‘I’ve gone through Emma’s* diet plan and we’re going to cut back on the bananas at breakfast,’ the weight loss consultant explains to a room of women, aged between 40 and 80.
I am one of them in the £5.95 session, ready to have my eating habits analysed by consultant Sandra*, who previously lost 10st on the programme.
However, before me, there’s Cheryl*. At the Slimming World meeting in a London community hall, Sandra points out that her daily lattes and brandy nightcaps could be delaying progress. When the room’s reaction becomes a bit too lively, she quickly reminds them that Cheryl has been through a difficult time and shouldn’t be too hard on herself.
With natural warmth, Sandra continues to easily recall everyone’s individual circumstances (from upcoming holidays to their previous week’s loss) and names, including mine. ‘Why are you here, Josie?’ she asks, as all eyes lock in on me.
I explain that it would be nice to feel more at ease in my body. ‘You want to live your best life,’ Sandra quickly responds.
As someone who used to accompany their mum to slimming clubs in the early 00s, I am also here to understand where they fit in today’s weight loss landscape, especially after it was reported earlier this year that WW (formerly Weight Watchers) is planning to file for bankruptcy.
I’ve seen the power slimming clubs can wield. I can remember being around eight, sitting next to my mum, a committed member, who would take me along when my dad was working late. I’d see her mood flatten if she didn’t have the week she’d hoped, or her happiness increasing if she’d been ‘lucky’ by managing to still lose despite breaking some guidelines.
In a recent honest conversation, my mum expressed regret at ever taking me. ‘In hindsight, you probably shouldn’t have listened to so much weight talk at a young age, as it’s not something you should have been concerned about at all. You have to remember that this was before the body positivity movement, and we weren’t fully aware of what could harm self-esteem,’ she explained. I did manage to get through pretty unscathed, as I always saw my mum’s participation as her thing and not something I should necessarily worry about.
I also witnessed, back then — and still here, in 2025 — people creating a safe space to share struggles. At the London slimming club, there’s friendly applause celebrating losses, and hands placed gently on backs if someone is talking about any difficulties.
Where it all began
It was in 1961 when New Yorker Jean Nidetch began gathering other housewives at her home each week to share the weight loss advice she’d been following from the New York City Board of Health. Sensing an appetite, savvy Jean licensed her speeches, trained others to be leaders and launched Weight Watchers, which saw membership peak in around 2018 with nearly five million subscribers worldwide. The UK’s Slimming World franchise wasn’t far behind, launching in 1969, with around 700,000 members per week at its most popular.
Explaining the allure of slimming clubs, registered dietitian and Diets Debunked founder, Kate Hilton, tells Metro: ‘Some believe, particularly women, that losing weight is the miracle cure for all issues and will lead to happiness, which slimming clubs very much market themselves at. They spiked in the 90s and 00s as society made people feel being overweight was a personal failing, and groups were seen as the solution.’
Lisa, 55, knows this all too well.
‘When I was nine, I weighed 8 stone, so my mother took me to the doctor who said I was obese,’ she remembers. ‘Mum went to Weight Watchers, so she decided to bring me along with her. I remember them saying that I couldn’t officially be part of the programme because of my age, but I still went on the scales.’
How do the slimming club diets work?
Slimming World
Slimming World puts food into three categories – Free Foods, Healthy Extras, and Syns.
Free Foods are unlimited and naturally lower in calories for their weight, such as lean meat, eggs, fish, pasta, potatoes, fruit and vegetables.
Healthy Extras are divided into A) milk and cheese, and B) wholemeal bread, breakfast cereals, nuts and seeds. Members can have two Healthy Extra ‘A’ choices and one Healthy Extra ‘B’ choice per day.
Syns are foods higher in calories, like biscuits, sweets and alcohol. Each has a value, and members choose how to use their 5-15 Syns.
WW
Members receive a daily SmartPoints budget based on their weight, height, age, sex, and activity level.
SmartPoints are assigned in relation to the nutritional value of food and drink. Calories are the baseline; saturated fat and sugar increase the SmartPoints, while protein drives it down. Certain nutrient-rich foods, like fruits and vegetables, have zero SmartPoints attached.
Since then, learning support assistant Lisa has been in and out of slimming groups. Her stints have ranged from a couple of weeks to two years, and in adulthood, her weight has fluctuated between 11st 10lbs and 19st 5lbs.
‘You think you’re the only one having a tough time with weight, but the groups are great for showing you’re not,’ she explains. ‘I remember one woman who couldn’t stop putting cream on her cornflakes, and we’d all have a laugh over that, rather than judge her as others might. I’ve had some great times and made close friends.’
Former primary school teacher Kim, 54, has been a Slimming World consultant for 25 years after losing four and a half stone on the programme. ‘All consultants understand what it’s like to lose weight because we’ve been there,’ she tells Metro.
