We asked 1,800 women who have been part of slimming clubs a range of questions about their experiences, health, success, opinions and so forth.
Once we collected all the data, we handed it over to a data scientist to clean up and draw comparisons between questions. The aim is to find clear correlations, patterns or just facts about slimming clubs.
We’ve looked at different age groups, who trust experts and who don’t, people who have dieted numerous times vs few etc. We’ve looked at a broad range of questions and have found some valuable insights for you.
Some facts are hard-hitting; they are in your face. It’s hard to ignore them, but we must read this report with an open mind and one that hasn’t already made up its mind about whether slimming clubs are “good” or “bad” let’s see what the data says.
Each section is split into the main question asked and that question compared to others in the survey. Each segment will have a title to explain the main question and then the graphs in comparison.
Graphs #1
The following graphs compare how different age groups answered the questions.
Most people said they put back weight every time. Infact, the percentage rises in higher age groups.
A shocking finding. In every group over 75% of people have either put all the weight back on every time or most of the time.
The age group, 50-59, hit the 85% mark for this fact. This shows that as time passes, people are more likely to put all the weight back on nearly every time.
To put it another way, the quicker you try and lose weight, the more likely you’ll be trying to lose weight for your entire life.
Some people have never stopped trying to lose weight.
There’s something wrong here, but people are returning to the same old thing. If in 2023 you feel you need to try Keto again or Atkins or slimming clubs, remember you’re voting for yourself to try and lose weight for even more time.
The older someone is, the more diets they do. This makes logical sense as older people have had more time to do more diets.
However, if diets work, why would someone do more over the years? It should be less or none at all, eventually. This strongly indicates that the more diets you do, the more time you’ll be dieting.
A substantial decline in trust in experts the older someone gets. This makes sense as people who have been dieting all their life have been told a million and one things about how to lose weight, and it just hasn’t worked. No results = no trust, and they have trusted all sorts of “experts” over the years.
Older groups felt that slimming clubs were more authentic than younger individuals. It makes sense, as slimming clubs tend to have a more senior demographic attending them.
Younger women may feel a little out of place if the groups are older.
But it could be that younger women are disillusioned by speaking to experienced members who have been there for years, maybe decades and wondering why?
If it worked so well and was so brilliant, why are they still there?
There’s a decline in people thinking this statement is a fact from age 18-24 to 50-59; from 47.2% to 38.95% respectively.
The statement is true; it’s a matter of fact. Many people commented that they felt it was more complex with hormones etc. Hormones play a role in energy in and out, but that still doesn’t negate the fact that a deficit is needed for fat loss.
No matter your hormonal profile, you will only lose fat if you have an energy deficit. Only 38% of people think the statement is valid between the age of 50-59, which is problematic for them. You will only get far if you work from truth and fact.
A fact is there whether you like it or not.
Most people are still trying to lose weight across all age groups. Slimming clubs have not solved this problem; if anything, they are making it worse.
Stop trying to lose weight quickly, and stop trying to “diet”; this is short-term stuff.
If you’re serious about weight loss, you need to change at the root, a lifestyle change that’s manageable, fun and educational. You’re not getting this from your current options.
Interesting to see that the older age groups mention that slimming clubs have authentic support, but their experiences are more negative.
There’s a clear increase in negative experiences over the age groups. There’s also a massive decline in neutral experiences, and it becomes binary, either positive or negative.
This may be down to the fact older age groups are more frustrated as it’s their 10th time trying to lose weight, so an all-or-nothing mindset is more likely. Positive experiences don’t go above 49% for any age group; this is very poor.
Graphs #2
The following graphs compare the number of diets someone has done with the other questions
It’s clear that more diets is not the answer. Would you put your hand in a fire? You’d get hurt so you wouldn’t even debate or try it. You’re not tempted in the slightest.
Would you accept fake money in exchange for your car? No, because it’s fake you cannot accept it’s real so there’s no temptation there either.
So why can’t we see (as clear as the data says) that starting another diet we know we can’t maintain will cause damage to us? Mentally physically and financially.
We must see this as clear as the danger of fire or fake money otherwise we will return time after time.
“No” increases as total diets increases. When results don’t come with all the talk, “research”, “proof”, trust will erode.
The more diets someone has done, the higher the % they are actively trying to lose weight. It makes sense as going on a diet = trying to lose weight.
But you have to ask why doing more diets = trying to lose weight more. Unless, as we’ve already said, diets are not the answer to weight loss and keeping it off .
