What Makes Your Weight Loss Group Great?

gubbie

This is to all the Slimming Worlder's, the Weight Watcherser's and anyone who has ever sat in a weight loss group before, whether you stayed, or whether you quit.

I do Slimming World and I'm about a hair away from not staying to any more groups. Why? I don't find them informative. I learn how X had one social event last week, and how Y drank wine at the weekend. Rarely any new food tips, no advice on meals, no tips on easy ways to start exercising.

I'd love to know, have you ever seen something in a group which you've enjoyed? What don't you like about your groups? What make you stay?

What I would like is

• Rather than inquiring about people every week, maybe make it every second (or do half the group?). The rest of the time, do a meal of the week, or talk about the evils of sugar! Be informative.
• Set a challenge. I believe a "I'm going to lose 2lbs this week" is a terrible challenge. I believe it is better if you define how you were going to do it - "I'm going to run 3 times this week/not eat one processed bit of food/walk to work/not eat chocolate/replace x with y". Small changes

My apologies to the mods if you would rather I ask these questions in each thread separately, I wanted to reach a wider audience, especially those who no longer go. Disclosure - I have nothing to do with running groups, nor do I ever intend to! We're getting a new leader in group next week who they're currently training so it's been on my mind.

Wellyd

gubbie wrote: »

I do Slimming World and I'm about a hair away from not staying to any more groups.

I was just about to post this exact thing in the slimming world thread this morning. I'm 19 months in slimming world at the moment and 4.5 stone lighter but I've come to the stage where it's just the same thing week in week out. I'm half tempted to go get weighed this morning and head home. I feel like they've ran out of new things to tell us and it's just the same oh you ate takeaway and drank all weekend but you didn't lose any weight oh well try be better next week.

I'm too far gone in my journey to ever contemplate giving up but I feel like now I do need an extra bit of motivation to stay to group. Also it feels like every 3/4 weeks they do a new member talk for the whole group and it drives me mad. I know the plan inside out, I know that if I've a gain it's not because the plan doesn't work it's because I wasn't following it properly.

Also if I hear another dolmio jars are full of Syns, make your own using mince and passata, I think I'll explode. Passata and mince does not a good bolognese make! It's the same thing every week!

Sorry for the rant but I am very frustrated with my group in general at the moment!

spur

Feel the very same. Have written, but not posted, so many rants on this.
Our group is noisy chaos most of the time. For so many there it's their social outing - and quite a few of them said this last night. Which is fine - until they feel the need to treat it like a night down the pub and talk and talk and talk and talk.
In fairness last night wasn't as bad as other nights as a few of the "I have to be heard" brigade weren't there and one usually very vocal member was quieter than usual - and made some great contributions when she forgot about entertaining the masses. There were a few alright still there - it's this obsession with having to be heard - even though 10 people have said the same thing, you still have to say it all again in your voice!!!
Leader thinks it's all hilarious and there's a great vibe in the group etc. There is for the 10 or so who create this vibe, but she really misses the point that lots of us don't need or want this.
She does go through foods etc - but it can be so repetitive - if I hear once more how to make mushy pea curry - if anyone mentions it we have to get all the ingredients from the table and go through it all. And there are always people who ask yet again for it - and I feel like turning around and saying if you listened rather than talking you might know how to make it.
I do find I get better losses when i stay - but I usually spend the journey home giving out about them all - OH goes along too but he has a much better tolerance of it all.

Jwacqui

Have to agree with the sentiments above.

I've been a member of WW and SW.

There's always the person who loves the sound of their own voice, the person who is a complete know it all and wants to tell everyone how to do the plan, the person who gains every week complains but never follows the plan.

I find though the worse offenders are those that consider it a social outing to catch up with their friends and talk and the group leaders ignore them! - in my head I'm screaming SHUT UP!

The thing I hate most about the slimming world meetings though is reading out everyone's weigh in!! Susan...is Susan here...no....Mary....is Mary here... No...
Just ask who is actually there!! Go around the room!

