A weight loss plan that actually seems to work (Slimming World)

Member Name: charlhrdy

Product:	Slimming World
Date:	05/08/06 (3258 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Local groups, can eat as much as you like!!

Disadvantages: Distinctly lacking in fat!!! But isn't that the point? and I'm hungry

I am overweight, and as much as I would love to continue blaming it on my son (pregnancy fat, am breastfeeding, no time etc etc) It is about time I stopped, so I tried eating less (didn't work), I tried exercise - just made me want to eat more. I have always been reluctant to attend slimming classes with the belief they are for people with no will power and fat issues (not me then!!). Think Little Britain. So I thought I would give it a go and turned up to my local group.

The session lasts an hour and half, the first half hour is taken up with an introduction to new members, and a weigh for existing members. No humiliation involved, except the humiliation of the honking horn if you have lost, but some need a fanfare to approve their lessening weight issues.

This is followed by an hours class, this is a brief discussion with each member about how they are doing. At the group I attend there is a weekly raffle, and a slimmer of the week. The raffle prize is fetched by the group leader, and for slimmer of the week everyone fetches one item.

The diet is simple - you can eat as much as you choose as long as it is on the free food list. There are two options to choose from and you can choose between either green days or original days. Green is ideal for veggies - you can eat as much pasta, rice, grains and beans as you choose, tofu, quorn, fruit and veg are mostly free foods. On original you can have more meat. You can then opt to have 4 Healthy options. Option a is calcium based, so milk and cheese, or soya milk, option b is breads, cereals. These items need to be weighed so you don't eat too much.

Following this you can have Syns, the optimum number for losing weight is between 5 - 15, and there is a whole list of syn values in the book you get. Everything has a syn value, so you can eat chocolate and icecream, as long as you count it.

With your welcome pack you get a curry cookbook, m&s shopping guide, body magic book (exercise and what to do and record for stickers), and a guide book, all very informative and very helpful. You also get food diaries which your class leader will guide you on.

I started this four weeks ago and have not lost a great amount, however, I haven't changed my eating habits, although it seems to be a good diet, it does take a little getting used to, I am not hungry but I do feel a lack of fat. I have a lot of weight to lose and if changing the way I eat rather than dieting works better then slow is good.

I would recommend it to anyone who nothing else seems to have worked for.

The cost is £4.25 a week, £10.00 to join, although there are often half price offers on, to find a local group www.slimming-world.co.uk

Summary: Good but slow