Graphs #3
The following graphs compare the data on how many times someone has lost weight and put it back on with the other questions.
The more positive the experience at slimming clubs, the higher the chance of someone losing weight and not putting it back on again.
Someone who never has put the weight back on has a positive experience 51% of the time vs just 26% for someone that’s put all the weight back on every time.
So if you have a positive experience, you’re 2x more likely to end up not putting the weight back on.
There’s a stronger correlation with a positive community/group experience (as per the previous graph) than if they understand energy in vs energy out for long-term fat loss.
You may not have to accept that it’s down to the law of energy in/out if you have support and a way to deal with your stress and emotions that decreases binge eating and escaping to food for “safety”.
Overall, food consumption would be way down, and you may be in a deficit over time.
Wouldn’t this technological age have solved all our problems if more information was the answer?
An energy deficit is a requirement for fat loss, but you don’t need to accept that fact to get into a deficit. If you eat less and that ends up putting you in a deficit, and you lose weight, then job done.
The issue is that research shows we underestimate the calories we consume per day by nearly 1000 calories.
We suck at estimating our food intake, but if you limited emotional/ stress and binge eating, you’d make your task so much easier.
And maybe having real human support, a network to help, and outlets for stress offers this and it’s more effective than any knowledge of energy. Potentially.
This is quite a vague question for a reason. We just wanted to know how people reacted to the word “expert” and whether it has any significance anymore in general.
It’s no surprise that people that put all their weight back on have the least trust in experts; they’ve been told for years and years about new diet plans, detoxes, cutting carbs, cutting fats etc. It’s confusing, and the truth is lost in the sea of misinformation.
Potentially another obvious one, but the people who always put all their weight back on are actively trying to lose weight.
It’s time for people always trying to lose weight to stop and give themselves some breathing space. What you’re doing is not working. Slow down.
What happens when you try to unlock a door, but the key doesn’t turn? You likely try and ram the key in harder and harder, and you get frustrated.
In this frustration, you’re doing the exact opposite of what you should be doing, and that’s to check if you’ve got the right key in the first place. Or to calmly place it in and turn. A cool head is required, and rushing into diet after diet doesn’t work.
Make 2023 the year of the cool head.
Graphs #4
The following graphs compare % of trust in experts with other questions.
Of people who trust experts, 45% of them think the statement is false.
Of people who don’t trust experts, 58% think the statement is false.
It’s a scientific fact the human body needs to be in an energy deficit to lose fat. If energy is put in (even from low-nutrient-dense foods) it will burn fat for energy to cover the energy deficit; it simply has to.
Humans want to believe there’s a secret or magic formula. Something must be missing as you can’t work it out. We’ve done this since the dawn of time.
We’ve searched for the fountain of youth, the elixir of life, big foot, monsters, hidden treasure and more because we want to believe there’s something more out there.
Those who realised the answers were always inside and kept a cool head won, while others got frantic and lost.
We asked people to answer some questions in their own words and analysed common phrases and words.
Most popular words/phrases in order, for each age group. The top 5 words are in bold.
Conclusion:
Based on a neutral question about their experience with slimming clubs it’s obvious that it’s an overall negative and toxic experience for most.
This no doubt comes down to the consultants that run the groups and other factors in general it seems it’s the same across the board with all age groups.
Those aged 70+ seem to have had the best experience at these groups with younger people having the worst.
Conclusion:
Social media is #1 across all age groups apart from 70+. Social media allows anyone to act as an expert, and misinformation is a huge issue; we live in the age of misinformation now.
Some answers are alarming, for example:
My mum
Slimming World
Friends
Family
These are frequent answers across all age groups. Our friends and family get their opinions from social media or other friends.
They will make claims not backed by science, and most people will try to enforce their health views on you. This is extremely common.
It’s best not to get into chats about health and fat loss with friends, family and people on social media. Advice given is often misplaced, not backed by evidence and usually parroted due to X ‘Dr” saying something on social media.
The most frustrating thing is that “Drs’ ‘sell books based on their views, and they have an agenda to promote a specific way and will cherry-pick information.
It’s hard to know who’s telling the truth and who isn’t.
Social media is the source of most people’s knowledge here; this is alarming but not surprising.
Conclusion:
There are common themes throughout but it looks like seeing other people, clothing feeling tighter, social media and photos are the main cause of people starting another diet.
