Hello all, newbie here

I've been doing Slimming World for many years and successfully lost 4stone in 2005. 2 stone has crept back on over the last 4 years - mainly as I don't stick to the plan, even though I go every week!

As a PCOS sufferer I am well aware that I am not supposed to eat many carbs. I follow the Slimming World plan but red days only (unlimited meats, fish, veg and fruit and limited -weighed- amounts of cheese, milk, breads/cereals, potatoes, legumes and pasta). From the weighed items you can have 2 from each 'section' (these are called healthy extras) i.e.

2 x weighed amounts of milk/cheese (A)
2 x weighed amounts of carbs. (B)

Whilst talking to my specialist recently he suggested to me that the 2 x weighed amounts of carbs (B) would be too much for me (i.e. 1 wholemeal pitta and 1 8oz potato) We didn't even discuss my fruit intake! I was quite shocked so started doing lots of research, hence my arrival here!

For the past two days I have been noting down my carb count and have been on about 100g. From reading that is waaaaay too much isn't it? However, the only things I've eaten that contain carbs are salad veg and fruit (and extra light mayo). I've not had any Healthy Extra B's as I would normally.

I'd like to continue at Slimming World as I need that weekly weigh-in to keep me motivated even though I probably won't be following the plan as they intended.

I am very frightened to do the Atkins induction as I am scared of eating too much fat (I am using extra light Mayo which of course contains carbs) and scared of not eating fruit. I'm scared that eating too many eggs will give me high cholestrol.

I'm not really sure why I'm posting here, I guess I'm asking if anyone is in the same boat as me? I want to eat the low carb way but I guess I'm so stuck in the Slimming World mindset it is difficult to seperate the two. I just want to lose this weight!

Sorry, not a very positive hello was it?!

Hi Magickid welcome to our forums!
Are you in the UK? (you mentioned losing in stones rather than pounds, so I am guessing )
You wroteGetting over the fat-phobia most longtime dieters have ingrained in them is hard to start with, but if you take the step of doing Atkins induction to the letter for two weeks I am sure you will find you start to lose the fear of fat.

On induction you should be eating most of your 'up to 20 net carbs' from the lists of 54 vegetables which include 'fruits' like bell/sweet peppers and hot peppers, eggplant/aubergines, cucumbers, courgettes/zucchini as well as rhubarb and pumpkin.

Then once you move to OWL and get to rung/level 4 you can add berries, so need not be without fruit for long.

You also wroteIt has been proved in many studies that
1. Eggs do not increase your body's cholesterol
2. Eggs are good for you and do not need to be limited - in fact a recent press article called eggs a 'superfood'!!
3. Only a small percentage of your cholesterol can be 'blamed' on the foods you eat - I think that 80% of the cholesterol in your body is made by the body itself without any 'help' from the foods you eat.

I don't know if you are subscribed to this thread, Magickid, but I was wondering how things were going for you?
Did you manage to get your carbs lower?

I did slimming world or about a year and did well on it. I did mostly red days too. On occasions I did a green day and I think it helped. Slimming Wolrd is low fat because it is much higher in carbs - even on red days you have the healthy extras and the 15 syns. You can't have carbs and fat together - this is what makes us put on weight.

Eggs are a free food - even on Simming World. They won't harm you.

Atkins is an excellent plan and may well work for you but you will find you have less choice than on SW.

I gave up SW as I was not losing on it any more. Also I think £5 is a lot of money and is better spent on gym membership. I did enjoy the support at the meetings though and I miss that. Personally I couldn't keep SW up if I were doing another plan.

It's up to you.

I've done Slimming World and found that only the red days worked for me. Also I kept cheating because the carb levels kept my cravings high. IMO this is the reason why most people yoyo with ther weight. The answer has to be to cut out most carbs but not to worry about the fat. Avoid chees except occasionally and no fruit. Eat very dark chocolate for dessert.

Everyone has their own threshold for carb levels. Mine is about 50 grams.

If you read The Harcombe Diet it tells you that our cravings are caused by excess Candida. This can be cured by cutting out nearly all sugar, starch and acid (vinegar, fruit etc) for about 2 weeks. After that eating the low carb way is a breeze.

Start a journal on this forum and you'll get all the support you need. http://forum.lowcarber.org/forumdisplay.php?f=36 and it will be much cheaper than Slimming World.

Suz