I have just started today, couldn't find a threat for it. Just wondered if anyone is/was on it and if they had success?

I know people who have done this with short term success, but like most of these diets, as soon as you stop the weight comes back on and in the long term it may have a negative effect on your metabolism. Much better to change your lifestyle, rather then rely on short term solutions.

I've tried it but got pissed off with not being able to use jars of sauce and trying to locate quark. Got sick of mullerlight as well.

Slimming World advocates both.
It's not about counting points or endless weighing of ingredients, it's a good system of being circumspect and knowledgeable regarding one's food, fully changing the way one prepares food, eating culture and lifestyle.
It also encourages exercise diaries.
I've not been there but mum has, and her sister and I've had loads of recipes out of their monthly magazine.

One of my closest friends lost 8 stone one it - down from 22 to 14, and this was 5 years ago. She still goes every week so that she keeps within her target weight.
It horses for courses obviously and it won't suit everyone but lots of people like that weekly focus and feeling of support and achievement. And apparently once you've achieved your target weight your sessions are free of charge.

I put weight on with SW - all the "free food" is ridiculous - as it was free I ate it but it was far too much.
Went to Calorie counting and lost a stone in 6 weeks and I was not too much overweight.

Yeah I can imagine I would gain on sw

The free food is it's stupid

The idea is that you eat proper meals and not see the 'free foods' as something to eat till you're fit to burst.

I was told - at SW class - that free food are exactly that - free to eat in unlimited amounts - free to be you (quote from SW book) food to enjoy as much of as I wanted, not fit to burst. Pasta, lentils, potatoes, rice etc - lots of dairy products, tofu and soya products and fruit (doing Green days) eat as much as you want so I did. I was then told by a personal trainer I would not lose weight eating over 2,000 cals per day (which was what he found when he added up my daily food consumption) and told me to cut it down. I did cut it down and as I said earlier lost a stone in no time.
I read this on weight loss forums all the time - I am not the only one that has gained on SW. I gained weight due to inactivity and over eating (through boredom) after an accident so told by a friend to try SW so I did.
The free food was not chocolate and crisps etc but part of a meal - Breakfast was measured amount of porridge with fruit but I could have 2 boiled eggs and baked beans as well if I wanted - off to the gym with a banana and an apple. Lunch - Soup followed by jacket potato and veggie sausages with salad - fruit with Muller light . Afternoon snack of anything up to 10 syns (200 cals) Dinner - veg and chickpea curry, salad, lots of rice - muller light and fruit. Evening snack 5 syns (100 cals) - can you see where the calories are adding up

Interesting, I have my first weight in next Monday so will let you know how it goes! I am a foodie so have been creating recipes for my blog, hope I don't gain now!

I do slimming world and have lost 5St 8.5lb so far. It really suits me as I like cooking from scratch.

It does require portion control though. I don't agree with consultants that say free food is truly unlimited. Sorry but if you eat bags of pasta, you will not loose weight. The consultant at the group I go to is great though and will try to encourage sensible eating.

I stick to the 1/3rd superfree and 2/3rds free on my plate (or the other way round when I am doing Success Express which i do quite a lot). I snack on superfree food and my syns - which I have every day. I rarely have syns as part of a meal, I have them for things like crisps and chocolate so it feels like I am having a treat.

I know it doesn't work for everyone but it does for me. Just a case of finding what works for you.

Edit: this is a typical Success Express day for me: http://i60.tinypic.com/2jd2mb5.jpg

Breakie: Fruit, Mullar light and hi fi bar (HE B)
Lunch: Was a bit of an experiment. was a vegetable and cheese (HE A) bake. Tasted a lot nicer than it looked
Dinner: Pork Schitzels (using my second HE B for the breadcrumbs) with veggies
snacks: Irn Bru 7 syns and crisps 4 syns

I don't have any Extra Easy pics to show but they would be similar with a bit less veg and something else free to make it up.

Thanks! I too love cooking from scratch so think I will like this diet

I cook everything from scratch, even make my own baked beans but SW was not for me for the reasons I stated above.
Yes it is what suits you and Cals are my way to go.

