While enjoying the film, out comes the Baileys and after the joy of the day, she allows herself a good slug over ice.

A milky coffee with just 2 After Eight mints finishes off this ‘not too bad’ Food Optimising day.

Mrs Sogood thinks she may have over-done the syns a little, having maybe an extra 20 to 25 on top of the 15 she normally has……….


But here’s the correct count:-

13 syns for the mince pie
3 syns for the 50mls sherry
2 syns for sugar in the coffee (not a level teaspoon)
HEB and 10 syns for Bran Flake
2 x HEA for milk in coffee and on cereal
4 syns for the dessertspoon of sugar on cereal (not level)
13 syns for 100mls fresh orange juice
6 syns for crusts off children’s toast with butter on
11 syns for 2 glasses of champagne (142mls each)
2 syns for drizzle of sauce on prawns
4 syns for cream in mashed potato
18 syns for dollop of stuffing
5 syns for potatoes in oil
3 syns for parsnips in oil
HEB for 113gms turkey
6 syns for gravy
4 syns for cranberry sauce (not level tablespoon)
5½ syns for champagne
30 syns for bottle of white wine
3 syns for testing brandy sauce several times
4 syns for potatoes from children’s plates
5 syns for testing cheeses
10 syns for crackers
6 syns for Camembert
4 syns for 50mls port
17½ syns for Roses chocs
7 syns for 2 slices brown bread
2 syns for cranberry jelly
4½ syns for 2oz turkey
6 syns for stuffing
13 syns for mince pie
15 syns for 2oz Christmas cake
16 syns for good slug of Baileys
3 syns for 2 After Eight mints
3 syns for extra milk


238 ½ syns

and that’s just Christmas Day……what about Boxing Day and the New Year?
 
While I can see what you are saying, I think its important that we are as honest as we can be on these boards. Yes, its important to reinforce the SW plan as it stands to new members and not be advocating tweaking, but I also think its important to have honesty about our own consumption because a) it will help when we can source where there might be a problem and b) if we hide it away we are not being honest with ourselves and thats a sticky path to walk down.

I will be honest - If I used cooked fruit, which I never do, I would syn it, but if I am using a portion of tomato puree in a bolognese that is going to serve 4, I most likely wouldnt because the syn value over the portion is negligible, and I dont use all of my syns every day so know I can afford to not worry on occasion if I do something like that.

I DO use cous cous to coat the "syn free KFC" and I dont syn it, but I dont have extra carbs as part of the meal and make sure I call that day as an Extra Easy one and have at least 1/3 superfree with it. I dont, however, make a cous-cous cake and snaffle the lot, because that is snacking and not a meal.

But then I calculate everything in my head on a day to day basis and always know where I am up to.

Ultimately, every time you dont syn something that would make a contribution to your overall syns then you are leaving yourself open to making mistakes with your counting and not losing as effectively.

Yes it is important to be honest.

But I am talking more about other members being advised on little tweaks because it works for others, rather than a confessional thing.

It is one of the reasons slimming world won't have their own forums. Because too much conflicting information gets passed around.
 
Here is something my sw friend sent me just before Christmas, It really does open your eyes......

Christmas in the Sogood household (what's yours like?)

It’s Christmas morning, the children are up and it’s only 6am, Mrs Sogood didn’t get to bed until 1am – after eating Santa’s mince pie and drinking his glass of sherry, not to mention (for a bit of speed food) eating Rudolph’s carrot

She puts on the kettle and makes a cup of milky coffee and adds just one spoonful of sugar.

Presents opened in record time, she decides to have breakfast. Bran Flakes and 1 Ryvita is her first HEB of the day. She tips them into a bowl then remembers to check the weight. Yes, just as she thought, well over an ounce. She takes out the extra and puts them in her mouth. She sloshes on the milk and adds a spoonful of sugar to sweeten. As it’s Christmas day she treats herself to a small glass of fresh orange juice. The children only want toast, so she butters 4 slices, cuts off the crusts and without thinking, eats them.

