According to Slimming World, diets are a thing of the past (their past). On their website they say:
"Diet? Why? If you ever read a newspaper or switch on the TV, you’ll know that the UK is in the middle of, what the media have termed, an ‘obesity crisis’. So it’s no wonder that the bookshops are filled with diet titles and slimming magazines, and every celebrity is endorsing their ‘rabbit food’ diet plans!
"At Slimming World, DIET is a four letter word! And if you’ve had your fill of these “off and on eating regimes”, if you’re fed up of going to bed early because you’re hungry - and if you never want to think ‘dare I eat that’ ever again - you’ve come to the right place!"
And then they propose their 'plan' which is called Food Optimising and looks uncannily looks like a diet, but is not one. Really?
Well, they have a 'red day' when you can eat unlimited lean protein but restrict other foods such as carbohydrates, and a 'green day' where you can eat unlimited carbohydrates, restricting protein and other foods. You can also eat between 5-15 'Syns' per day.
Now tell me what I'm missing, because I'd have said that anything which involves restriction of some foods and an allowance of others,and the labelling of certain foods as 'Syns', as a diet.
I was on Slimming World for several years (how I managed for that long I don't know!). I lost weight for my wedding with them and daren't come off the plan afterwards for years in the fear of putting it all back on! Of course, once I did finally come off it, I started binge eating big style!
Although SW is more generous than some plans, it is still very much a diet. It does not encourage intuitive eating and because of the syns system, it still creates the urge for those forbidden foods that you can only have in tiny quantities! Also because some foods are unlimited, it also does not help with stopping when you are full because the tendancy is to have larger portions of the unlimited food.
Whatever they call it, it still works on the same principles of every other diet on this planet - eating less calories that you burn! It's not rocket science and something that our bodies will learn to do naturally if we give them half the chance!
Posted by: Jomay | June 07, 2007 at 06:09 PM
Now, I realise that some people have lost weight successfully with Slimming World and love it - if that's you then great - what follows is my experience!
I've lost count of the number of times I've joined a SW group, lost weight, left group, put on weight, re-joined, etc. I agree with Jomay that it doesn't teach you 'how' to eat or deal with emotional problems behind the eating.
I was a SW member when I discovered IE, searching for a way to stop the madness. I used to follow the plan for a few weeks, then have a week of bingeing, skip class because I couldn't face the scales, then go back the following week with a no change or small loss after severely restricting my intake.
The rules might be more generous than other eating plans, but rules is still rules! I've never maintained my weight because as soon as I got near target I couldn't handle the pressure and the expectations that I'd built, and I'd binge my way back up within a matter of weeks. And I'm so glad not to go to classes anymore, I used to hate them. The leader would encourage eating certain fruits & vegs not for taste or health but because they were labelled 'speed' and therefore more slimming. So blackberries were good but blackcurrants not so good - madness! My leader once said that she'd been eating blackcurrants thinking they were speed food but then discovered they weren't and she was gutted!!
Posted by: Gemma | June 07, 2007 at 07:49 PM
Jomay, you make the point about some of the foods being 'unlimited' which as you say, encourages overeating because there is deprivation elsewhere. Why not just have what you want and until you're satisfied, rather than eat lots of what you don't want, crave the stuff that is limited and then end up binging anyway? it doesn't make sense, does it?!
Gemma, a good point about rules! They are still there, so I find it difficult to understand how it is not a diet (which we know of course that it is, but SW have cottoned on to the fact that diet has become a dirty word). And think of all that money still spent on SW - when you could just be eating normally?!
Posted by: Andrea Wren | June 08, 2007 at 10:19 AM
Over the years I,ve lost 8 stone by myself via calorie counting.Thank goodness most of it has stayed off,but now getting to the stage again where im feeling a tadd uncomfortable.over the past 3 months I tried calorie counting thinking it would be easy as its never failed for me before,however its not working this time? Today I decided that perhaps a little help is needed and go to my first class tommorrow at sw.I feel exstreamly excited and optomistic about it.Considering my view was always a bit negative towards slimming groups,and belived them to be a rip off,and preying on weak willed people,now I feel if sw is gonna help me get back on top form then bring it on.lets never forget its always down to the individual to lose weight and keep it off,but any help and encouragement is worth its weight in gold.
Posted by: Cheryl Seeley | July 10, 2007 at 02:35 PM
SW encourages healthy eating. It's a plan for life, not to shed a few pounds for a holiday or a wedding, but to stay slim and healthy for life. A lot of people want what they can't have and tend to focus on what they can't have rather than what they can. Many people lose lots of weight with SW then when they reach their target, they think they can eat what they like and of course, it all comes back on! The consultant isn't there to teach you psychology, but you shoul learn this second nature whilst your on the plan. It's common sense, you need to burn off more calories than you consume. If people can't figure out for themselves that eating fatty foods will make them overweight then i feel very sorry for them. When i was on Slimming World i found so many new recipies and tried new foods that i lost the desire to have junk food and takeaways all the time. i still eat chinese and curries, but i make sensible choices and don't eat them all the time!
Posted by: Nicola | July 16, 2007 at 02:05 PM
I did Slimming World after recovering from anorexia. Although it helps lose weight it also helps you to gain weight if you are under weight because you're eating correct amounts of food. I found it fantastic and personally have never had any problems with food since. Due to the fact I was a recovering anorexic when I started Slimming World, I had to write down everything I was going to eat in that day when I got up so as not to panic. I know someone who did Slimming World to lose weight and the results were fantastic she's a completely new person. She stopped just over a year ago and has neither gained or lost weight. You just have to think about it carefully. If you are on it long wnough you'll learn to read the messages from your stomach about being hungry or full. Good Luck people doing Slimming World!
Posted by: Andrea | September 01, 2007 at 09:39 AM