I've been doing a lot of research online for Slimming World recipes since I started a few weeks ago, and I'm amazed at some of the creative recipes I've come across so far. Especially some of the Syn free alternatives to what would normally be a fairly high Syn meal/food.
Examples of the type of food I mean are:
SMASH pizza
Banana ice cream
Cous Cous cake
Slimming world microwave crisps
I did notice that while most people agreed that these foods are SYN free, other SW dieters argued otherwise. Let me explain.
Most people would not normally make a pizza with instant mashed potato or a cake with cous cous. There is the suggestion that if you process certain ingredients in a way they would not normally be used, you may over eat them.
Say for example, you wouldn't normally eat 3 bananas in a row would you? Or if you did you would probably be full and wouldn't eat any more? However if you freeze then blend banana to make ice cream it is very likely you could potentially eat a lot more.
It's the same with making SW crisps. You would be full after eating a certain amount of whole potatoes, but when you make them into crisps you would probably end up eating a lot more.
So this is why people argue that foods like these should be given a SYN value. However, I disagree. Surely it's all about portion control? I like banana on toast, sometimes sliced and sometimes mashed if the banana is ripe. So effectively I would have to use my Syns for banana on toast if I mashed the banana, but not if I sliced it? Even though I would be using the same amount of banana? I'm sure you see the problem. That's just silly. I say if you want to eat the above foods without using them as SYNS, then do it! As long as you check that the portion size isn't much larger than it should be. Personally I would only SYN these foods if I planned to have a big portion. Surely it's common sense that if you use more instant mash than a single serving size so you can have a massive pizza, you are going to be having a lot more calories? Similarly, if you make a Cous Cous cake and then eat the entire cake to yourself it's hardly going to help you lose weight is it? You still have to consider portion size.
I can see why some SW people are cautious when it comes to some of the recipes, but as long as you are sensible, surely it's up the individual how they choose to follow SW? If they can still manage to eat these foods and lose weight without ever using them as SYNS I think that's fine! What do you think?
4 comments:
I'm currently on the SW plan, online. I love some of the creative recipes I've found and I've lost 16.5lb, so I agree,.mideration is the key x
I am on SW as well, I have lost around 2 stone since sept 2013, I have normal sized portions anyway, some peoples portions are huge, they don't have control, even if you have salad, if you eat 4 platefuls of it you are still consuming alot of calories.
The banana thing really irks me! I have a recipe for banana pancake batter which is just a mashed banana mixed with two eggs...Now if I want to have this for breakfast it is 5 syns, but if I want to have the same two eggs and eat the banana whole (mashing it in my mouth when I chew it!)it would be free... I just don't get it!
I've just rejoined SW and this was really interesting to read. Portion control is definitely the only way to do it, I understand them saying some things should have syn values, if you are only eating them extra because they are "free" but if you would eat them anyway I cant see how they can suddenly become synful
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