I find I'm more focuses when I do attend meetings but I find them so frustrating!

pinkypinky

I've been WW for a long time (gold member so there are whole years when I don't go) but actually attending does focus me better. I've been going to a new class for a few weeks and find it headwrecking - it's like a self-help group and I don't feel I get a lot from the group time. Rarely if ever learn something new, even with the near constant changing the points program.

Dolbert

This is how I feel about group tbh

Vahevala

I must say as a target member, I am finding staying to my SW group quite pointless, I may just weigh & go for a bit because I get about 2 mins to talk if that and it seems to be the same thing/format every blooming week so I end up getting home really late...

The most pointless thing is the quiz they do where they divide the group into two and give people points depending on how much they have lost... boring as hell.

Wellyd

Vahevala wrote: »

The most pointless thing is the quiz they do where they divide the group into two and give people points depending on how much they have lost... boring as hell.

Oh god I'd forgotten about that! That drives me insane!

McChubbin

So glad this thread exists as a lot of the points made are quite valid and are some of the things that have made me rage-quit in the past. I found with WW and SW that I'd lose interest after 6-8weeks due to the meetings being tedious and repetive.
Also, has anyone found that they often do the "hard sell" of the branded products (eg: ready meals, sauces, chocolate bars, pedometers, recipe books, etc) at each meeting? Last time around, I felt like it was a really pushy marketing ploy and I felt a lot of pressure to buy the products on offer. I ended up only going to get weighed and leaving before the meetings started so I'm a bit apprehensive of going back to the group because of this.

spur

I haven't found much of a hard sell on product. I know the bars are hugely popular and in the queue on any night 5 out of 6 people around me will be buying a selection. I find there is a little more mention of the SW products available from Iceland - but in fairness it's not a hard sell.
What I don't like is the pushing of things such as mugshots and pink&whites and some of the yoghurts. These foods might be free/low syns but they really aren't healthy. I find these are mentioned far far more in our group than SW products.

Reading all the comments here I realise my group is probably better than a lot! I just wish the leader would manage the group a little better and not let it descend into the chaos it does so often - yes I'm sure it all sounds like great craic and lots of comments etc - but looking around they are all generated by 4 or 5 people - there are another 10-15 in there who are just wishing it would move on.

Penny Tration

I'm in SW, I've never ever found them to do a hard sell or recommended any of their products tbh.

Meetings just bore me tbh. We listen mainly to three people talk about every single piece of food to pass their lips for a week, how they walked for twenty minutes. Whatever! I don't care.

My consultant is great in that she shares recipes, she's happy to text me if I need anything, she'll chat to me before or after class and she's sound.

But meetings are all one small clique talking about how wonderful they are, so I rarely stay.

Monife

spur wrote: »

I haven't found much of a hard sell on product. I know the bars are hugely popular and in the queue on any night 5 out of 6 people around me will be buying a selection. I find there is a little more mention of the SW products available from Iceland - but in fairness it's not a hard sell.
What I don't like is the pushing of things such as mugshots and pink&whites and some of the yoghurts. These foods might be free/low syns but they really aren't healthy. I find these are mentioned far far more in our group than SW products.

I found SW classes pushed those products a LOT! Mugshots, muller light etc absolute muck. Also going round to each and every member is excruciating.

I've gone back to WW. I have a great leader which makes it much easier. There is no hard sell on any products and my leader really pushes whole, natural foods which fit in better with the new Smart Points system. For someone who likes a topic at each meeting like how to get more exercise in etc WW would be more suited for you. But after a while, and especially if you're a WW veteran, it does get a little repetitive. But there is a topic each week and usually some class participation which gives extra ideas and tips which I find good.

gubbie

Thanks for all the replies so far! Interesting to see that it's mostly SW that's the boring one... totally agree!

When I did WW yonks ago, I did really like the fact that you got weighed, and then it was a half an hour talk, so you could easily be in and out in 35 minutes. SW takes like an hour and a half...

cmyk

This is an interesting thread, just out of interest would you guys think an online version of something like SW work...albeit with a focus on better information? It'll involve an online group chat instead though.

