Slimming World
Slimming World is a slimming club where dieters become members and attend weekly classes where they are supported in their quest to lose weight. The diet consists of two plans – ‘Red (Original) Days’ and ‘Green Days’.
Green days allow the dieter to choose an unlimited amount of food from certain food groups – starchy food group (pasta, potatoes and rice), vegetables and fruit as well as many pulses and beans. Red days consist of more protein such as fish, lean meat and most fruit and vegetables. Some other high calorie foods which contain vitamins or minerals are called ‘Healthy Extras’ and it is suggested that these be eaten in 4 small daily servings.
Other foods have ‘syn’ rankings and the dieter is permitted a certain number of syns per day depending on the amount of weight they would like to lose. The dieter should choose a balance of ‘Green Days’ and Red Days’ so as not to consume too much protein or too many carbohydrates.
There has been a recent addition to the Slimming World diet – Mix2Max and Success Express giving more choice to the dieter by allowing more flexibility. Mix2Max allows a mix of Green and Red on the same day by choosing Red or Green at each meal time as opposed to each day. There is still the option to choose snacks from a list of foods.
Success Express allows the slimmer to have Red and Green foods on the same plate at a meal time. One third of the plate is filled with Red or Green foods and the remaining two-thirds is filled with Super foods which are low in energy-density such as vegetables and salad. There is also a long list of foods from which snacks can be chosen throughout the day.
Pros:
• It would be difficult to go hungry on this plan.
• There is no measuring of food.
• This is a really easy diet to follow due to the simplicity of the Red and Green days.
Cons:
• This plan is not ideal for the ‘snacker’ as there are only small allowances for treats. The plan allows for between 1 – 15 syns per day depending on the amount of weight to be lost. 1 small glass of wine is equivalent to 5 syns.
