Why I’m quitting Slimming World

I’m generally not a quitter. I persevered with my tax exams (despite failing one twice) even though I hated every minute of studying. I spent 2 days teaching my cat to do a high five. It took a lot of treats and patience but we got there in the end! But I know when something is just not worth pursuing and this week, I finally decided to give up on Slimming World. Here’s why…

One - Weighing in every week was depressing me.

It started off okay. I was losing consistently every week until week 15, when I gained half a pound. Now I know half a pound is nothing, and by that point I had lost well over a stone, but it bloody hurt seeing that gain on the scales. Since then, my weight has yo-yoed a lot and although the overall trend is down, the constant ups and down made me feel like I had failed.

I started experimenting by weighing myself mid-week and then eventually, weighing myself every single day. What I found is that my weight fluctuates a hell of a lot from day to day. On any given week, I had probably lost at least a pound of fat, but on that particular day when I was weighing in, the scales might not have been reflecting that. I could have had a salty meal the night before so was holding on to water, it could be because of hormonal fluctuations, it could simply be because I hadn’t been to the loo (sorry for TMI!) The point is, weighing yourself on a particular day is a bit like rolling a dice. Sometimes it will be accurate and sometimes it won’t. On the weeks that it is, you feel great. But on the weeks where you know that you stuck to plan and didn’t lose, it’s just demoralising. And for an anxious person like me, it was just playing on my mind far too much.

Two – There are aspects of this diet that just don’t sit right with me.

While there are things about slimming world I love, there are aspects of the plan that just seem, frankly, bizarre. Let’s take avocados. I bloody love avocados and guacamole, but I haven’t eaten any in over six months! Why? Well because an avocado has 14 syns. You are only supposed to have between 5-15 syns a day, so fitting an avocado in to the diet, while not impossible, is pretty difficult. The thing is, avocados have so much goodness in them. They’re incredibly nutritious and they’re loaded with heart healthy fats, fibre and potassium. But on Slimming World, none of that matters. Syns say no.

Another strange example is Mugshots. Now, I won’t lie, I am partial to a cheeky sweet and sour Mugshot. These things have over 200 calories. But as they’re ‘free’ on the plan, I can have technically have as many as I like. Two Mugshots, calorie wise, is roughly equivalent to an avocado. But on Slimming World, that doesn’t matter! Call me cynical, but I suspect that has a lot to do with brand affiliation. (Muller Lights crop up so many times in their recipes that you’d think they’re a super food.) Which leads me to my next point…

Three – Slimming World teaches you feck all about nutrition

Now Slimming World has taught me a lot of things and has encouraged a lot of good habits. For example, filling your plate with 1/3^rd speed food has encouraged me to revamp my portion sizes. I’m eating a lot more fruit and veg, and a lot less carbs and sugar. That can only be a good thing. But what it’s not taught me, is anything about what my body needs to be healthy.

On Slimming World, calories are a dirty word. But let’s face it – try as many diets as you like, it all comes back to calories. Less calories in than out = calorie deficit = weight loss. And actually, that’s what the Slimming World diet is based upon, even though no one at head office is going to admit it. For a lot of people starting out on Slimming World, they will naturally consume less calories than they were eating before. Probably a lot less calories. And that’s because their diets (and I’m including myself in this generalisation!) were shit. Going from a high fat, high sugar diet to a fairly low sugar, virtually fat free diet means that you will obviously be consuming a lot less calories than before. But wait a minute…as you lose more weight, the amount of calories your body needs to survive will decrease. But you’re following the same plan so consuming roughly the same amount of calories. So that will result in your calorie deficit becoming a lot smaller (resulting in smaller losses,) or you becoming calorie neutral (therefore maintaining your weight.) Maybe some weeks when you’ve eaten a shitload of Muller Lights, you might even gain! You cannot get away from the fact that a calorie deficit diet is the only way to lose fat.

[Four – bonus reason – Frylight ruined my pans!]

So what am I doing now?

You’ve probably guessed it. I’m counting calories. I’ve bought a Fitbit, I’m recording everything I eat on Myfitnesspal, and I’m making sure I eat less calories than I burn off. Okay, it’s a bit more hassle and yes, I have to weigh out food and spend a few minutes a day logging everything I eat, but it’s making me learn about nutrition and I feel so much more in control than I ever did on Slimming World.

I’m not saying Slimming World’s a terrible diet. It’s helped me lose around 2 stone, and for a lot of people, it’s a great starter diet. I cook differently now and will continue to use some of their recipes. I discovered overnight oats, which I love, and I’ll never buy a jar of pasta or curry sauce ever again. But to get over this plateau, I need to do more. So the weight loss journey will continue - I’m not quitting, but you won’t see many more #sw posts from me. #thanksswandgoodbye.

Battling my obsessions

I think it’s fair to say most people who suffer from anxiety have obsessive thoughts from time to time. When I was really ill, my obsessive thoughts would centre on bad things happening. I couldn’t shake the horrible feeling of foreboding and so I would feed these feelings by thinking of all the bad things that might happen and convincing myself that these thoughts and fears were real. I’m sure that sort of experience is pretty standard.

However, something else I am bad for, and I’m not sure how common this is, is having fleeting obsessions generally. This can be anything from a specific person (hello, Jamie Dornan!) to a place or even a time in history.

To give you an example, I once spent pretty much a whole weekend researching Alton Towers. I was on the website, I was reading threads on forums about upcoming attractions and watching you tube videos. I had no plans to visit Alton Towers. In fact, the one time I did go there, and my friends can attest to this, I didn’t really like it (because I’m a wimp and don’t like rollercoasters that much.) So why did I waste all that time reading about it? I don’t have an answer. But for those few days, it became an obsession of mine that I couldn’t shift.

A lot of these obsessions are harmless (apart from totally wasting my time,) but some of them can be quite damaging. A few months ago, I became obsessed with cleaning. I have always liked keeping the house clean, and it had become a Saturday morning ritual of ours. But before long, the Saturday morning had turned in to Saturday morning and afternoon and I was literally on my hands and knees picking up individual specks of dust. My husband (who is awesome and does his fair share around the house himself) recognised that this had gone beyond just wanting the house to be clean. The pleasure I got from seeing the house immaculate had turned into anxiety because I could never get it quite clean enough. I was upset and in tears at times because I was scared the house was dirty and I worried so much about people coming over and thinking we were unclean. So we hired a cleaner. It was a huge step for me but it has stopped me obsessing as much and I know it was something we had to do to help my mental health.

I’m now learning to understand the boundaries of what is okay and what is obsessive behaviour. I might still lie in bed at 1am reading about rabbits, but I’ll know when to pull the plug. Looking at cute pictures – okay. Looking at the pets at home website, listing everything I would buy for a pet rabbit – not okay. (And yes, I have done this!)

I’d be interested to know if anyone else has these mini obsessions, or whether I am just a very strange creature! Thanks for reading x