Monife

cmyk wrote: »

This is an interesting thread, just out of interest would you guys think an online version of something like SW work...albeit with a focus on better information? It'll involve an online group chat instead though.

It depends on the individual. I personally need a group and leader setting, it makes me more accountable. SW and WW groups have their own private group on Facebook now where you can chat to the leader and other group members.

Vahevala

I personally need someone else to weigh me, it helps to keep me accountable and keep me on the straight & narrow as when I did it myself, I made excuses to not weigh myself and delay weighing myself for another week/2 weeks/month etc and that gave me the excuse to keep eating crap.

cmyk

Monife wrote: »

I personally need a group and leader setting, it makes me more accountable.

Vahevala wrote: »

I personally need someone else to weigh me, it helps to keep me accountable

That's basically the information I was looking for, what if you had to input some basic measurements every other week?

Monife

cmyk wrote: »

That's basically the information I was looking for, what if you had to input some basic measurements every other week?

It helps only slightly. I did do Unislim online where you input your weightloss every week and have a mentor who emails you once a week. But, for me, it can never replace the support or accountability of a group.

Wellyd

Vahevala wrote: »

I personally need someone else to weigh me, it helps to keep me accountable and keep me on the straight & narrow as when I did it myself, I made excuses to not weigh myself and delay weighing myself for another week/2 weeks/month etc and that gave me the excuse to keep eating crap.

I couldn't do slimming world online. I need someone to weigh me. If I was weighing myself I know I'd give myself way too much leeway. I know I had a huge rant last week about what drives me mad about slimming world but never in my wildest dreams would I give it up. I only wish there was a theme to each week or something similar. There have been too many weeks lately where the entire class was about getting motivated again which is fine every now and then but for the last 4 weeks in a row is a bit much. I'd love to have week on like fakeaways or starting body Magic and how to get the different awards or the importance of measuring yourself and checking every month. Just something a bit different.

Also my consultant knows that I'm due body magic awards and I don't want to have to beg her for them so maybe she could do a quick check every now and then to see if anyone should get them! (I know I sound whingy here but it's been a while since my last award so a little bit of sparkle on my book might keep me going til the next one!)

Dixie Chick

Clearly coming from a biased point of view as I am a leader, but at unislim we have an information talk each week. Lasts about 10 mins, then we do some general chat as well.

Personally in my classes, i dont go around and ask people their individual week and how they got on as I am in a small town for my classes and people are just not wanting everyone knowing their business either

Over the last 4 weeks we talked about
1. fats, good, bad and why we need them
2. fibre, how much you need (real eye opener for the ladies who suffer with constiaption)
3. Juicing and smoothies, the best combo
4. A healthy heart talk provided to us by the irish heart foundation

I was a member of WW before and i found it was the same talk each week and stopped staying for the talk. I just think looking back if I had come away with food for thought each week that I would have maybe learned at an earlier age why i was off the wagon more than on it!

But as I said- biased!!

thegreatiam

What about competitors to weight watchers. motivation.ie offer one on one sessions which will give you the weigh in and keep you on track, but without out any of the drawbacks of listening to a group.

All of these groups push their own products and charge money. That's why they exist. just go to the one that you feel comfortable with.

Personally, I think you're better off by holding yourself accountable and learning the correct information on training and managing your own nutrition, doing that is near free and sticks with you for life.

But if you want to pay for the process then companies exist that don't use groups.

Monife

thegreatiam wrote: »

What about competitors to weight watchers. motivation.ie offer one on one sessions which will give you the weigh in and keep you on track, but without out any of the drawbacks of listening to a group.

All of these groups push their own products and charge money. That's why they exist. just go to the one that you feel comfortable with.

Personally, I think you're better off by holding yourself accountable and learning the correct information on training and managing your own nutrition, doing that is near free and sticks with you for life.

