The Slimming World Diet Meals

Slimming World states its eating plan, 'Food Optimising', is a "flexible, empowering, permissive approach to healthy eating". There is little or no weighing and measuring and no calorie counting involved. Food Optimising is purportedly based on the scientific principles of satiety (the satisfying qualities of food) and energy density, and encourages slimmers to fill up on nutritious, low energy, dense foods to satisfy their appetite, while limiting consumption of less satisfying, high energy dense foods. Unique to food optimising is the unlimited choice of many 'free foods' which can include lean meat, fish and poultry, pasta, rice and grains, vegetables and fruit, which may be eaten freely. To help ensure a balanced diet, daily portions of 'healthy extras' are permitted, including bread, cereals, cheese and milk. Finally, controlled portions of higher calorie, less filling foods are included, such as crisps, wine, chocolate and sauces. In Food Optimising these are called "syns". Most adults have a daily syn "allowance" of between 5 and 15 syns.

Food Optimising has a variety of plans, which may be followed on a daily basis as the slimmer chooses:

'Original plan': Free foods include most fruit and vegetables, fish, lean meat and poultry and eggs. Healthy extras include bread, cereals, cheese, milk and carbohydrates such as wholemeal pasta, potatoes, grains and beans.
'Green plan': Free foods include most fruit and vegetables, pasta, rice, potatoes, grains and eggs. Healthy extras include bread, cereals, cheese, milk and protein such as lean meat, poultry and fish.
'Extra Easy plan': Introduced in January 2009, this introductory plan merges the free foods of Green and Original, giving a wider choice of free foods. Healthy extras include bread, cereals, cheese and milk.