10 reasons why joining a slimming club will make you feel fantastic

If you’ve been trying to lose weight by yourself and finding something isn’t quite working, maybe you’re easily discouraged or you’re not sure if you’re making the right choices, a solution may be to stop going it alone. Many people found that after trying many different slimming diets and exercise plans, they only lost weight after joining one of many slimming clubs. So why should you join one?

1.    Great slimming recipes and other recipe ideas.  On your own, you can experiment with a range of different foods and sauces, spices and seasonings. You can come up with an enjoyable recipe every day if you try hard enough. But if you join a group, you can find a wide range of recipes in just one meeting – and delicious combinations you may never have thought of.

2.    Exercise classes. It’s tough keeping up with an exercise class by yourself. No one will say anything to you if you don’t go and it’s not much fun being out of breath alone. If you join a class, you can encourage people to go with you. You can all motivate each other to go on the right day, laugh at how unfit you are together. You are more likely to go if you know you might be letting others down. Once you all become super fit and then you can be smug as a group.

3.    Spread the news. Whenever you hear about a new exercise type or a delicious new low fat chocolate bar, you can present it to the group and others will do the same. It’s likely someone there will have tried it and can tell you the truth about how effective it is. Talking to real people who have tried these things is better than hearing celebrities being paid to endorse them on television. The same goes for posting your top tips somewhere on the internet as online slimming is a big thing for those who don't have a chance to attend a slimming class.

4.    For when it goes wrong. That day when you had a pack of doughnuts, or you ordered pizza instead of cooking salad and brown rice. This is the day when people losing weight alone give up, meaning to try again and never do. There is not going to be anyone in a slimming class who hasn’t had one of these days, so you can be guaranteed some strong advice and words to get you going again the next day.

5.    Friends for life. These are people you will see every week, people you will laugh and cry in front of and people who will share an important journey with you. If you all make the effort, you can keep good friends who will know your weaknesses and strengths for the future so you can maintain your weight together.

6.    Be excited! If you are losing weight every week, you may not get the excitement you hoped for from the people at home or at work. You may not even want to tell them you’ve lost a few pounds. At a slimming class, you will be not only allowed, you’ll be expected to dance around, laugh and shout for joy when you have a successful week!

7.    Visual encouragement. There is nothing more effective than someone doing what you’re doing and showing a result. With everybody looking around and realizing they’re all getting slimmer by the week as a unit, you’ll know that this isn’t just about one person. Your sense of being part of something bigger will help to push you along even if you have a bad week.

8.    Understanding. You can’t always expect people who have never had to lose weight to understand what you’re going through and why, so it’s easy to get frustrated when people give you rubbish advice or offer you unhealthy food and then tell you it’s okay and your rants may be met with a blank or bored expression.  As part of a slimming class, you’ll get a level of empathy you won’t receive anywhere else and no one is going push a packet of chocolate biscuits in your face.

9.    Positive surroundings. Everybody is aiming for the same goal so nobody is going to be negative about you or what you’re doing. You will find it easier to get through if you’re in a place where people can joke together and approach weight loss with a smile rather than with bad comments or attitudes.

10.    Confidence to be inspiring. Attending a slimming club can help to build your confidence as you lose weight, speak in front of others and develop your own level of understanding towards people who are going through what you’re going through. This will give you tools that will allow you to offer the same advice and guidance to people in the future and maybe start a class of your own.