Why are people afraid of EE?

[gonnabesmall]

ive been dying to try ee i really have but like many people im afraid.ive worked quite hard to lose my24lb so far .i like many not sure of the 1/3 bit as some food not really compatable with all meals maybe im wrong .i will try this ee as it sounds a lot easier especially as i have a young family and somtimes teatime is a nightmare.maybe start tomorrow...try the unknown..but for some reason i got into my head that i will put on dont know why but i do and theres nothing worse when you stick to it 100% and have a gain puts a right downer on the whole thing

 

[Taz]

Well I guess I would be classed as 'old school' so I feel I should answer this! I am not 'afraid' of EE, I had a good look at the plan when it came out but as someone else said, trying to fit in all the superfree food isn't always easy. Also, I gain on red days and EE does not work for me, just as the opposite is true for others. I think most people have at least looked at the viability of the plan and made their decision based on personal choice.

The short answer is: If it aint broke, don't fix it! many of us 'old school' hae already found the plan and combination that works best for us so why mess with it?

 

[Harry'sMom07]

The short answer is: If it aint broke, don't fix it! many of us 'old school' hae already found the plan and combination that works best for us so why mess with it?

I absolutely agree. What I think I mean is that so many people post on here wanting to try it but are scared to - convincing themselves they'll gain, when there's not a lot of evidence that this is the case! (Some may, but some will gain doing red/green too). Yes, you may feel like you are eating more, but you will potentially be eating more superfree foods, so this has to be a good thing?

 

[Lanski]

I'm coming back to slimming world after several years...must be 6 or 7 years.

I bought a magazine before deciding to join online and it wasn't clear to me at all what EE was.

For those of us who have followed red / green before EE simply sounds....odd.

I must admit it's taken reading this forum in some details to gain even a small understanding of what EE involves.

After reading this thread I think I may give it a try, though like many others I can't understand why combining free foods from red / green and losing healthy extras could be a combination that would work.

I think I'll give it some more thought.

 

[lentil2]

Well, I consider myself 'old school', I have being doing SW on and off for the best part of 20 years!!!
Having said that, I embraced EE when it was introduced last year. I don't follow complete weeks of EE but then I have never been one to do all green or all red weeks either.....I tend to do whatever I fancy each day.
Personally for me, often in the past when having a green day, I would use my HE B on meat and likewise, when doing a red day, I would choose potatoes for a HE B choice, so now with EE, I needn't do that and can use my HE B on something else!!
I'm sure in a couple of years time, EE will just be the norm and as someone else mentioned earlier, a lot of the fuss is that people just don't like change!!

 

[Taz]

I do the odd day of red and since EE has been around I also throw a couple of those in if I need to. I can understand people being worried about trying it if they gain on one of the plans

 

[jaylou]

I am Old School and don't mind it!! I have done EE all this month and told myself this year that it is all I would do.... however, I am missing the extra A's and B's and whilst it is so flexible and takes all the thought out of planning days I am contemplating going back to red and green for a bit.
I need to shift 5 blasted pounds to get back to target and whilst I have lost consistantly on EE (it does work for me) I'm missing cheese and having to syn it means I don't get my evening treat.

In answer to the thread I think people try EE, don't lose (for many reasons) and then say it doesn't work. I wonder if they did it properly? I wonder if they ate the same amount of red and green free foods which they would eat on a red or green day instead of reducing (you don't have to, but common sense says you would???), I wonder if they had the superfree, and finally... I wonder if they would have gained on a red or green week that week. Was it just one of those things?

I honestly think, and this is my opinion, that unless there is a food intolerance, that EE will work for everyone. I think a month is a fair old stab at it for people, not just a week.

 

[Mrs V]

I am "old school" too (not offended by that term!)...I have tried EE and gain weight regardless. I eat SS foods on all plans, but EE doesnt seem to agree with me, which once again confirms the fact that I gain whenever I do more Green Days as well, its the carbs.

 

[lou49]

Hi all. Feel I just have to put in my ten cents here; this is first time I've posted in this Forum but have done Cambridge Diet before so posted in that part of the board!

About to start thirteenth week of Extra Easy (and have been reading these forums like mad all along). Have done Slimming World several times in the past on the 'old school' method and I did lose two stone on it some years ago, but found it hard to keep to. So far have lost 18lbs and it is a bit slow going but the important thing for me is that I can stick to it much better, cooking the same dinners for the whole family and so on, so I guess for me it's a better plan. I was toying with going back on Red, like the old days, but I just know I'll crack under the pressure!

My SW leader (who's the best slimming club leader anywhere I think and I've known quite a few!) said to me at weigh-in this morning (was annoyed at llb loss) that it adds up to nearly four stone a year so I must just keep going! So I'm trying to see myself as the tortoise who will get there in the end...!

 

[sarahm85]

I do mainly Green with 1 or 2 EE days mixed in as I thought too many EE days would slow my losses. Last week I had 4 EE days and envisaged a measly loss like half a pound. I lost 2lbs this week, so that's thrown my theory out of the window! I'm not usually a big meat eater so wouldn't do a full week of EE, but I'm not afraid of having more EE days than I usually do if I fancy some chicken or fish.

 

[judimac]

I've only done EE this time. I found I didn't lose well on green and was hungry on red. I like the fact that you really don't have to plan what you're going to have, it's so easy when you eat out.

 

[msblonde]

:bliss:
well I love EE! I tried SW a number of years ago and just didn't get it at all, I never managed to eat all my HEX and kept blending fruit in smoothies by mistake!

