I just accidentally posted this in the "community area" but thought it would be better in the slimming world area.

Hi everyone,

I'm one week in to doing Slimming World and I lost 6 pounds on my first weigh in on Tuesday. I genuinely thought I wouldn't lose much because I felt like I had eaten quite a lot! I'm really pleased and it has motivated me to keep going.

I'm finding my main struggle is the alcohol and have gone over syn's on a couple of days because of it. Does anyone else have the same problem? I drink white wine usually and one large glass in 9 syns

I was hoping also someone could recommend any restaurant chains which are a little more slimming world friendly. I know on Weight Watchers which I did a few years ago Nando's was quite good.

Thanks everyone

Mel x

Hi Mel
Don't worry about the other post, it's not a problem


Absolutely amazing first loss, well done!!


With regards to the booze, have you tried changing to spirits? Vodka is 4 syns per 25ml, rum is usually 3 syns per 25ml.
Although saying that, I do enjoy a glass of wine at the weekend too!


As for the places for eating out, I created a thread quite a while ago that gives some ideas for certain food places to eat at and the syn values you should count (here: Eating Out With Slimming World (Restaurants + Takeaways))
But Nando's isn't too bad, from what I believe, the chicken is free once you remove the skin (3 syns for plain butterfly chicken with the skin), and the spicy rice is 2 syns for a regular portion. The 1/4 flame grilled chicken breast is 3 per serving.
JD Wetherspoons is pretty good too. I know someone who works in the kitchens and they use no oils (or extremely small amounts if they do) when cooking things like steak, gammon, etc. and the veg/salad is always free unless it states there's a dressing/butter, but you can always ask for the dressing to be on the side to avoid having too much of it.
I'll add these to the Eating Out thread I posted above, along with some other chain food places that I might find.


Basically if you go out to eat anywhere and you aren't sure what's best, I will always advise you go for the grilled meats, jacket/new potatoes, veg/salad.
Always avoid anything with the words fried, sautéed, roasted (it's usually roasted in butter/oil which mount up the syn count!), buttered, oil, etc. to keep you syns low

Thanks so much Sarah, there is a new-ish Wetherspoons near us which is really nice so i'll definitely go there. My partner loves the variety of ales so i'm sure he'll be happy!

On the days I didn't go over syn's I had vodka and diet coke but to be honest going on this diet has made me realised I've maybe got a slight issue with alcohol, so that's something i'm going to have to try and combat and break the habit of the wine after work etc.

Thanks again for your response it is really helpful

Hi Mel

Well done on your first weigh in- 6lbs is amazing.

I'm a sucker for a glass(bottle) of wine. I'm on my first week and have managed to avoid any this week but I can see it becoming an issue a bit later on.
Could you mix the wine with diet lemonade to make it go a bit further and use less syns?

Agree with Sarah about Wetherspoons, I also go to a Harvester, it's cheap and if you can avoid the dressings on the free salad then it does have a few options.

Hope you have a good second week
Sarah x

Ah thanks Sarah - you're new too? Great

I'll definitely try a couple with diet lemonade, I need to make one glass last longer!

Harvester is a good idea - I love their salad cart

Welcome to Social Slimmers, and congrats on a fantastic first week!!!

I can't really add anything to what the others have said, but man do I feel you on the alcohol. I'm a cider gal myself--namely fruit ciders, which are seriously up there in the syn count. I took to having spirits and mixers for a while but it just made me miss cider even more, so for the time being I'm dry and enjoying the odd Diet Coke when going to the pub

Thanks kaybird!

The alcohol is a nightmare! I used to be a massive cider drinker as well and that's where about my last two stone has come from - my doctor told me off saying I was practically drinking pints of sugar, no wonder it tastes so good! So I went to wine but then I think my tolerance to alcohol went up so now one glass doesn't really do it... ah well, one day at a time!

One thing I would say, is never cut the alcohol out completely.
We were talking about this at group the other night and we agreed that there's no point cutting out booze entirely as it's not true to real life (We're also considering creating an AA group to follow our weekly SW meeting because we all like a few drinks at the weekend )


Also, the lower the percentage of alcohol in the wine, the lower the syns per glass - I've got the numbers somewhere at home, so I'll dig them out tonight!