Mid morning while preparing the veg, she enjoys a glass or two of champagne……well, it is Christmas! For lunch, Mrs Sogood enjoys a starter of melon and prawns on a bed of lettuce, with a drizzle of sauce. For the main course, she has mashed potato made with a dash of cream, roast potato and parsnips cooked in the turkey fat, sprouts, broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, turkey (113gms), pickled onions, a dollop of stuffing, home made gravy and 1 tablespoon of cranberry jelly. All this washed down with a toast of champagne and a bottle of white wine.

She serves the family with Christmas pudding and hot brandy sauce, testing the sauce to make sure it is piping hot. She feels very virtuous for resisting the pudding! As she clears up, she finishes 2 potatoes from the children’s plates.

Mrs Sogood then prepares the cheese and crackers, just tasting crumbs from each of the 6 cheeses. She allows herself 5 crackers and puts what looks like an ounce of Camembert on her plate as her second HEA. This is enjoyed with a glass of port.

After lunch, the family sits to watch television for a couple of hours. Later, the children open the tin of Roses and give Mum 5 of her favourites (the purple one with the nut in the middle). It’s ok she thinks as she didn’t have any Christmas pudding so this is her reward.

At 7pm she makes turkey, stuffing and cranberry sandwiches. It’s on brown bread, so she counts her second HEB of the day with one mince pie and a smallish slice of Christmas cake for afters. While enjoying the film, out comes the Baileys and after the joy of the day, she allows herself a good slug over ice.

A milky coffee with just 2 After Eight mints finishes off this ‘not too bad’ Food Optimising day.

Mrs Sogood thinks she may have over-done the syns a little, having maybe an extra 20 to 25 on top of the 15 she normally has……….


But here’s the correct count:-

13 syns for the mince pie
3 syns for the 50mls sherry
2 syns for sugar in the coffee (not a level teaspoon)
HEB and 10 syns for Bran Flake
2 x HEA for milk in coffee and on cereal
4 syns for the dessertspoon of sugar on cereal (not level)
13 syns for 100mls fresh orange juice
6 syns for crusts off children’s toast with butter on
11 syns for 2 glasses of champagne (142mls each)
2 syns for drizzle of sauce on prawns
4 syns for cream in mashed potato
18 syns for dollop of stuffing
5 syns for potatoes in oil
3 syns for parsnips in oil
HEB for 113gms turkey
6 syns for gravy
4 syns for cranberry sauce (not level tablespoon)
5½ syns for champagne
30 syns for bottle of white wine
3 syns for testing brandy sauce several times
4 syns for potatoes from children’s plates
5 syns for testing cheeses
10 syns for crackers
6 syns for Camembert
4 syns for 50mls port
17½ syns for Roses chocs
7 syns for 2 slices brown bread
2 syns for cranberry jelly
4½ syns for 2oz turkey
6 syns for stuffing
13 syns for mince pie
15 syns for 2oz Christmas cake
16 syns for good slug of Baileys
3 syns for 2 After Eight mints
3 syns for extra milk


238 ½ syns

and that’s just Christmas Day……what about Boxing Day and the New Year?

love it!!!!
 
I absolutely agree that it shouldnt be directly advised, but at the same time, someone saying that they do it may well be read by a new member who absorbs that information and accepts it as gospel and ruins their own losses.

And unfortunately, that cant be policed by the mods - they would spend their entire day going through each post with a fine tooth comb. So we do need to be a bit responsible about what we say, but how do we walk the line between being absolutely honest about the way we use the plan and how we may be influencing others?

It is a tricky one. We can be either a pure and sanitised brigade of SW advocates who admit to nothing in terms of deviation from the plan, or we can openly and honestly discuss what we do and share responsibility for pointing out that really it shouldnt be done that way.

In my experience, from time to time new members who have seen something like that be mentioned, have taken the initiative and questioned it, as have longer standing members, and I think we do have to give everyone, new and old, the benefit of having some common sense and responsibility in what they post, whilst still maintaining the freedom to be open about how they work the plan.
 
