Slimming World Secrets

My bubble has burst – I’m out of Target!

Since starting this blog just over a year ago, I’ve always wanted to be honest with my readers. I’ve said before that I’m far from perfect and, sure enough, my bubble has finally burst and I’m no longer at Target.

I joined a new group last Friday after my previous group folded six weeks ago – and this was my first weigh-in in all that time.

In one respect, that’s fine – Target members only have to check in once every three months. But, if I’m being honest, I would have been out of Target on every one of those six weeks.

I had planned to get back to Target under my own steam – but it just didn’t happen, so I joined my new group knowing that I’d be officially out of Target range for the first time since reaching the promised land 22 weeks pri. For the first time, my Target bubble had burst.

Joining a new Slimming World group (again!)

It could have been a lot worse. Although I gained 2lbs, that put me only 1lb above my newly-burst Target bubble, and 4lbs above my actual Target of 5st 7lbs.

And I guess a 2lbs gain is pretty small considering I’d not exactly been on plan for the past six weeks. I hope to be back in my Target bubble this Friday (tomorrow) – I’m currently out of work so would rather not have to stump up £5.95 every week.

One thing the past six weeks did show me was that I NEED group – I need those people around me, my fellow members and consultant to inspire me and spur me on. Without them, I can’t do this, at least not properly. I could never be an online-only member.

Mixing slimming business with football pleasure

As before, when I joined Tracy’s group, I was a tad nervous about joining this new one cos, ya know, I’m trans – and some people in society have an issue with that, especially in these so-called “gender-critical” culture-war times.

But I joined the group’s Facebook page a couple of weeks before actually showing up, and everyone seemed welcoming. I really like the consultant, Sally, too, having weighed in with her a few times before when I couldn’t make my usual group.

Another thing that made me a little nervous is that group is held in the clubhouse of my local non-league football club. I’ve had a season ticket there for a few years now and, although the fans and the staff know I’m trans, I tend to dress down for the matches – I just don’t need the aggro from some of the people in what must be a 95% male crowd.

One consultant for a town of 22,000 people

Anyway, as usual, I needn’t have worried. It turned out that one of my former colleagues, Kerry (or “Kez”!) was a member, so I picked her up in my car en route and we turned up together. Thanks for the moral support, Kez!

There were two groups – one after the other – and we turned up at the early one. I thought it might be a fairly quiet group – it has been when I’ve weighed in there before.

But it was rammed! About 30 people stayed, but there were dozens more who weighed and dashed off. Sally is the only consultant in my town now – a town with a population of about 22,000 people. There used to be three, running multiple groups in multiple venues, plus more consultants and groups in the surrounding villages.

But, thanks to Covid-19, many of the groups have folded, so loads of people from Tracy’s old Wednesday group had turned up, plus the usual Friday crowd, and me from Tracy’s old Saturday group.

Warm welcome from my new group

After queueing for an age, I finally faced the scales. Yep, it was a gain. I’d done a few SP days to mitigate the damage and thought I might be able to sneak a cheeky maintain, but it wasn’t to be. Never mind, as I say, it could’ve been a lot worse.

The weigh ladies (I forget their names, sorry!) were lovely and one of them complimented me on my feature in the current issue of Slimming World Magazine, which was nice of her.

Then Kez (who lost 2½lbs, yay!) and I took our seats, chatting to some of the other members. Everyone seemed very friendly – but that’s the way of the Slimming World family, isn’t it?

I was feeling a bit deflated as I was no longer at Target, and I’d really hoped never to burst my bubble. But I suppose, realistically, it was always going to happen sooner or later.

Anyway, it was just nice to be back in a group again, and I’m looking forward to getting to know the rest of the members over the next few weels. That reminds me, one of them is a guy who knows me from the football. Eeeeeeek!

So that’s about all for now – I’m back in the Slimming World game and I’m looking forward to getting back to Target sooner rather than later – hopefully tomorrow.

Thank you for all the support

Just finally, I want to thank all of you who’ve sent such kind messages after my appearance in Slimming World Magazine. As I said in my last post, I was a bit concerned, I might get some of the trolls sending abuse – but 100% of the messages have been positive.

As well as here, I’ve had dozens of emails and messages on Facebook and Instagram. People keep telling me that I’m “an inspiration”. I really don’t see myself as that, but thanks, folks. It’s cool if my story can help others.

I even got a mention in a piece about Trans Day of Visibility from a member of NHS staff in London. As well as appearing online, it appeared in the staff magazine. So massive thanks to Ozias “Oz” Smith for giving my feature a shout-out.

You can read it in full on the website, or there’s an extract here:

Thanks Oz! This made me so happy when I stumbled on it on Google. I couldn’t have come out as trans without my Slimming World family, and I’ve heard from several other trans people who only have good things to say about their experiences, too.

There are plenty of other organisations that could – and should – take a leaf out of Slimming World’s book when it comes to inclusivity.