Extra Easy Third superfree - something to ponder

jaylou

Gold Member
A few posts recently re the third superfree have got me thinking.....
Now, I always have a third superfree with my meals as much as I can BUT the thing with me is the whole "having fruit afterwards to make it a third superfree".

Surely this is just adding extra food for the sake of it? Food which you wouldn't eat if it wasn't for this recommended rule.

So if I was to have fish, chips and peas which doesn't have superfree, I should then eat a banana or apple afterwards to make that meal okay? Surely that's just extra unwanted food.
Then there's the reasoning that you should leave a bit of your plate empty if you're not having superfree.... not sure about that either!

For breakfast I like to have poached or scrambled egg on toast. That's it. I don't want tomatoes or mushrooms as I love the simplicity of eggs on toast. So, I should add something extra to follow the rule? Again, extra food!

I don't normally question the SW rules as I'm a bit of a follower, not a tweaker, but I just can't see the point of having extra food I don't want for the sake of it...

Anyone else think like this or am I just alone :confused:
 
I do green so the vast majority of my food is superfree. I had my weetabix and milk(first hex a and b of the day) for breakie and i always have a selection of fruit for breakfast, generally apple and banana, grapefruit.

I think with EE say with breakfast grab a pice of fruit(if theres room) lunch and dinner you can have veggies or salad.

You shouldnt eat food for the sake of eating, this is why i rarely get close to 15 syns a day oand sometimes dont use both healthy extras as i dont need to eat it, also as you said the sf 1/3 is a guidline so you have a proportion of vegetables or fruit. I know peas arnt super free but there still a veggie and still good for you,
 
I completely agree and this is one of the reasons I stick to red/green days as I can be sure I am sticking to plan 100%.

I love fruit and veg and eat a lot in a day. Fruit usually as snacks. My dinner is usually at least 1/3 superfree just cos I love veg! But breakfast and lunch I don't have any and don't want to eat
for the sake of it, esp if its extra food I just don't need.

I have seen on here that some people say they have 1/3 through out the day to balance it out but not sure if that fits in with sw guidelines and the consultants seem to have mixed answers.
 
A few posts recently re the third superfree have got me thinking.....
Now, I always have a third superfree with my meals as much as I can BUT the thing with me is the whole "having fruit afterwards to make it a third superfree".

Surely this is just adding extra food for the sake of it? Food which you wouldn't eat if it wasn't for this recommended rule.

So if I was to have fish, chips and peas which doesn't have superfree, I should then eat a banana or apple afterwards to make that meal okay? Surely that's just extra unwanted food.
Then there's the reasoning that you should leave a bit of your plate empty if you're not having superfree.... not sure about that either!

For breakfast I like to have poached or scrambled egg on toast. That's it. I don't want tomatoes or mushrooms as I love the simplicity of eggs on toast. So, I should add something extra to follow the rule? Again, extra food!

I don't normally question the SW rules as I'm a bit of a follower, not a tweaker, but I just can't see the point of having extra food I don't want for the sake of it...

Anyone else think like this or am I just alone :confused:

I have also thought the same, I love EE and most foods have the veg incorporated into it ( bolognese etc) but i agree when i am having egg on toast or beans on toast etc having that Extra mushrooms, or banana is surely extra calories, I suppose as it is a 1/3 then we should be having less of the free foods and more of the superfree but like you i sometimes find myself eating fruit / veg for the sake of it lol
 
That's just the thing Lou*, I completely agree with you, I don't want less of the free - I want 2 eggs on 2 toast, not one egg and some mushrooms/tomatoes. So if I were to have the mushrooms or tomatoes I'd just be adding extra food. Now I know in the grand scheme of things were not talking much extra calories but, it's still extra which I wouldn't have had. Likewise if I added the banana or apple afterwards!!
 
It's not only that... i'm forever buying more mushrooms... or more fruit - because SW says you must have so much of this or so much of that...

It's madness. And just because Muller yogurts don't have syns - doesn't mean i'm going to eat five in a day - they still have calories... And i don't want all those extra calories even tho they are syn free...
 
I don't buy muller light yoghurts, unless they are on something daft like 4 for a pound! I also don't buy alpen lights either, far too expensive.

That said, I do really try to have my third superfree, even if I am on red or green. The main thing that gets me is that I've been trying to have extra food to make that superfree and I've found I don't want it.

I am not going to have fruit or extra salald or veg for the sake of it any more. I don't see how eating extra food will help me lose as it's more calories.
 
I do mainly EE and I try to stick to adding the superfree to my meals. I am trying original days this week and will continue to add superfree to the meals as I just think this is a healthier way of eating, I only snack on superfree as well.
 
I was under the impression (from people on here telling me) that the 1/3 superfree thing was really important part of the EE plan. If I want eggs on toast, I have 1 egg instead of 2 and have mushrooms and tomatoes with it. It's about making you think twice about portion size of components of your meal.
What I wouldn't do is add those things on top, say if I had chosen 2 slices of bread and 2 eggs. If you are full you should stop eating. Adding fruit afterwards is perfectly fine, if you have eaten less for the meal than you would have liked, and are still hungry. Eating a full portion, feeling full and then adding fruit is a bit silly.
If you want to ignore the rule for the odd meal I don't think it would be too much of a problem, but for new people asking if a meal is ok, I think the 1/3 suprefree thing should be pointed out.
 
