Slimming World Secrets

‘Don’t lose much more!’ – things not to say to slimmers

If you’re close to Target, you’ll probably have heard things like “Ooooh, you don’t need to lose any more – stop losing weight!” from non-slimmers. If you’re one of those people, just stop. Stop.

My week

• Average Syns per day: 17.1
• Average Speed foods per day: 11.9
• SP days: 4
• Body Magic days: 6
• Result: -½lb
• Total loss: -4st 10½lbs

First, my week. I’ll keep it brief. I wrote last week that I’d be delighted with a maintain, mainly because of England’s continued success in the Euros and my trip to Wimbledon for the tennis. The first inevitably involves beer, and the second prosecco.

So I went slightly over my Syns again (whoops!) but, as usual, tried to balance things out with SP days and Body Magic. It worked and I lost ½lb, so I’m over the Moon with that.

It was a good week, and I’ve equalled my PB, so I’m now, once again 3½lbs from Target. Hurrah. But now for the main reason for this blog post.

No, I don’t want to stop losing weight yet!

Non-slimmers, stop telling slimmers what to do!

When you start visibly losing weight, the non-slimmers will be full of praise for you, especially if they’ve not seen you for a while.

“Ooooooh, you look fantastic!”

“I bet you feel better, for it, don’t you?”

“You’ve done so well!”

“It knocks years off you!”

And that’s great. When I started getting comments like those after losing my first 2st or so, it made me feel 10ft tall, and it really pushed me to carry on losing the rest of my 5st goal and close in on Target.

Judgments dressed up as compliments

But, as you get closer to Target, the comments start to change, and I got landed with one of these this morning as I was leaving my house to go to group.

I saw a friend, and told her I was on my way to weigh in at Slimming World.

Her response: “Well, you don’t need to lose much more, do you?”

Now, I love my friend dearly – she’s awesome. And I know she wasn’t intending on being unkind. On the contrary, it was more likely a compliment.

But she was basically saying that, in her opinion, I don’t need to lose any more weight – and that I should abandon all efforts to get to Target, a mission I’ve been working on for more than seven years!

No, hun. I don’t want to stop losing weight – not quite yet. I need to lose another 3½lbs – and nothing’s going to stop me.

I am NOT losing too much weight!

I could understand it if I was trying to lose too much weight. Now and then you hear of people who become so addicted to slimming that they develop eating disorders and become painfully thin.

I am NOT that person – and I’ve never seen it happen to anyone doing Slimming World. I make the absolute most of my Syns, I eat massive portions and I like a few beers or glasses of wine at the weekend.

I’m a size 12/14, so I’m hardly a double zero! And my friend is slimmer than me – she’s probably a size 10.

Although I know BMI is not the be-all-and-end-all, my 10st Target would get me to a perfectly healthy weight – in fact, I’d be closer to the “overweight” range than the “underweight” one, with a BMI of 22.4.

According to the BMI calculator on the NHS website, I could even lose another 2st and STILL be a healthy weight. I don’t want to, though.

Just for comparison, here’s where I was at the start of my Slimming World journey – a time when, interestingly, no-one really used to comment on my weight, apart from perhaps to joke that I’d “put on a bit of timber”.

I weighed exactly 15st. Obese. Urgh. Vile.

No, I don’t look ‘gaunt’!

Sometimes, larger people come out with the “You don’t need to lose much more” crap – and that’s purely out of jealousy.

They can’t stand the fact that someone else has put in the effort over weeks, months and years to better themselves, while they sit at home eating chips, crisps and cake, and doing zero exercise.

Then they come out with “Oooooh, so-and-so has lost too much – they look GAUNT!”

They don’t look gaunt, Karen, it’s just that you look fat, and you’re jealous!

As I say, my friend is slim and isn’t one of those jealous people, but it nevertheless grates to be told that I don’t need to lose any more weight when actually, I damned well want to shift those final 3½lbs.

This is my Target, not yours

I mean, what should I do? Should I just reset my Target to what it is now, and then claim to be a Target member?

I could do that, but I’m damned well not going to. I’d feel a massive fraud.

So, non-slimmers, if someone tells you they’re only a few pounds off Target, wish them all the best for that final push.

Encourage them, give them positivity, tell them you believe in them and that they can do it – and that they’ll feel amazing when they finally get that golden sparkly certificate. Tell them that all the hard work will have been worth it.

NEVER tell them that they don’t need to lose any more weight, even if you mean it as a compliment.

You do you.