Slimming clubs: bad for your bank balance and do they even work? 

We’re facing an epidemic – one that sadly can’t be alleviated with a double jab. 

After months of being at home with easy access to the fridge, but less access to gyms, sports clubs or even the benefits of the “I’m-so-late” power-walking commute, it’s little wonder we’ve piled on the pounds. 

One YouGov study reckons 46 per cent of us have gained weight during the Covid-19 pandemic, with more than one in ten now carrying an extra 11 pounds (around 5kgs). 

We cite a lack of exercise as the main reason, closely followed by eating too much in general and eating more unhealthy foods. 

Now, with some serious implications for our overall health, not least when it comes to Covid, we’re trying to do something about it. 

By March 2021, the UK government had announced a £100m fund to “support children, adults and families achieve and maintain a healthier weight”. 

But many of us had already started to take matters into our own hands, not least by signing up in our droves to the ever-present slimming club – and we are paying through the nose for it. 

What’s in a name, or a subscription fee... 

Designed as a more consistent way of achieving a calorie deficit (which leads to weight loss) than your bog-standard calorie counter or exercise tracker, each slimming club applies a slightly different approach. 

But all slimming clubs use some form of tested strategy on diet and exercise, weekly targets and the all-important group and personal support - both face-to-face and online. 

Those clubs that didn’t have a strong digital presence before the pandemic certainly upped their game in 2020. 

With household names including WeightWatchers, Slimming World and Rosemary Conley topping the charts for decades, evidence suggests that you will lose weight if you stick religiously to the rules and - the real key it seems - keep attending, and paying (unless you stay within a few pounds of your goal weight), for the meetings. 

But some have come under fire for promoting a guilt-based attitude that could seriously damage our relationship with food, while others do little to discourage so-called ‘calorie-cutting cults’ that could lead to significant and dangerous health issues, including deficiency-based illnesses. 

What’s more, the business model is designed to keep you as a member – and paying the weekly fees. 

It’s the perfect business model. People give the slimming clubs the credit when we lose weight, but when we gain it back, we blame ourselves. 

This means many of us rejoin the programme so we drop the pounds – and the cash. 

This can become a cycle that lasts many years. 

To be clear, the NHS recommends that anyone with a BMI of more than 25 should consider actions that would lead to gradual and controlled weight loss of between 1 and two pounds (0.5kg - 1 kg) a week. 

Less weight, less money? 

And then there’s the cost. 

With annual memberships easily topping £250 or more the customer expectation is that membership gives you insider knowledge on food, as well as the ready-made cheerleading squad. 

But that’s not always the case. 

Research by the British Nutrition Foundation, for example, found that a test group of female adults following a well-known slimming club dietary approach were consuming a diet “that more closely meets UK dietary guidelines when compared with the average UK adult female population.” 

In other words, they were just eating better than the typical British woman, meeting the recommendations for fat, salt, calcium and those all-important five-a-day (though not for fibre, free sugars or oil-rich fish). 

Studies suggest these programmes do support weight loss but only by doing the kind of sensible eating we should all be doing at home, and not paying extra for. 

The British Nutrition Foundation report said the approaches used by well-known slimming clubs “reflect many of the main messages in the UK’s Eatwell Guide and generally accepted healthy eating advice.” 

The EatWell Guide is the NHS’s completely free explainer on healthy eating, which sets out “how much of what we eat overall should come from each food group to achieve a healthy balanced diet.” 

So do you even need a slimming club to lose weight? 

Don’t forget that while you may think that this article is brilliant, it is intended for information purposes only and should not be mistaken for financial advice or recommendations.