But if you want to pay for the process then companies exist that don't use groups.

The company you linked costs an absolute bomb, way more than weight loss support groups and follows a strict Atkins diet.

I found Slimming World to really push their products however from the Weight Watchers classes I have attended, they don't push their products at all and the leaders promote much cleaner eating.

thegreatiam

Comparatively they all cost a bomb. Losing weight is essentially a free thing. It's the service you are paying for. Whether that is a group class or one on one weigh ins. You're just paying for the system you feel comfortable with.

Personally i just learned how to make healthy food. Learned how to exercise and ate accordingly.

If someone else wants to join a group for support, or go to a clinic for a personal session then that's up to them.

Their money their choice.

gubbie

I was wondering when the first "... is waste of time/money, just eat right/do exercise" comment would be. It's not saying anything we don't already know already and I truly believe is not the reason most people go to these groups - people go for motivation and accountability. I started this thread with the aim of finding out what groups did to make others motivated.

thegreatiam

gubbie wrote: »

I was wondering when the first "... is waste of time/money, just eat right/do exercise" comment would be. It's not saying anything we don't already know already and I truly believe is not the reason most people go to these groups - people go for motivation and accountability. I started this thread with the aim of finding out what groups did to make others motivated.

my point was that motivation offer one 2 one weigh-ins to keep you on track, provide structure and accountability. so if people want a structured and guided program but without the group talking aspect then there are programs like motivation.ie etc out there for that. You'll, most likely, have your own adviser and can ask them any questions on the topics you want to know about rather than group chats being derailed by the loudest members.

I never brought up price, but yes it is something I would never pay for, if someone wants to spend their own, then they make their own choices. I'm not going to tell someone what to spend their money on, same as someone shouldn't tell me what I have to spend my money on.

But it's no point being shocked that a one 2 one costs more than a group session. you can't even compare those two services. if people are willing to pay it, and get what they want from it, then it doesn't matter the cost.
It's also bizarre to me that people get frustrated with companies pushing their own products to customers. it's why they exist - to sell stuff. If you don't want to pay or have products sold to you, then it is freely available with a little effort.

Monife

thegreatiam wrote: »

my point was that motivation offer one 2 one weigh-ins to keep you on track, provide structure and accountability. so if people want a structured and guided program but without the group talking aspect then there are programs like motivation.ie etc out there for that. You'll, most likely, have your own adviser and can ask them any questions on the topics you want to know about rather than group chats being derailed by the loudest members.

I never brought up price, but yes it is something I would never pay for, if someone wants to spend their own, then they make their own choices. I'm not going to tell someone what to spend their money on, same as someone shouldn't tell me what I have to spend my money on.

But it's no point being shocked that a one 2 one costs more than a group session. you can't even compare those two services. if people are willing to pay it, and get what they want from it, then it doesn't matter the cost.
It's also bizarre to me that people get frustrated with companies pushing their own products to customers. it's why they exist - to sell stuff. If you don't want to pay or have products sold to you, then it is freely available with a little effort.

Motivation is not a good example of one to one support. They advocate the Atkins diet which I don't believe is healthy long term and they require you to buy their protein snacks. A private dietition or nutritionist would be better for one to one.

Alf Veedersane

Monife wrote: »

Motivation is not a good example of one to one support. They advocate the Atkins diet which I don't believe is healthy long term and they require you to buy their protein snacks. A private dietition or nutritionist would be better for one to one.

He wasn't suggesting they were a good example but giving an example of one-to-one support.

As an aside, I'd be loath to recommend lots or 'nutritionists' purely because there are plenty or people who decide they can be a nutritionist without any credible qualification.

thegreatiam

Monife wrote: »

Motivation is not a good example of one to one support. They advocate the Atkins diet which I don't believe is healthy long term and they require you to buy their protein snacks. A private dietition or nutritionist would be better for one to one.

the first bunch of comments in the thread are people who aren't satisfied with the group component.

Motivation.ie is just an alternative to the group aspect, no requirements to speak in front of strangers, no group weigh-ins.

