Slimming World to introduce healthy fats option and replace ‘Syns’ in New Year refresh
Slimming World, the UK and Ireland’s leading weight-management organisation, will replace the term ‘Syns’ from January 2026 as part of a refresh of its language. Slimming World will also introduce a new category within its plan for healthy fats like avocado, nuts and olive oil.
Slimming World, the UK and Ireland’s leading weight-management organisation, will be saying goodbye to the term ‘Syns’ following a review of its language and terminology.
From January 2026, members following Slimming World’s healthy eating plan, Food Optimising, will also see the introduction of a healthy fats choice, meaning foods like avocado and nut butters, will be even easier to incorporate into their week and there will be an even greater focus on the health benefits of these foods.
Slimming World’s Managing Director Lisa Salmon says: “Our methods remain largely unchanged since Slimming World was founded by the late Margaret Miles-Bramwell OBE in 1969. Just like Margaret always did, we’re constantly listening to our members, to the Consultants who run our groups and to the latest science to ensure Slimming World remains the most effective and realistic way to achieve lasting weight loss.
“The weight management industry has transformed in recent years – most notably with the rise of weight loss medications – and we believe the role of lifestyle-based solutions like Slimming World is more important than ever. Language matters and we know ‘Syns’ can be misunderstood or be a barrier for some people who want and need support to reach a healthy weight. We want everyone to feel welcome at Slimming World and we hope making this change will help.”
Our ethos is – and has always been – about lifting the burden of guilt people feel around food and their weight.
Slimming World’s healthy eating plan has helped millions of people to lose weight over the past 56 years. It’s a flexible plan that’s centred around ‘Free Foods’, foods that are lower in energy density, meaning they have less calories per gram, and highly satisfying, so you can fill up on them for fewer calories.
There are more than 350 basic Free Foods which can be eaten freely to satisfy your appetite, with no need to weigh or measure them. These include lean meats, poultry, fish, plant-based proteins, eggs, beans, fruit and veg, grains, potatoes and pasta.
The plan also encourages slimmers to enjoy measured, daily portions of foods containing essential nutrients to help ensure an overall balanced diet – these are called Healthy Extras. To avoid feelings of deprivation and the need to rebel, no food is banned and those foods that aren’t Free Foods or Healthy Extras can still be enjoyed in more controlled amounts.
From January 2026, those foods that are least satiating and high in energy density – foods like alcohol, crisps, chocolates or everyday essentials (a bit of butter, sauce or gravy with a meal) – will be called Slimming World Individual Picks, or Swips. These foods are important because being able to enjoy your favourite foods without guilt makes the plan easier to stick to, so members can make lasting changes.
Lisa, who joined Slimming World as a member herself more than 30 years ago, says: “Our ethos is – and has always been – about lifting the burden of guilt people feel around food and their weight, and providing a healthy, flexible and realistic way of eating that fits with every lifestyle and can be kept up for the long-term. We’ve had feedback that the word Syn suggested we wanted to make people feel ashamed about eating those higher calorie foods – which couldn’t be further from the truth. However, we recognise the power and impact of words, so while we’ve never wanted to make people feel guilty, ashamed or judged, it was important that we listened and made a change.”
In 2020, Margaret Miles-Bramwell OBE spoke on the Slimming World Podcast about the term Syns. She explained it had originally been ‘sin’, with the organisation’s plan once named the ‘Sin-a-Day plan’, and intended to poke fun at the diets of the time that told people what they should and shouldn’t eat. She told how she changed the term to Syns (short for synergy) to reflect the important balance within the plan in the 2000s because times had changed and the word was creating misconceptions. She was involved in the latest review of terminology, which was completed in collaboration with linguistics specialists, before her death in February 2025.
The terms Body Magic, which refers to Slimming World’s physical activity support programme, and IMAGE Therapy, which stands for Individual Motivation and Group Experience and is currently used to describe the behaviour change support members receive in their weekly Slimming World group, will also be renamed. From January 2026, in a bid to simplify its language, Slimming World will talk instead about Slimming World’s active lifestyle programme and support system. The brand also has a new, fresh logo.
From the new year, as well as including fibre and calcium-rich foods, Healthy Extras will also encourage the inclusion of healthy fats into members’ diets, such as nuts and nut butters, seeds, avocado and oils. Members will be able to choose three Healthy Extra portions from a list of calcium, fibre and healthy fats choices each day, they will be encouraged to choose a variety of Healthy Extras for overall health, with at least one calcium choice a day to support the intake of this important nutrient.
People following Slimming World’s plan have always been able to enjoy healthy fats as part of their week, with oily fish within Free Foods, nuts and seeds as part of their Healthy Extras, and avocado or oils within their daily Syns allowance. The introduction of the healthy fats choice is intended to put an even greater spotlight on the health benefits of these foods.
Lisa says: “No food has ever been banned at Slimming World and members have always been able to enjoy healthy fats. We hope though that moving these foods to a new Healthy Extra option will increase members’ understanding of healthy eating and better support them to maintain their new eating habits long after they reach their target weight.”
This change has been made following a review of Slimming World’s plan by its Nutrition, Research and Health Department, which comprises a team of dietitians, nutritionists and researchers. It reflects current eating trends and aims to make it even easier for members to fit the plan into their real lives.
Lisa says the changes, which will show on Slimming World’s website and app from mid-December and be updated in its printed member books from December 26th, 2025, are about making sure the plan continues to fit with modern lifestyles. She adds: “These updates are rooted in science, shaped by what our members tell us and designed to support people of all ages to lose weight in a way that’s healthy, sustainable and works long-term.”