Confused about consultant

Mamacandoit

Mamacandoit

Full Member
First up, pls believe me when I say I'm not judging, it's just that I'm trying to understand.

i went to a new-to-me group and the consultant was lovely and bubbly. The room was PACKED with members.

the consultant has been doing this job for 10 years according to her website.

the bit I'm confused about is that she is very VERY overweight, probably one of the biggest people I've ever seen.

My first reaction was to think maybe she has a medical issue and that anyway her size is none of my concern but I'm still a bit baffled.

my thought us that so long as she supports weightloss and knows the system well then that's what matters to me, right?
 
As long as she helps YOU to lose - thats the main thing. She may be a brilliant motivational consultant who constantly falls off the wagon herself
 
Many years ago I attended a group where the consultant was very overweight. I was probably in my early 20's and 'thought' I was overweight at about 10 stone and was looking to lose a stone! Oh how I wish I had that problem now! Anyway, I must admit, I found it very difficult to take advice from someone who was clearly struggling themselves. At the time, I didn't take into consideration that she may actually be on her weight loss journey and perhaps had already lost weight? Having said that, even though we should be accepting of others and not judge, I cannot see how this is a good advert for SW. Adverts usually exaggerate the product they are promoting ie adverts for mascara show long, luscious lashes in order to make us think that if we use their product, we too will have lashes like that! Would you buy their mascara if the model had short, thin lashes after using it? Probably not!
Without wishing to exclude larger consultants, I do think having a consultant who have completed their weight loss is much more inspiring to members than one who might still be on it, especially if they still have loads to lose. Most consultants I have had....and there have been many over the years......have a before and after photo of themselves, along with a story of their journey and I believe, rightly or wrongly, that is much better for members to see and aspire to.
 
I once had a C who was similar, it doesn't fill you with confidence about the plan does it! If the room was packed and she's been doing it a long time she must be doing her classes right though, or I'd expect not many people to be there.

It is a shame she's not managed to stick to the plan that she obviously sells well. I do feel a consultant at target who can say "I did it, so can you!" is much more inspiring and somehow makes me think she understands my journey if she's been through it too!
 
I also find it very strange that SW often have overweight consultants. In fact, I have been to many SW groups and only one of the Consultants was not overweight- she was the one who helped and inspired me to lose 8.5 stone. I just couldn't take weight loss advice from someone who clearly wasn't following it themselves. Yes, we all struggle and of course some people may set a higher target weight than others, but I don't think you can be truly motivational (in a weight loss environment) when you clearly aren't following your own advice. I said this before in a similar thread a while back and was accused of being 'judgemental'.
 
It's a really difficult one I expect that she had lost a lot of weight at one point as Sw say to be a consultant you have to be at or near target. Then I expect life happened and she put it on but it is difficult when you don't feel like they are in it with you and get it. I remember my old c saying when I used to use these and it made me wonder if he was still doing the plan.
I much prefer my c now who has been at target slipped out and is obviously working her way back though I wouldn't say she is overweight just not where she wants to be


Sent from my iPhone using MiniMins.com
 
one thing i love about my consultant is that she openly tells us when she slips, or if shes had a bad week syn wise and this shows us that they are still humans with the same problems we have when they first started their slimming world journey. and lets face it, we all have started this at an unhealthy weight.

why not have a private chat with her and ask her about her journey? ask her what made her decide to be a consultant.

however, image is key when promoting a product and as judemental as it sounds, you have to ask yourself, would you go to hairdresser with terrible hair or a dentist with snaggly teeth? or take fashion advice from kim kardashian?:eek:

im sure she is a very lovely person, maybe she needs some support too , like we all do .
 
I called up head office just to ask what their take was on it and they said the never dictate what weight their consultants should be.
To become a consultant, the person must have lost weight with SW and reached target but no one dictates what that target is.

SO I guess it's possible that my consultant is at target (or near)...maybe HER target is not what I'd choose if I were in her shoes.

I have to say she did look gorgeous - definitely very plus size, but definitely gorgeous.

I'm going to carry on going to her group for a while and see how it goes.
 
Mamacandoit said:
I called up head office just to ask what their take was on it and they said the never dictate what weight their consultants should be.
To become a consultant, the person must have lost weight with SW and reached target but no one dictates what that target is.