Absolutely :) But in the flexisyn thread, as much as here, I have strongly advocated the need for honesty in what you are doing, and I cant just say "dont be honest about it" because when we arent honest about it, even if we do go off plan, we can end up in a right mess.

But equally, I cant stand over every single member who decides to use the word "flexisyn" to write off a day of offplan eating and demand that they edit their posts. I have, like you have, posted what I think should be the way it is handled and can only hope that some people will take this on board and think about what they post.

When you cheat, you cheat only yourself.

ETA - in an ideal world, everyone would find it super easy to stick to plan 100%. But this is far from an ideal world and there are always choices to be made, good and bad, and times where being 100% simply is not possible without offending someone who has cooked for you, or going hungry. So yes, you either do it 100% or you dont, but the person who can sustain 100% is no better than the one who cannot, as they are both doing their best within their own circumstances.
 
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Absolutely :) But in the flexisyn thread, as much as here, I have strongly advocated the need for honesty in what you are doing, and I cant just say "dont be honest about it" because when we arent honest about it, even if we do go off plan, we can end up in a right mess.

But equally, I cant stand over every single member who decides to use the word "flexisyn" to write off a day of offplan eating and demand that they edit their posts. I have, like you have, posted what I think should be the way it is handled and can only hope that some people will take this on board and think about what they post.

When you cheat, you cheat only yourself.

ETA - in an ideal world, everyone would find it super easy to stick to plan 100%. But this is far from an ideal world and there are always choices to be made, good and bad, and times where being 100% simply is not possible without offending someone who has cooked for you, or going hungry. So yes, you either do it 100% or you dont, but the person who can sustain 100% is no better than the one who cannot, as they are both doing their best within their own circumstances.

I think you have got confused with what I am talking about to be honest.

There is a difference between being honest and doing confessional posts about tweaks and things you have done which have sent you off plan and looking for support.

and

offering advice on tweaks etc because it works for you. It is a bit like saying oh well I can eat 10 packets of crisps and not gain weight so why dont you. Everyones metabolisim is different and while tweaking might work for some, it doesnt work for everyone.

I am obviously talking about the latter here after seeing several threads in different places doing exactly that. So it then got me thinking about it, as you do.

I haven't mentioned anywhere that members should not be honest. But we can say "No that isn't part of the plan" when we see others advising of tweaks to make things free etc.

This thread was more out of interest to see if people really get away with long term tweaking as when I thought about, all those tweaks really do add up and I know for me personally, if I dont stick to it 100% I don't lose weight. Simple!!
 
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I don't think I have misunderstood you at all but I apologise if I have been repetitive and made no sense, perhaps you have misunderstood me.

Your OP gave examples of people stating that they have confessed to not synning certain "tweaks". Not examples of people directly advising others that they should do the same because it would do no harm. However when you did talk about that, I pointed out that on the occasions where it is mentioned in an honest and confessional sense, it may lead the reader to believe that it's widely accepted practice to do so and that it would probably do them no harm either.

However that information is delivered, via directly suggesting it or by confessing it, it gives the same message - that it does no harm to tweak, if it goes unchallenged.

That's the wrong message to be giving out to people, however they recieve it.

On the converse side of things though, if people are not honest about the tweaks they make, then when they question why the plan isn't working, we cannot identify this as a potential cause. So by default, that message can still be delivered unless we constantly get on the backs of people who are trying to post honestly and say "you can't do that."

More often than not these things do get challenged by other members who understand that the plan can be damaged by the tweaks.

Yes, this post probably does repeat a lot of what I had already said but I hope that it puts it in a better context.

ETA - very easy to misunderstand me, when it's this time of night, well, actually all the time. I can't half chat some wordy drawn out over-convoluted stuff. I blame the strepsils. For everything I ever did.