Weight watchers and SW are such big, widespread companies that some may not know there is an alternative.

gubbie

thegreatiam wrote: »

I never brought up price,

Lol, you kinda did! You did say "Comparatively they all cost a bomb..." but anyway, it doesn't matter, it was the first out of place comment in the thread.

Most people know that yes motivation.ie offer an expensive option. WW/SW/etc. all offer a cheap motivation. WW offers a different type of motivation to SW. We pay for the motivation, which some groups offer better than others (which as I mentioned, is what I wanted to know). Some people can afford motivation.ie, some people can't. For those, that's where WW/SW comes in. And if you can't afford that, well the NHS will pay for it (I dunno if there's an equivalent in Ireland). If there was a free equivalent that would give that motivation, you can bet people would flock to it

thegreatiam

gubbie wrote: »

Lol, you kinda did! You did say "Comparatively they all cost a bomb..."

no, i didnt. someone else brought up price, i just answered. price is relative.

Monife wrote: »

The company you linked costs an absolute bomb, way more than weight loss support groups and follows a strict Atkins diet.

thegreatiam wrote: »

Comparatively they all cost a bomb. Losing weight is essentially a free thing.

and like i said, it's my choice not to pay. same as it's your choice to pay if you want.

I've made no assumption on any weight loss programs, by price or otherwise, only that i decided long ago that it wasn't for me.

but if someone wants to go to weight watchers, but does not like group talk, then motivation seems like the logical next avenue to explore. weight watchers is not the only game in town.

Nyum Nyum

Alf Veedersane wrote: »

As an aside, I'd be loath to recommend lots or 'nutritionists' purely because there are plenty or people who decide they can be a nutritionist without any credible qualification.

Lots of people online though - and on this forum - who will give out all kinds of advice without any credible qualifications too.

Alf Veedersane

Nyum Nyum wrote: »

Lots of people online though - and on this forum - who will give out all kinds of advice without any credible qualifications too.

They're not charging for it.

Nyum Nyum

Alf Veedersane wrote: »

They're not charging for it.

Bad advice is bad advice - free or not.

(And good advice is good advice too)

Alf Veedersane

Nyum Nyum wrote: »

Bad advice is bad advice - free or not.

(And good advice is good advice too)

My point was that if you're going to pay for advice, exercise a little caution when it comes to 'nutritionists', check out their qualifications are legit.

There are plenty of good nutritionists who will give good advice - I know some. I'm just saying to make sure you do a bit of a check first so that (a) you get good advice and (b) you don't have a bad experience that gives a bad impression of all nutritionists

gubbie

Stall the ball lads, this isn't what thread is about. It's called "Great things about your group", not "Yay here's another thread to bash weight loss groups". Go set up your own tread!

thegreatiam

gubbie wrote: »

Stall the ball lads, this isn't what thread is about. It's called "Great things about your group", not "Yay here's another thread to bash weight loss groups". Go set up your own tread!

Are you and I even reading the same thread? There's not a single post bashing weight loss groups


well, except your first post:

gubbie wrote: »

I do Slimming World and I'm about a hair away from not staying to any more groups. Why? I don't find them informative. I learn how X had one social event last week, and how Y drank wine at the weekend. Rarely any new food tips, no advice on meals, no tips on easy ways to start exercising.

You're not happy with the group aspect then try something different. like a one on one class where you control the content and discussion, no more listening to other people's social lives and you can question what you're not sure of at your own pace and get the advice you want as an when you want it.

As you're finding out here, you can't control the dynamic of a group conversation. it will go where the group wants it to, organically.
If you're not happy with that then either find another group, pay for one on one time or learn how to do it yourself.

Or bring your suggestions to the group leader and effect the changes.

Dixie Chick

I would definitely bring feedback to leaders , they want you bums on seats in their classes so will do anything to keep the crowd happy. Cooking demos, exercise talks etc..SW are such a large machine though I am not sure how that would fit into their structure