explain food optimising
Food Optimising is Slimming World’s healthy eating plan. Based on the principles of energy density and satiety, Food Optimising empowers members to make healthier food choices, satisfy their appetites and lose weight – without calorie counting or obsessive weighing and measuring.
Food Optimising is easy to follow, focusing on three main components:
- The concept of Free Foods promotes consumption of plenty of low energy dense and highly satiating foods, eg poultry, fish, lean meat, pasta, grains, vegetables and fruit, which can be eaten without restriction. Members are encouraged to use these foods to satisfy their appetite while reducing overall energy intake. With Free Foods members don’t have to monitor every mouthful – so compliance is easy to establish and sustain.
- Healthy Extras help provide a good overall balance of nutrients in addition to those obtained from Free Foods, with particular emphasis on calcium and fibre-rich foods, eg milk, cheese, cereals and wholemeal bread.
- The synergy between Free Foods, Healthy Extras and Syns makes Food Optimising effective and easy to live with long term. Syns are the way members can enjoy the foods that many diets ban – without a shred of guilt! Counting Syns helps members naturally limit consumption of saturated fats, alcohol and sugar, ie those foods with a high energy density and poor ability to satisfy hunger.