ETA2 - actually this post probably doesn't help at all. I'll just shush and go sleep. Sorry, and all that.
 
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yes but someone doing a confessional type thread stating they tweaked the plan and didnt lose weight doesnt quite give across the same message as someone replying to a thread where someone has asked "why is cooked fruit synned?" with "oh I don't bother synning cooked fruit and still lose weight".

the confessional post is seeing the consequences of someone not giving 100%, whereas the post where someone doesnt bother synning something that should be synned and says they still lose weight, pops the idea in to other's heads that oh if it works for them I can do that too, as perhaps it will work for me.

at the end of the day though, yes tweaking is tweaking however you look at it and we shouldnt encourage it in any situation. Once you begin tweaking the plan in one area, it isn't long before you begin tweaking the plan in many other places too.

But nowhere have I said people can't be honest about those things. I am just mentioning the affects in can have on others, like you did on your flexisynning thread pointing out where members use or advise of it's use incorrectly.

I think we are probably all guilty of tweaking at some point or another intentionally or unintentionally, hence why it is important to remind others that what they are doing isnt actually part of the plan, when you do see mention of tweaking. Which is the point I was making, there is so much mixed information out there, that is easy for members to become mislead.

anyway this is getting repetitive and moving completely away from what I intended this thread to be about.

So........ tweaking the plan? :p
 
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I guess the problem is also that what with using this site, the slimming world site, magazines, advice at group, tips given by others, it's easy to forget who has told you what. So with that the context in which you read it can easily be forgotten.

E.g. I was surprised earlier when mrs wolstencroft wrote "pasta n sauce quiche sounds wrong to me" as I thought I had read on the sw website that that's how you're supposed to make sw quiche. But obviously someones said it on here and I've got mixed up (luckily I've not had it!)
 
My name is Lonestitcher, and I'm a Tweaker!!!!

I fell into tweaking by accident... no-one else is to blame.... it all started when....

But seriously,..

I NEVER intended to tweak the plan at all but accidentally found that cooked chicken from the supermarket hot deli counter SHOULD BE SYNNED (and I don't want to get into the whole 'are they or aren't they..' and the 'surely without the skin on...' debate AGAIN!!). In fact, I only started to buy it because after shopping is when the takeaway calls.... and I'm sure that I read an inspirational story off the SW website where one girl talked about 'taking a cooked chicken' to the cinema!!!

However, I like the convenience (I pick some hot, cooked food up for when I finish shopping) and the price! (I always end up shopping late night, and manage to get there when they are reducing the hot food!!)

Once I understood that they should be synned, I thought long and hard about what to do - the angel saying 'be 100%' and the devil saying 'it's pre-cooked, and CHEAP!!'. At the time I was still having consistent losses so I listened to the devil but made a decision that I if my losses slowed, this would be the one thing to go.

Last Lent, I joined CharlotteGrace's '100% in Lent' group, interested to see what not having the hot deli food did..... in the whole of Lent, I stuck to being 100% and not a tweak passed my lips... and to be honest, it didn't make a blind bit of difference to my losses.

I can understand why SW put syns on certain things, and sometimes I am confused about the inclusion of syns on others. I feel that for certain things (eg. cooked fruit - ONE PINEAPPLE RING ON A PIECE OF GAMMON FOR HEAVENS SAKE!!!) SW are being overly cautious, to make sure that things aren't abused, and I whole-heartedly can see where they are coming from...

TWEAKING IS WRONG - DON'T DO AS I DO, DO AS I SAY!!
 
A week or so ago I started loosing it a bit with slimming world.
I made the loaf and had it as free
I guessed syns and dust measure
I read about other people here not synning super noodles so I though, il do the same.

That week was fine but by the next week I felt bloated and heavy and horrible. My skin was worse and I just knew it was from my tweaks. That week I didn't go to class. I felt so down. But I did check my scales at home and they are pretty accurate.

I had put on 3lbs.

I didn't even put on on Christmas week

Don't tweak. So not worth it.
 
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