Segregated groups

kikaroo

Silver Member
I've just been watching the regional news and one of the stories covered was about how many people are overweight and how men are more likely to be chronically obese than women. It told of a weight watchers group in Bristol (I think it was Bristol, I was only half listening) which caters exclusively to men. The men interviewed, some of which had been referred to ww by their gp spoke about how they felt more comfortable knowing that women wouldn't be in attendance and didn't have to endure discussions about women's dress sizes etc.

It got me thinking about SW and my group - the only man I've ever seen there weighs and leaves before image therapy. Is weight loss really that much of a taboo to men? Would the male population on here feel more comfortable attending group if it wasn't so dominated by women? Do you think segregated groups like this are a good idea.
 
I guess it's different for everyone... some men will like being in a predominantly female environment, some men won't and some would really struggle to go to a group either way. It's probably the same reasoning behind gyms like Curves so if there is a need there then why not?
 
Yeah I don't disagree - female only gyms crossed my mind as well. I guess I didn't really have a point to make about it, it just piqued my interest and wondered if it might catch on elsewhere.
 
Hmmmmmmmm interesting, I think it's because it's more acceptable for women to be constantly dieting & it's not acceptable(?) for men to want to lose weight, I suppose now it's going to have to get acceptable. We have about 4 of blokes in our group and they stay for image therapy.

On a different note, I've been watching 'Weight of a Nation' it was on Sky and has just finished, but it was really interesting, it was about obesity in America & they are looking at cause & effect of weight gain, and what is shocking is 1/3 of Americans are obese & 1/3 are overweight:eek:
 
According to this (Men) there are 75 male consultants and 8 male only groups. Whilst not loads it must be suited to some?

X
 
According to this (Men) there are 75 male consultants and 8 male only groups. Whilst not loads it must be suited to some? X

I didn't know SW had male only groups too. I think it's a great idea if that's whats holding men back from joining weight loss groups. I know I only feel comfortable in a female only gym - I guess it works both ways
 
Hmmmmmmmm interesting, I think it's because it's more acceptable for women to be constantly dieting & it's not acceptable(?) for men to want to lose weight, I suppose now it's going to have to get acceptable. We have about 4 of blokes in our group and they stay for image therapy.

On a different note, I've been watching 'Weight of a Nation' it was on Sky and has just finished, but it was really interesting, it was about obesity in America & they are looking at cause & effect of weight gain, and what is shocking is 1/3 of Americans are obese & 1/3 are overweight:eek:

That is shocking!!! I knew it was bad over there but I didn't realise it was that bad!
 
My consultant used to do a men's only group, and it was really well attended, but she no longer does it (I don't know if numbers dropped, or there were a lot of women wanting to attend in that time slot)
 
That is shocking!!! I knew it was bad over there but I didn't realise it was that bad!


It is shocking, the series was amazing, such an eye opener in such that I learnt more about the massive, no pun intended, obesity problem they have. If you have Sky On Demand, its worth watching. There was a girl in her twenties who said she had, had high blood pressure since she was 11:eek:
 
When my husband is home he follows sw but would refuse point blank to go to a group! When I last followed sw he was worried one of the girls might know as he had similar launched to her (she was also on as!) So he just blamed me for makin lunches! Like to add I never make his lunch as I work from home an not that prepared lol! It's quiet nice he is away atm because I'm not getting are you sure you can eat that blah blah
 
We have just 3-4 male members in our very large group. Two of them joined with their wives, one of them brings his civil partner (non-member) for support. On the whole I think they get a lot of fuss made of them by all the women and are very much part of the group. Our consultant's husband also comes every week to help out.

Probably a lot of men would be more comfortable with first joining a male-only group though. If it was advertised as such, men wouldn't immediately (perhaps subconsciously) pass over it and think 'nah that's not for me' and it might also help them get over any denial about their weight which I think a lot of men may feel as there's not the culture of talking about it all the time that women have.

I did hear that a lot of men choose to exercise rather than diet, but I'm not sure that's really true cos over half of the people in my gym are women too, and more men are overweight than women. Maybe there is something about a 'rigid' plan or the group support element that doesn't appeal to some men.

All just speculation really but it's interesting!
 
To be fair I don't think I would feel comfortable discussing my weight 'issues' in a room full of men so I don't see why it would be any different for a man in a room full of women. Especially when * week is mentioned!
 
We only have a couple of fellas stay to image therapy in our group and they both sit at the back. I always feel for them when * week is mentioned, but that's probably because I wouldn't discuss something so personal in a public forum myself! BTW, I'm not knocking ladies who do mention it though, as it's great that they feel comfortable enough in group.
 
To be fair I don't think I would feel comfortable discussing my weight 'issues' in a room full of men so I don't see why it would be any different for a man in a room full of women. Especially when * week is mentioned!

I cringe when people mention their 'star week'!
 
I used to cringe at the euphemism, not the fact that they were talking about it!

I've heard it being called many things before, but never 'star week' until I went onto this forum. I have no idea where the hell it came from!!

A star is an object in the night sky that you like to see - a period most definitely isn't!! (We seem to have gone off on a bit of a tangent here from the thread).....
 
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It's because on the old paper records consultants used to put a star (asterisk) next to the gain/maintain etc,now there is an asterisk on the PDA.
 
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