Look at minimins web site - there is a very active SW forum on there with lots of info for newbies including syn values, recipes and chat etc.

Yes I think that's probably the beauty of SW. My mum has been doing it for a while and she has completely changed the way her and dad eat.

I think when you are doing so many of your own dishes you become naturally circumspect about what exactly is going in, and you naturally cut down on calorific ingredients an portion size.
The 'free foods' are there they assume that most people aren't going to think a diet involves shovelling down a kilo of pasta every day.

I don't think you get the free food thing - they say you can eat a kilo of pasta if you want as it is free - eat it freely. I did not eat a kilo of pasta at one sitting but had rather more than I have calorie counting.

By the way don't make the SW so called Heinz Soup - it is awful - from what I remember it is made with beans, tomatoes and pickled onions and lots of people rave about it - dreadful stuff.

My wife has lost over 2 stone and its the 1st diet she feels she can stick to, obviously its about individual taste but a lot of the foods are very tasty (The Mushy pea curry for example) and there is a wide range of recipes for so many other things.

Here's a great recipe for a curry advocated by SW.
Made from scratch and you regulate the heat yourself.
I don't use it for slimming purposes - I just like it!
http://www.slimmingworld.com/recipes/chicken-curry.aspx

I have both Hairy Dieters cook books and think they are great, they aren't recipes that make me think I am on a diet and I don't have to count calories or sins. I just do what I would normally do and weigh out the ingredients.




I look at the Slimming World menu and think that's an awful lot of food to be eating, I mean fruit and a full English and there is an awful lot of pasta on the menu. Looking at their 7 day trial menu on 3 days they say to have some form of pasta, a snack suggestion was a jacket potato with beans! That is what I would have for dinner.

I have done that curry before, it is lovely.


I don't think I am on a diet on Slimming World. However I do agree that I wouldn't have a jacket potato as a snack but I do know people in my group that have big snacks and still lose weight. I am not a big pasta fan either so don;t have a lot like some people do (again, they still have good losses each week).

I have a slimming world cooked breakfast about once a week. Wouldn't want it every morning and wouldn't have time to do it every morning.

I did it 10ish years ago and lost a couple of stone but it was mostly muscle so I ended up fatter a couple of months after. My sister also tried it and it worked for a bit but a conservative estimate would be she's atleast 5 stone heavier now.

Horses for courses I suppose.

I think their philosophy subverts the idea that most diets are prohibitive or sometimes put whole groups of foods out of bounds.... making them all the more forbidden and tempting of course.
I think what they are trying to promote is the idea of 'food optimizing' which means people are encouraged to be circumspect in the way they prepare and eat food. This is all reinforced with group meetings, taster nights etc. As a result they hope people will naturally realise themselves that even free foods are best eaten in moderation.

It's about relying on people to use their intelligence rather than getting them to slavishly follow points counting, dictated from an authority.
Though that may well work better for some people of course.

Exactlly - that is what it is about.

As a result they hope people will naturally realise themselves that even free foods are best eaten in moderation.

This is what I said but when they tell people they can eat all this free food willy nilly then they will eat it - as I did with chickpeas, lentils and beans (as a veggie) and know they are high calorie but SW said I could so I will.

Anyway thank you Welsh - lad for your input - going to do the Great Orme Walk one day this week - quite near to where we live.
I

Ooh that's a nice walk... and will burn off a few cals too!

Re. SW I think we agree on what they are saying, it's just people's approaches.

When I think of SW I think of them as saying "Look, here are a few cool ideas; give them a go. You can eat as much of X as you like.... if you think that's a good idea".
It puts the person in control, and gives them autonomy.

When I think of WW I think of them as saying "Now you must count this, and you must weigh that, and don't do this and don't do that. Nanny knows best"

It's just my impression of course.

What foods are "free" on SW?

loads, too many to name but some are... Lean meats, starchy vegetables (such as potatoes, sweetcorn, peas, etc), rice, pasta, fat free dairy, eggs,

super free foods are most fruit and veg.

Just thought I would come back and say that i lost 5.5 lbs in the first week!