‘Before slimmers arrive, they can sometimes carry a lot of guilt, but we’re all human beings, and losing weight, and then maintaining it, isn’t easy. Once people walk through the doors of a Slimming World group, though, they see they’re not alone. It gives me goosebumps when I think about members who are 18 and 80 supporting each other. There will always be merit in getting that human contact when losing weight.’
While Dietitian Kate agrees that the community aspect can motivate people and offer structure, she also points out that many weight loss groups sometimes have ‘rules that don’t make sense’.
‘On Slimming World, mashed bananas are counted as [five] Syns, but unmashed bananas are zero, despite them having the same nutritional value,’ she explains. ‘The rules can be contradictory, which builds upon the feeling of shame when it comes to certain eating choices.’
Lisa admits that she is doubtful about returning to a slimming club for the ninth time. ‘It is a struggle to maintain the mindset needed,’ she says. ‘I turn to food for everything. I reward myself and drown my sorrows with food — that can’t be fixed with weekly weigh-ins.’
The competition
The decline of real-life slimming clubs is down to a variety of factors, says Kate. ‘Diets come in fads — at the moment, carnivore diets [a diet of meat, eggs, fish, and some dairy products] are all the rage. Slimming groups kept with the same old, and it got boring.’
The rise of the internet also allowed people to access workouts and detailed diet plans from fitness influencers and apps, often at no cost. And, of course, AI is changing things too. ‘We live online more, so people are using AI, which is free, to help them plan their meals,’ adds Kate.
Trainee nurse Kitty, 22, tells Metro that she can’t remember a time she wasn’t insecure about her weight, and although she tried WW as a teenager after seeing her mum and nan have success with it, she used the app as she was embarrassed for anyone to know. ‘I felt like it was weird that I was trying to lose this weight when my friends were just living,’ the Gen Zer recalls.
Over 18 months, Kitty went from 18st 7lbs to 12st 7lbs by sticking to the regime and through personal training sessions at a local gym, but then ended up losing a further stone on the low-carb high-fat Keto diet.
‘Weight Watchers and Slimming World are associated with slower weight loss, but there are other diets that are advertised as having super quick results,’ she explains. ‘When you’re younger, you don’t care about how healthy the weight loss methods are, you want the quick results.’
Asked if she felt any better, Kitty admits: ‘When I wore clothes that I wanted to wear, I felt good — but I was still comparing myself to other girls my age and models with “perfect” bodies on social media.’
Slimming clubs are also facing serious competition from injectable prescription medication for weight loss, such as Ozempic, Wegovy and Mounjaro, originally used to treat diabetes. An estimated 1.5 million Brits** are now using the drugs, which work by suppressing appetite and lengthening the amount of time food stays in the stomach. Both Lisa and Kitty are considering them.
‘When I was at my biggest, I hadn’t even heard of weight-loss injections, but I probably would have considered them if I had,’ says Kitty. ‘Back then, I couldn’t just go out and enjoy food with friends without thinking about it, but the jabs could have made that part a bit easier.’
However, she adds, she’d want to do more research first, especially as there have been so many varying stories of their success and side effects.
While one US study reported that half of the weight lost during traditional diets is regained within two years, and more than 80% in five years, recent research from the University of Oxford has found it is similar for semaglutides, with most weight returning within a year after stopping weight loss jabs.
Can clubs survive?
In a telling business move, WW is now working with CheqUp, a provider of weight-loss drugs. James Hunt, Deputy CEO of CheqUp, said in a statement: ‘There is no doubt that the addition of WeightWatchers’ breakthrough GLP-1 companion programme will add enormously to our patients’ ability to achieve sustainable weight loss through its science-backed and proven programmes, together with their global community of like-minded individuals.’
Kim, whose sessions on the Isle of Wight can attract up to 120 people, insists that ‘injections are not a silver bullet’.
She adds: ‘People need wraparound care because they don’t work for everybody. Even when medication is effective, the weight can come back on once they stop taking it. We welcome people who take weight loss jabs to take part in Slimming World and get that extra support around sustainable changes.’
After my session, I know I won’t be signing up for Slimming World membership anytime soon. I am not in a place where I want to follow a diet plan, but that’s not to say I never will be. I can see how they can help people get healthier, as long as they also keep the perspective that weight is probably the least interesting thing about humans.
As for banana Syn-gate… Kim says to me, ‘Shall we address the elephant in the room? If I were to give you a couple of bananas right now, Josie, it would be quite filling, but if we were to mash them in a bowl, there’s less chewing involved, that banana is going to slide down more easily, and it may not fill you up so you’d reach for something else as well. We are ultimately a weight loss company, and we’re going to protect members’ losses. It’s not because we’re being awkward.’
Bananas aside, dietitian Kate has her own advice: ‘Ultimately, there are hundreds of reasons why we eat the way we eat, and if we’re not tackling them – whether it be emotional, comfort, financial or social – then eventually the diet is going to fail.’
*Names have been changed
**IVQO
***Medical Clinics of North America
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