The problem with this is that the “why” is very weak; it’s fleeting. You may see a photo and feel motivated by disgust for a day or two, then it drops off , and you can’t be bothered.
There’s hardly a single mention of an internal insight to improve health for an improved life; it’s often only physical
I see a friend with a new hairstyle > I want a new hair style
I see a friend looking thin > I now want to be thinner
I see a friend with abs in Bali > I now want abs and a holiday photo This is called mimetic desire.
Most of what we desire is mimetic and imitate, not intrinsic to us. It’s not got its root only inside ourselves. Since we are babies, we learn and want via imitation of our parents and others around us.
But as adults, as we develop our frontal cortex, which is the “watchtower” part of us, it’s the “me”, the observer, that feels in control. Once we develop this, we can start understanding our desires, why they arise and decide to decline them. We’re not animals; we have a choice.
But we need to understand why our desires pop into the mind to start with. Only when we see how it develops and builds can we observe it and let it go.
So you see someone puts a picture up with abs, you feel bad about yourself, you look at your belly and go, “wow, I’m so fat”, then you get annoyed and filled with envy, so you want to get moving. You are raging at yourself; how do you not look like that picture? Why? Lazy?
This desire to have abs and a nice photo have superseded logic and rationality at this stage. You’ll take any action to get moving on this new intense desire.
The thing is that intense desire dies off and will be replaced by another desire soon. You could see a friend eating out with her partner at the new fancy restaurant down the road with a 5-course meal; you now want that.
The desire for abs doesn’t seem ideal now, so you book there, disregard the calories, and just want the picture and meal.
This is how we work; we bounce from a desire to desire based on what we see, mainly on social media, TV or by seeing our friends. Desire never stops, its just replaced with another desire.
Do you want to live like this forever? A reactive animal? A chain of desire?
If not, take time to understand your desires, get off social media and write down why you want to make a lifestyle change that goes beyond physical changes. Follow the 7-level deeps exercise to find your true and most powerful why.
What would weight loss do for your life if you achieved it and kept it off?
Age 18-24
Give confidence
Feel confident
More confident
Confident wearing clothes
Confident comfortable
Better Health
Help stronger
Stronger easier
Find clothes
Clothes on the high street
Age 24-30
Feel confident
Feel better
Self-esteem
Mental health
Make confident
Self-confidence
Feel comfortable
Feel healthier
Boost confidence
Happier healthier
Healthier confident
Change life
Age 31-39
Feel confident
Feel better
Self-esteem
Self-confidence
Give confidence
Mental health
Improve health
Feel like
Make happier
More confidence
Feel happier
Feel comfortable
Feel healthier
Age 40-49
Feel better
Feel confident
Self-confidence
Self-esteem
Make happy
Feel healthier
Improve health
Mental health
Give confidence
Feel good
Feel happier
More confidence
More energy
Feel like
Feel comfortable
Happy confident
Live longer
Age 50-59
Feel better
Feel confident
Give confidence
Improve health
Self-esteem
Feel happier
Healthier
Boost confidence
Feel healthier
Mental health
Live longer
Look better
Change life
Healthier happier
Age 60-69
Feel better
Improve confidence
Feel confident
Improve health
Live longer
Make Healthier
Healthier confident
More comfortable
Comfortable clothes
More Confidence
Confidence happier
Better Health
Health improved
Improved mobility
Mobility happier
Happier generally
Age 70+
Feel comfortable
Feel healthier
Healthier outdoors
Outdoors activities
Give life
Life Confidence
Everything Health
Health Happiness
Help arthritis
Arthritis stop
Stop feeling uncomfortable
What do you find most difficult about trying to lose weight?
Age 18-24
Healthy food
Motivation to gym
Binge eating
Sad
Knowing when to stop
Constant lifestyle
Denying things
Risks disordered eating
Disordered eating
Food 10x expensive
Age 24-30
Social life
Binge eating
Being consistent
Being hungry
Social events
Getting exercise
Staying motivated
Mental health
The motivation
Love food
Finding time
Motivation exercise
The consistency
Bad day
Age 31-39
Time to exercise
Binge eating
Finding time
Emotional eating
Not eating
Meal prep
Will power
Mental health
Staying motivated
Staying consistent
Healthy food
Right food
Motivation exercise
Age 40-49
Will power
Portion control
Right food
Being consistent
Emotional eating
Staying motivated
Sticking plan
Weight loss
Healthy food
Comfort eating
Feels like
Age 50-59
Sticking plan
Evening snacking
Emotional eating
Comfort eat
Preparing meals
Age menopause
Being consistent
Will power
Age
Age 60-69
Keeping motivated
Sticking diet
Keeping going
I binge
Binge night
Constantly thinking
Thinking food
Stick diet
Fail days
Like carbs
70+
My will power
Power weak
Tempting high
High calorie
Calorie foods
Eating night
Night rubbish
Feeling hunger
Conflicting information
Information
Difficult vegan
Loss confusing
Confusing successful
Post menopause
Night time
Conclusion:
What stands out is binge eating, emotional eating and willpower in the top 5 of nearly every age group.