SO I guess it's possible that my consultant is at target (or near)...maybe HER target is not what I'd choose if I were in her shoes.

I have to say she did look gorgeous - definitely very plus size, but definitely gorgeous.

I'm going to carry on going to her group for a while and see how it goes.
Click to expand...


Technically, you need to be at least 50% through your journey however working as a consultant can cause your losses to go awry and they do advise you of that before you engage as a consultant.
Targets as you all know are not set on the basis of whether it is healthy, it is down to the individual concerned to come up with their target and then they need to follow the plan to achieve it.
I do admit that it is more inspirational to see someone who achieved their target reinforcing that the plan does work if you try to stick to it and flexible enough to allow you to enjoy yourself without worrying too much about gains.
 
Phoenix_Girl said:
Technically, you need to be at least 50% through your journey however working as a consultant can cause your losses to go awry and they do advise you of that before you engage as a consultant.
Targets as you all know are not set on the basis of whether it is healthy, it is down to the individual concerned to come up with their target and then they need to follow the plan to achieve it.
I do admit that it is more inspirational to see someone who achieved their target reinforcing that the plan does work if you try to stick to it and flexible enough to allow you to enjoy yourself without worrying too much about gains.
Click to expand...

Interested to know why they advise that 'working as a consultant can cause your losses to go awry'?! Surely that can and does happen to all of us? Seems lik an odd thing to say?
 
The consultant at the first group I went to was very large, but it didn't actually occur to me that this was odd, or a problem, or anything really. I just didn't give it any thought.

I did discover quite by chance a few weeks later that there were medical issues involved - I don't know what, and I didn't ask - and she had been much thinner when she started as a consultant.

While I was going to that group she was following the plan, and every week after image therapy the weighing lady would call out "and xxxxxx lost 3 pounds this week" and we would congratulate her (or commiserate, when necessary). I think the general feeling was that she was working at it, the same as we were, and knew exactly what we were feeling like.
 
lentil2 said:
Interested to know why they advise that 'working as a consultant can cause your losses to go awry'?! Surely that can and does happen to all of us? Seems lik an odd thing to say?
Click to expand...

It is due to the stress and the fact that you will end up not being able to cook as much as you would like due to time being occupied by being a consultant.
 
cavegirl13 said:
Why are they not able to cook?:confused: A lot of people work and still cook a meal. Being a consultant is no different to anybody else who works.:)
Click to expand...

I completely agree but a large proportion of consultants do this as a second job and most groups are in the evenings so people aren't able to eat properly on the evenings when they have two sessions perhaps?

I'm not sure, I just remember the ops event saying that I need to be aware of the potential problems with journeys when being a consultant. I think that put me off a fair bit as I have worked so hard! :)
 
I know that SW is about target weight for the individual and not a BMI range, but I have to admit I'd be put off my an overweight consultant, as bad as that makes me feel. Obviously some peoples targets would be bigger than others, my aunt is doing SW with me and her target is about my weight no, so by no means skinny. But there is a difference between bigger and obese. I'd never judge someone for being overweight but to have a job advising people on losing weight when they were would at the very least make me question the plan.

I think it's a bit different if they were doing it along with you, and you know their results every week, but just for someone to advise and give you guidance as a new member I could understand it being a problem - you'd walk in and not know that this person had reached target and slipped or if the plan just wasn't feasible in the long run.

I also understand that the change of pace could throw a consultants diet into the air, but a lot of us work weird, long and full hours, SW is supposed to be a lifestyle change so surely you're supposed to be able to adapt it?
 
Agreed, lots of people work shifts, and incredibly long hours and manage to follow the plan. Having two or three sessions a day shouldn't stop them, they'd just have to be prepared. Which is what I hear my C every week say! Seems a bit of a cop out.
 
I was wondering, along with Anna, whether there could be a medical issue involved. I suppose no-one ever really knows what goes on in somebody else's life. Good luck with your weight loss though. :)

Kathy
 
I'm wondering the same if there is a medical issue, she could have gotten to target and then gained or maybe her target was lower if they don't specify their targets. My consultant is really motivating, and when I joined she openly told us that although she is at her target she is still going and that she also attends a separate group herself as a member so she keeps it separate to our group, she also shared a before photograph for us to see and she keeps that at group to show to new members, and when I saw her before photo, well I was sold! if she can do it, I can do it :D
 
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