Slimming World Team Leaders

[DarceyK123]

Do the leaders at places like Slimming World and Weight Watchers get paid?
Im guessing they must do.

I started at SW a few weeks ago only to find the lady running it is at least 3st overweight. Im wondering how she got the job as shes not much of an inspiration.

[barry1010]

Of course they do, it's their business - they have bought a franchise

[barry1010]

I went to WW, I was very popular with the ladies as a lone man, and there was much dissent because the leader qualified to be a WW leader because she had lost her 'baby weight'. As every woman including my wife told me, that is not the same as battling life time obesity.

[Hopkirk]

Do you remember Marjorie Dawes at Fat Fighters, in the TV programme Little Britain?

That's exactly what they were taking the p*** out of.

[DarceyK123]

Thank you, i thought they would do but just cant see how she can be an inspiration to anybody, she's much bigger than most of her clients, including me.
I look at her and think she must know every trick in the book and its still not working for her so what chances do i have?!

[barry1010]

I remember that, Hopkirk.

I am still bemused my WW leader advising us to use gravy browning on boiled potatoes, whack them in a hot oven for five minutes to replicate roast potatoes.
She also told us we would never lose weight if we exercise. That is because their clients' weight records are passed on to head office and if the clients don't show a weight loss for a few weeks it is a black mark for the leader.
Exercise can lead to increased muscle mass and reduced fat, muscle weighs more than fat.
I believe their stance on exercise has changed since I went.

[barry1010]

Dancey, how heavy was she? It is usual for a cardboard cutout of the 'before weight loss' to be on display, or the leader to mention it frequently.
'Ladies, oh and gentleman, you can do this. Can you believe I used to weigh 20 stone and struggled with my weight all my life? I tried every diet - cabbage, Cambridge, Slimplus, starvation, everything - nothing worked. Until I found WeightWatchers!'

[DarceyK123]

Ha ha! Barry i know what you mean. I used to do WW and the lady there had one of those but this lady hasn't.

She did tell us that has been yo-yoing for years which rather goes against the concept they are trying to sell, whjch is if you change your lifestyle and way of thinking then the weight stays off.

[barry1010]

In the defence of WW, I haven't been for years but the foundations of eating regular meals, being mindful of what I eat, aware of fat and calories has stood me in good stead and I have kept the weight off.
I do exercise every day, though.
I do not subscribe to their idea of 'treats' or 'cheats'. I cannot do either, I put on weight very easily. I simply no longer view food as a treat.

[DarceyK123]

I do prefer WW , i found it much easier but i joined with a friend so i wont abandon her now, will see how it goes.

[Buenchico]

Quote (dated 30 June 2019):
"Slimming World is a franchise, so you pay £1,500 upfront, which covers all your training and your first licence for your first group.

After that, each new group you start you have to buy another licence which costs a further £750.

Slimming World pays half the cost of hiring your venue, but then takes half of your membership income.

You earn commission on the Slimming World food you sell."

Source:
https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/revealed-what-its-really-like-16453312

[wolf63]

You can buy Slimming World meals from Iceland.

[Buenchico]

^^^ If it says "Free Food" on the pack, will I have a valid excuse when the security guard accuses me of shoplifting?
https://www.slimmingworld.co.uk/food-range/our-range?categories=ready-to-cook

;-)

[wolf63]

Worth a try!

They also sell Gregg's frozen sausage rolls :-)

[barry1010]

I never agreed with WW pushing their own brand food that was very expensive and mostly had fewer 'points' simply because there was much less of the product than a standard packet.
Every week they sold sweets, chocolates, biscuits, cake, crisps.

I remember one week the leader pushing special scales at a discount the week before we broke up Christmas. On return, we were told there is a new points system and the scales she sold a couple of weeks before were useless. I didn't buy the scales but that was when I stopped going.

[galasalmon]

I find it good and have lost weight since I started . The leaders do get paid .

[Old_Geezer]

Perhaps she isn't trying to inspire you because of what she's achieved but inspiring you because she's in it with you, together.

[rowanwitch]

They have to lose a certain amount of weight using the plan before they can become a group leader and I know of one who had her licence 'revoked' she put it all back on again and didn't lose it again within the time they allowed her.

[1581960]

There's not many businesses that depend of failure to stay afloat, but it's true for the the slimming business. No fat people - no business.
Overweight people have easy choices to make, accept how they are and continue regardless, or, reduce their calorie intake until the start loosing weight and then control calory intake to maintain the weight they wish to be. Not exactly rocket science is it?

[barry1010]

Not rocket science but a lot of sciences are involved

[rowanwitch]

It's not like dealing with addiction as you can't give up eating, but addictive type behaviour is often involved, also reward /punishment cycles, as a coping mechanism during emotional disturbance, a malfunctioning leptin / ghrelin hormone system, as a defence against the need to relate to others ( fat equals loss of attractiveness so protection from interest from the opposite sex), side effects of medication, embedded habits from childhood, clean plate syndrome, food as a substitute for affection especially with a non demonstrative/affectionate parent, the list is so long and if it was just eat less, exercise more everyone would do it, but I know it just isn't that easy, having lost 4+ stone on multiple occasions, even after a year the habit of healthy living didn't embed when it normally takes around 9 weeks for a habit to become a fixed change.

I know the only permanent solution would be bariatric surgery but I guess I no longer want to take the risk although if it had been offered 20 years ago I would have said yes without thinking.