When it comes to fat loss and weight management, it’s got a lot to do with how we regulate our actions from emotions. This doesn’t mean you should ignore feelings or become detached; the opposite.
To quote from “The body keeps the score” (a book that helps you understand trauma and how to recover from it)
“Being able to hover calmly and objectively over our thoughts, feelings, and emotions (an ability I’ll call mindfulness throughout this book) and then take our time to respond allows the executive brain to inhibit, organize, and modulate the hardwired automatic reactions preprogrammed into the emotional brain.
This capacity is crucial for preserving our relationships with our fellow human beings. As long as our frontal lobes are working properly, we’re unlikely to lose our temper every time a waiter is late with our order or an insurance company agent puts us on hold.
(Our watchtower also tells us that other people’s anger and threats are a function of their emotional state.) When that system breaks down, we become like conditioned animals: The moment we detect danger we automatically go into fight-or-flight mode”
He then further explains mindfulness:
“Agency starts with what scientists call interoception, our awareness of our subtle sensory, body-based feelings: the greater that awareness, the greater our potential to control our lives. Knowing what we feel is the first step to knowing why we feel that way.
If we are aware of the constant changes in our inner and outer environment, we can mobilize to manage them. But we can’t do this unless our watchtower, the MPFC, learns to observe what is going on inside us. This is why mindfulness practice, which strengthens the MPFC, is a cornerstone of recovery from trauma.”
But this advice isn’t just about how to help with trauma; we need this on how to handle emotions day to day. If our watchtower part of the brain can see and understand properly, then we are far more likely to act rationally and not just from emotion like animals.
When it comes to binge and emotional eating, we need to ensure our watchtower is present and understand where the urge to eat comes from. It’s not because you’re hungry its more often to do with trying to escape uncomfortable feelings/boredom and to gain pleasure in its place via eating.
If we can catch this at the moment it arises, we can understand the chain reaction that happened (and it’s important not to judge the reaction) but we can take control and say:
“You know what, I’m just feeling a bit bored and sad right now as I’m in on a Friday and others are out, but I understand that I have a craving right now to eat because it will help me escape this feeling for a bit and I can get some pleasure instead. But that’s a fleeting feeling, and after I’ve finished eating, I’ll still be bored, so eating and binge eating won’t solve anything here.”
What’s The Solution To Failed Slimming Clubs?
We asked our Turtle Members a very important question.
On the scale of 1 to 5 how likely are you to re-join slimming world?
1 being you’ll never join slimming world again
5 being you will definitely re-join slimming world
A score of 1.3 / 5 means that nearly every single person that joins Turtle will never go back to the slimming world.
Once you’ve seen the freedom of what Turtle teaches you’re almost certainly never going back to the hell of slimming clubs.
Or in other words 8/10 people who join Turtle will never go back to slimming world at any cost.
Why? Once the switch flips there’s never going back. Once you’ve seen you can’t un-see.
And if you want to see and never go back into yo yo hell again, give Turtle a go for free.
You can join our Free 14-Day Nutrition & Training Masterclass using our revolutionary new app, human support and one-of-a-kind community of people at your back.
Simply download the app > pop in your details > get your free custom nutrition plan and follow the daily tasks.
No card is required. We don’t trick anyone into paying for what we offer.
Give Turtle a full go for free for 14 days, and you’ll have several a-ha moments.
That’s enough for us.
Turtle’s here to flip switches one day at a time.
Want to lose fat, gain muscle and keep those results for good?
Get your free personalised macros plan by downloading our app today.
You’ll start a 14-day nutrition masterclass that takes less than 5 minutes a day.
Expect to get life-changing insights and a new way to look at your health.
Once you’ve downloaded the app, you’ll complete a short questionnaire to get your plan.
You don’t need any card details to start.
