Can i justify paying for a slimming club?

Bouncybubbles

Hi all


We are on a debt management plan and really struggle to ensure we have enough money left for food, life occurences (such as things breaking etc) and so on. I have recently joined a slimming group with the vague hope that not being overweight will prevent me from having hyperemesis when we hopefully become pregnant again after loosing our last one due to this. Also the other health benefits of weight loss are appealing. However this club costs me £5/week and whilst I do enjoy going I don't feel I can justify this when I feel maybe I could do it at home or join a free online forum etc? Also since I started I have noticed our food bill rocket and as my hubby is naturally thin and dislikes nearly all healthy fruit/veg I seem to end up buying twice as much. Has anyone ever left a club and managed to continue loosing weight? Or did going make you want to loose it more knowing you have to face the scales? sorry for the long post :eek:

Bouncybubbles

Just to add we are not trying yet hoping to start end of next year with the debt management plan finishing the year after as would like to be in a much better financial position first.

toniq

Have you seen this thread?
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=5517081&highlight=slimmingworld

It might be of use to you

Good luck x

june89

Agree with joining the SW thread linked above, assuming that's the group you're going to now. I think there is a WW thread but it's not as active.

I've been on it for about a year and actually found my food bills went down after joining. I know that's not the norm though, as you're the odd one out if you're not living on Mullerlights, diet drinks and daily punnets of exotic fresh fruits. Not knocking those who enjoy those foods but it's perfectly possible to do well without them! The bulk of my diet is cheap seasonal veg, both fresh and frozen, and a little bit of frozen fruit.

I mainly joined a group for the social aspect, rather than accountability. The social side was great for a few months but the group dynamic changed over time to the point I no longer enjoy it. I am literally just paying for someone to weigh me, which makes no difference to whether I stay on plan or not. If anything, I'm less motivated as I dread going each week.

ETA: You could always try it on your own for a few weeks and see how you get on. You can book holidays (up to 6 weeks per year) or just rejoin if you find you need it. You can either join again as a new member or pay your back fees (no more than two weeks each time) to keep your history. Will probably be doing this myself as my countdown just ran out so will need to start paying again.

gettingtheresometime

I think it depends on your personality to a large extent.

If you're the sort of person who is self motivated, and can be honest with yourself as to why you've had a weight gain (which happens on any diet) then it's possible you can do it.

However if you're the sort of person who would be tempted to cheat (because who will know ?) then a class might be better.

Alice_Walker

You've got the ultimate motivation to stay on track, the positive effect it can have on your fertility (and being a new mum).

With regard to the increased cost, are you able to shop somewhere cheaper? Aldi is very good for fresh fruit and veg. Perhaps your husband could be more supportive (financially and otherwise) by trying the foods you are eating? Slim doesn't necessarily equate to healthy, so he might feel the benefits himself.

I lost a lot of weight by loosely following Slimming World by myself, and I've kept it off. Spending £5 a week is not a bad thing if it helps, but I don't think it is essential if you're genuinely committed to changing your lifestyle. Good luck!

FBaby

It sounds like you best way forward would be to find a way to continue to cook one meal, but with a compromise in terms of what it is you are cooking. Surely if your husband is slim from what you've been cooking, then either your portions are too big, or you are snacking on the side. Or is it that he is much more physically active?

I think your husband should be supporting you so agree to eat differently then he has been used too, but without going to the extreme of only cooking very low calorie meals and then you do your part by cutting down the portion. This way, no need to pay for the slim class, you are still eating the same, and your bills go down as you can cook smaller portions as a whole. Winner all together.

Detroit

I don't think £5 is excessive if this is really going to help you achieve your goal.

However, you know your budget. Could this be better spent?

If so, then you could try other ways to motivate yourself? Maybe find a diet buddy and weigh in weekly together?

There must also be lots of online dieting forums where you could share tips and encouragement with other people.

As for the increased costs of 'diet' food; dieting doesn't have to be about special food. If you ate exactly the same foods as you did when not dieting, but reduced your portion sizes by a third, you'd still lose weight.

Yes, you'd feel hungry initially, but this would stop as you became accustomed to the smaller meals.

There are no foods that make you fat or keep you thin, you can eat anything you like as long as you ensure the total calories consumed are less than the total expended.

Obviously, if you want to move to a healthier diet, this may require some changes, but again, nothing that should be too costly or that can't be shared by the whole family.

There's recipes for cheap healthy meals all over the internet.

pinkshoes

A slimming club would make you eat less to lose weight, so your food bill would go down, thus making the £5 a good investment!

pollypenny

Buy Michael Mosley's Intermittent Fasting 5:2 diet book. Join their forum and get support there.

The recipes are good, both in the book and online. We are saving money anyway, as we've gone to two meals a day whether it's a fast day or not.

One little problem - all my trousers are too big and I'm buying new.

clairec79

while loosing weight (if you are overweight) is a good thing hyperemesis isn't linked with a raised BMI (if anything it's more common in those with low BMI)