I know the reasons behind it all and I know the benefits etc. My problem is the whole eating fruit before or after to make it "right" - which is what a lot of people seem to do, and indeed are advised to do!!

SW advice below

Is a third of a plate of Superfree Food mandatory on the Extra Easy plan?
A: No, we'd never insist you eat in a way that might not suit you. However, we encourage you to include a third of a plate of Superfree Food to keep Extra Easy extra low energy density (low calorie), extra satisfying and extra healthy to optimise weight loss.
 
I agree with you, adding fruit afterwards isn't what they intend you to do (unless you planned for it, and ate a smaller portion of the main meal ;))
 
I think in a nutshell, all SW are trying to do is encourage you to eat a balanced healthy diet. If for example on EE you ate SW Chicken & Chips everyday, in theory, you could eat this meal everyday! So, by encouraging you to fill 1/3 of your plate with veg, you will naturally balance your meal out. Its all about empowerment & for us to take responsibility for what we eat, these are guidelines & Im sure we all know & realise that fruit/veg is healthy & nutritious.....blimey, that sounds a bit heavy, but I hope you get my drift :D
 
Yep, I do get your drift and I understand all the reasoning behind it. With the chicken and chips I'd probably (quite naturally) have less chips and some salad. In fact the salad would be piled on my plate first because I love it.

The point I was trying to get across was that so many people seem to have extra food to make their meal superfree - hence the fruit afterwards or before!
 
Yep, I do get your drift and I understand all the reasoning behind it. With the chicken and chips I'd probably (quite naturally) have less chips and some salad. In fact the salad would be piled on my plate first because I love it.

The point I was trying to get across was that so many people seem to have extra food to make their meal superfree - hence the fruit afterwards or before!

I see where you're coming from Jaylou & I agree with you....why eat food if you dont really want it, but its all about balance & maybe some people just need that extra bit of advice & guidance. If they're not used to eating healthily (pre SW), the more advice the better to get an understanding of a healthier way of life.
 
I always try to get the 1/3 superfree into my lunch and dinner, but its never in my breakfast, as I have porridge and just that fills me up. Therefore I see no point in adding extra food (albeit low in calorie food) to my meal!
 
Yeah I see where you are coming from.

In the early days when I was finding my feet with the plan, I used to eat fruit after my meal, just to 'make up' the one third - but it really became a chore to eat this fruit 'just for the sake of it'

I then read (on here) that it's okay to take it over the course of a day (ie: a third of the food you eat over the day should be superfree)

This suits me much better as, while I LOVE veggies, I'm not a big fan of fruit, so it's nigh on impossible for me to get the superfree into my breakfast (no chance of adding grilled mushrooms to my fry as I cannot stand mushrooms) - the only real option is adding a grilled tomato (which I don't really like) - and even then, this is only feasible during the weekend when I make my brekkie at home (I don't have a cooker in work so the choices are toast or porridge)

I now have a large bowl of the super speed soup every day. This definitely ticks the 'one third superfree' box, because I add every superfree veg I can lay my hands on into it. I either have it as my lunch, or have it before dinner and then have a smaller dinner.
 
I agree also. I mainly find that I can include my superfree with the meal without adding in something just for the sake of it making up to a 1/3rd superfree meal. So for example ading a banana to my porridge. I would have probably have done that anyway, as I find it fills me up for longer - and am not just adding extra food so that I get my superfree in (if that makes sense?!).

I have often wondered on this myself, as it does indeed seem that on occasion to get the 1/3rd superfree, you are just adding food for the sake of following the rule. When if you didnt add it, you would consume less cals - and therefore still continue to lose!
 
The way I understand it is that the superfree element of your meal helps your portion control on the higher calorie foods on the plate - so to me it seems that having fruit before or after means you've got nothing to help the portion control on your plate. That's just as it makes sense to me anyway!

I do appreciate though that filling up on fruit before or after is still likely to keep you fuller longer, but I can see Jaylou's point of eating it for the sake of it just to follow the rules being a bit daft.

An interesting thread!
 
French eating habits rule here, and they will usually have a salad to start, or a bowl of soup. I expect if we had to have our 1/3 superfree before a meal if not with it then the whole fill up on low calorie dense foods concept would work, but I agree stuffing an apple down when I am full doesn't mitigate eating peas instead of broccoli....

Equally I'm with you Jaylou that sometimes 1/3 at breakfast - especially if it involves high protein (and so filling) eggs can be hard work
 
I like the idea of soup or salad before a main but only because I like soup or salad. I don't think it would make me eat less of my main though as I LOVE my food. I love a big portion of spaghetti carbonara, of eggs chips and peas and other such dinners and I don't want to eat less of those foods :)

My current rule of thumb is this - If I can change peas for broccoli or carrots and it goes okay then I will do so but if i just don't want the superfree or it doesn't go, then I'm not eating it extra, for the sake of it.

So, I'm going to stick with my plain old eggs on toast and eggs, chips and peas and not eat a banana afterwards to make it a superfree meal (cos I don't think it does!!)

Loving the discussion on here guys :)
 
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