EE really is so easy, Helen's version in a nutshell:

all lean meat, poultry (skin removed), fish, most offal, extra lean (or rinsed) mince = free.

all beans and pulses (without added sauce,fat etc) free

spuds (no fat) pasta rice etc - free

all veg (cooked without fat/sauce) free

all fresh whole fruit - free

1 HEX A (milk or cheese)
1 HEX B (either cereal, hifi, tinned fruit, olive oil, nimble bread, etc)

usual drinks (tea,coffee, water, sugar free, low cal, checking sugar free drinks for cal value)

and thats it. I just eat normal whole foods, whack whatever I have in the fridge into a pan with fry light and chuck it on the plate, job done.

I use syns on gravy, olive oil, treats, alcohol etc.

I feel that this is becoming a way of eating, rather than a diet, and that when 'i come off it' I'll just be having extra HEX's rather than extra syns, as I am trying to break the habbit of turning to treats for snacks and trying to make healthier choices. this will make maintenance easier I believe.

I have done red days, green days, (had trouble sticking to them) WW (ate free veg and used most points on treats! and gained weight very quickly!) I have done lipotrim, very effective but made me the most miserable person to share air space with! cambridge diet was hard as it tasted nice and made me think of 'real' food! (LT tastes yukky mostly) I also did sureslim that is very effective but very restrictive and difficult to maintain long term.

so for me, SW EE is the dogs plums! I love it.

for me, EE is something I can live with, and in my experience, for me, if I cant live it long term, I wont keep it off!

and I really dont want to keep losing/gaining/losing/gaining... ad infinitum!

my wardrobe has size 10-18's and I just want one set of clothes that fits me and I stay there, not a bundle that go between being too big or small depending on if I am on the latest diet.

I just want to maintain a relatively normal weight, that I can live with, with clothes that always fit (unless I have 'cooked' them in the washer by mistake! lol)

How nice would it be, to have just one size of clothes in your wardrobe?

I beleive EE that can deliver that, thats why I love it (subject to carb suitability for food intollerances out there).

 

[clarri]

EXACTLY what ^^^ said. I love it cause I can fit it in with normal life. I did it a few months ago, but wasnt doing it right, so wasnt losing weight. Ive stuck to it for the past few weeks, with a couple of slips, and have lost well. Its down to being aware of the 1/3 (not as hard as its sounds, and not as much as you think!!). I really really feel like Im eating healthily, and am choosing to eat more healthy free foods rather than processed and unhealthy foods that I would have chosen on WW. I am using my syns for a treat, or things like light mayo, etc.
Its a fantastic plan. And is extra easy!!
x

 

[moo moo]

I started 3 weeks ago, and looked at the EE but I think I would be dangerous on it, after all eating what I want is what got me going to class in the first place! Im rubbish at portion control so decided to go red/green to start with and once i get my head round that then I'll look at EE again

 

[Harry'sMom07]

I started 3 weeks ago, and looked at the EE but I think I would be dangerous on it, after all eating what I want is what got me going to class in the first place! Im rubbish at portion control so decided to go red/green to start with and once i get my head round that then I'll look at EE again

But surely that's the point? You CAN eat as much free food as you like (obviously stop when you're comfortably full!)

I (and others like Sonia) am proof that it works

 

[Purple_Star]

I LOVE EE, love love love love it!!!! I had a stab at sw a couple of years ago when I was preg, but as soon as I had my baby I went straight back to ww. I found it much to hard planning meals for all the family when on red/green. Plus I don't eat much meat so just did green all the time, which soon got boring!!! And I hated how supernoodles, pasta n sauce etc were free as I think they are so unhealthy and full of salt, it totally put me off as the consultant always harped on about them!!! My ww leader always says she doesn't recommend ready meal type food - only in rare 'emergencies'! This fitted in with my feelings.

Anyway, I have recently come across EE, and LOVE it. IT fits easily into my family life, and I see it as a realistic way to maintain my weightloss. However, I did so well on ww, I won't forget that lol, so am switching between pointing and EE, from time to time, depending on whats on each week in my personal life. I find ww easier if I am going for a night out, as I can save points and earn activity points, so I can feel reassured that I can 'spend' extra points when out.

Interms of the one third SF rule, I was doing this anyway really, and think its a very healthy way to eat. I love how fruit is superfree. Changing to SW has opened up a whole world of new foods I didn't consider trying on WW, so even the weeks that I now point, I am finding myself eating mainly the sw free foods out of habit. I feel so much healthier for doing this. And much more satisfied!!!

For example, at tea break previously, I may have had a cereal bar. Now I have a large bowl of fruit with fat free fromage frais on top. Its yummy and very filling.

Also, certain foods like eggs, I avoided in the past thinking they weren't worth the points. I now realise they are so filling that they are well worth the points.

Anyway, sorry for the random ramblings!!!

 

[IreneH]

I think people who have followed SW for some time and have always had original and green days are happy with that and don't want change.

New starters and especially people who have never been to SW before and no experience of original and green will find it easier to use EE.

Irene xx

 

[malaika]

Harry'smom you are right. It sure does work...
I, personally, found red/green so restrictive that I fell off the wagon every time I did it. Even when I reached target.
Now, I am doing EE for life

 

[malaika]

I think people who have followed SW for some time and have always had original and green days are happy with that and don't want change.

New starters and especially people who have never been to SW before and no experience of original and green will find it easier to use EE.

Irene xx

Not me.. this is my 6th attempt at SW!!
I still preferred SW to anything else but I was over the moon that EE was introduced. Nothing could be simpler!!

 

[Meli]

I'm doing so well with my Green and Red days that I just want to stick with them until I get closer to my target. I was told that you do lose weight with EE, but it will come off much slower. If I can lose quicker with the Red/Green days, than I prefer this for the time being. I know though that in the long term EE will work better for me, thus the reason for leaving it till the end of my journey.