"Points don't always make prizes"
I've tried several diet plans over the years, most recently Slimming World, with brilliant support from Gail and Jane. I stuck to it rigidly, and during the first half of 2022, managed to lose three stone and finally fit into all of the clothes that had been in the 'aspirational' side of my wardrobe for a long time. It's amazing how much more confident I felt as a result, but like a gooey chocolate cake left out in the sun, things have gone into meltdown a little over recent years as a lot of my old eating vices came back to haunt me.
I love food, and there's very little I won't eat. I could hand you a menu and ask you to order me dinner, and guarantee I'd enjoy whatever you chose for me to scoff. I became a little obsessive when it came to counting 'syns' on Slimming World, and it was much the same in my days of tracking 'points' on Weightwatchers, which I followed long before it rebranded to remove the word 'weight'.
Again, I had fantastic support from Su, and we're still Facebook friends decades later. She was inspirational, and I did really well with tracking my 'points' and learning to make better food choices. I think a large part of the success of all slimming clubs is the social aspect, and the camaraderie of knowing you're not alone in your weight loss goals. There was an awkward moment after one Thursday weigh-in when I met my friend for curry and Cobra, and my Weightwatchers leader spotted us. It turned out many people went for a naughty meal straight after stepping off the scales, and it wasn't anything she hadn't seen a million times before!
The problem for me is sticking to any of these plans long term. I know I need to get back to the gym, and that simply have a membership card in my wallet won't shed any pounds apart from the bank account variety. I know that my lovely bicycle won't do me any good furloughed in the shed (where it's largely been since 2020, aside from one day when I had a rare burst of motivation and took it down the hill to the bike shop for a service, only to wheel it back when the uphill ride proved too taxing), and I know I need to stop stocking up the treat drawer as frequently with sweets and treats. I'm also trying to get back to going for a daily walk, as my job is sedentary and involves many hours talking into a sponge, whilst sipping black coffee.
It's very easy to blame ourselves, but with two thirds of people in the UK either overweight or obese, the food industry and government don't seem to have much of an appetite for helping us by pushing healthier choices. Blaming the individual is far easier for 'big food', as detailed in the excellent book "Food Fight" by Stuart Gillespie, reviewed in this column last week. Multi-buy offers rarely seem to be on fruit and veg in the supermarkets, although they suddenly find the ability to sell them for 15p at Christmas and Easter, much to the frustration of farmers.
The Observer reported at the weekend that WW International is preparing to file for bankruptcy, and is struggling with debts totalling more than a billion pounds. The emergence of Ozempic and other weight loss injections (so-called 'fat jabs', to use the tabloid terminology) has turned things upside down, and whilst I've no desire to go down that route, I read recently that as many as one in seven people in the UK have either taken the drugs themselves, or know someone who has. Each to their own, but it's not remotely tempting for me.
It would be a pity to lose 'WW', and I know there are many groups who meet weekly in Tameside and Glossop, and report great success stories. I was one of them in 2022, and I'm sorry I haven't maintained that in recent years. I don't think calories on restaurant menus help, nor do I think we should deprive ourselves of the occasional treat. Eating shouldn't become a counting game. It's a huge topic, and I'm fortunate that my only issue is greed, and not the more serious eating disorders that so many struggle with. I don't have all the answers, but I certainly worry that many seemingly think a jab is the silver bullet they are looking for.
