I thought I would share something fairly personal as there are only so many reviews of products one can read. So if you're here you are probably already doing one of the above mentioned diets or you may be looking for some insight into what they are about.
Hopefully I can help you by sharing my experience on both and provide you with some further information or just help you if you're already doing one of these diets and having second thoughts or just one of 'those' days (it is always nice if you know someone else is feeling the same as you, right?).
Before we begin, I just want to say that I do not want it to seem like I am encouraging dieting in any way. At the end of the day, weight is a number on a set of scales and as long as you are comfortable with yourself then that is the most important thing. However, I would much rather someone read a post like this and think "okay this could change my lifestyle and help me to be healthier by taking a step to join a diet club which helps encourage me and is a positive reinforcement with meetings and online forums" then say someone who writes a post about some dodgy diet pill or the latest juice drinks or milkshake meal replacement. I have been there and done that and let me tell you there that they may create a quick weight loss but as soon as you stop then it goes back on doubly quick (and in my case even more!).
So, moving on...I am going to break this down (as I was writing it all out and it was just getting too long!) and it will feature two parts : Part 1 - The Basics (i.e. what you can eat), Part 2 - My Experience
Slimming World - link is here
This diet is aimed at people that do not want to spend their time weighing and measuring their foods. You can have unlimited amounts of Super Free Foods (most vegetables and fruit) and Free Foods (pasta, potatoes, meat, fish, 0% fat yoghurt) and then you also have a daily allowance of 15 syns (which everybody gets, this is not dependant on weight / height) and these can be things like chocolate or a couple of biscuits, packets of crisps, tomato ketchup, etc. On top of your super free and free foods you also have an A Choice which will be a dairy product i.e. a certain measurement of skimmed milk or 2 laughing cow triangles and a B Choice which is a product containing fibre i.e. Alpen light bars, a measurement of cereal, slice of wholemeal bread.
As you can see, you can have unlimited foods and these should form part of your meals (your plate should contain 2/3 free foods and 1/3 super free food) and then you are also allowed a measure of dairy and wholemeal with the addition of treats. Slimming World say this is not a diet but a healthy eating plan and they try to get you to think about the healthy changes you're making to your diet and lifestyle.
In addition to your foods you are also encouraged to get exercising and this doesn't necessarily mean you need to get your running trainers on or start paying for a gym membership, it is just what is suitable for you. It may mean getting off one stop earlier on the bus or walking to work, getting up and taking the dog for a morning stroll. All these minutes are recorded and you can achieve awards for how much exercising you are doing.
Pros:
- No weighing of foods or measuring except for your A & B Choices
- Treats are allowed
- Healthy eating as opposed to strict diet
- Slimming World app handy for working out your syns on the go
- Easy to follow
- Weekly meetings are good to help you keep on track
- Weekly magazines and also cook books available for meal ideas
Cons :
- Exercising does not give you an additional allowance of syns i.e. doing a spin class does not earn you another 5 syns for that day.
- Although foods are unlimited and there are a lot of them, there is no real variety in what you are eating.
- You need to prepared to try new recipes all the time in order to feel you have variety and you also need the time to cook and prepare almost every meal.
- You need to ensure you are getting 1/3 of your meal as a super free (i.e. fruit and veg) and this means a banana on top your Weetbix or a salad with your dinner.
- No additional syns for nights out or the occasional take-away i.e. you need to plan in advance and save up a weeks worth of syns to have a pizza on a Friday night or a night out with your friends. There's not an awful lot or room for spontaneity.
- Pretty much everything has to made from scratch, not much allowance for ready meals for when in a hurry, even the low fat meals are high in syns.
Weight Watchers - link is
This is a points based system and they work out how many points you can enjoy each day i.e. 26 based on your height and weight. Therefore this is a tailor made system for you and although you may go with your Mum, she may be allowed more or less than you. The points signify how much your body needs in order to help you lose weight.
However for the first two weeks you follow 'Simple Start' and 'Flex' which are designed to help introduce you to Weigh Watchers and you can go back to these whenever you feel you need to, for more details please see the website as I want to go into slightly more detail about the Pro Points.
When you chose to move onto Pro Points you will be given your daily allowance. You are not allowed to go below your daily amount of points and in addition to your daily allowance, everybody is allowed an extra 49 a week (which potentially gives you another 7 a day!). This means if you know you are out to dinner on a Saturday night or an impromptu night out where you're going to be enjoying an alcoholic beverage or two then you can relax and enjoy and not have to think okay I must save up all my points in order that I can enjoy that Nandos.
Sugar free drinks, tea and coffee (no milk) and fruit teas are all 0 points (and are unlimited), as well as fruit and vegetables which are no points and this will therefore encourage you to fill out your plate with vegetables or have a banana for a snack instead of a biscuit.
To give you an example of a normal day of mine on Weight Watchers I have 26 points a day and today I had 2 x crumpets (5 points) with lemon curd (1 point) for breakfast, a banana for a snack (0 points), 2 x sandwich thins (6 points) with a can of Weight Watchers tuna with mayonnaise (2 points) with some cucumber on the side (0 points) and for dinner Weight Watchers Sweet & Sour Chicken with Rice (8 points) and two vegetable spring rolls (2 x points each) = 26 points which means I have used up my daily allowance however I am likely to have a Weight Watchers bar (2 points) later and take that out of my weekly allowance.
Like Slimming World, you are also encouraged to exercise and this can range from a quick stroll to a gym class. However, you can earn yourself more points by the more exercise you partake in and dependant on the intensity.
Pros:
- Flexible - you do not need to make sure you a eating a salad or fruit with every meal.
- Fruit and vegetables are 0 points.
- Meals are available chilled / frozen so you do not have to worry about cooking every thing for scratch, these also contain the Pro Points so you can see straight off how many points dinner or lunch will be.
- Earning more points from exercise i.e. a spin class potentially earns you another 7 points to enjoy that week.
- You can eat anything you want and are not restricted to only having 275ml of skimmed milk a day, you could drink milk all day as long as you point it.
- Weight Watchers app has handy scanner so you can go round the supermarket and scan meals or cans, drinks, to see how many points they are before you buy them.
- Weight Watchers app allows you to track your points (i.e. keep a diary of them) as well as your activities.
- Magazines, weekly mini booklets in meetings and cook books are good for meal ideas.
- Can do a monthly pass which works out cheaper then paying week by week.
Cons:
- Weighing and measuring foods such as potatoes, milk, pasta, etc when making a meal.
- More expensive to go to meetings week by week.
- Eating the points which are your minimum i.e. sometimes I find myself having to eat more than I usually would because I haven't had all my daily points.
Hopefully I have explained the basics for you and perhaps my pros and cons will give you a little more insight into whether either of these would suit you.
I do hope if you are thinking about doing either of these diets that I may have helped in some way or even if you are doing Slimming World say and you wanted to see what Weight Watchers is like then this may give you some further information.
I would love to hear from you if you're either thinking about dieting, or currently dieting. I know there are plenty of us out there and I don't think it should be the taboo subject it seems to be these days.
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