Unpaid SW Consultants?

I went to slimming world in 2012 for 14 weeks. I found the group meetings weren't for me. They can get quite repetitive.

However I still have the materials and do it from home. I like coming on here for the advice and support and like the anonymity. I feel I can confess to slip ups and not have all eyes staring at me in a big group circle! . People here understand how I'm feeling at that moment and offer advice and support.

I still support slimming world by buying their magazines.

Whenever people ask me how I'm losing weight I tell them sw, now Someone at work has joined because of it. Word of mouth is better than any advertising campaign so sw is still getting something out of me :D. So don't feel at all guilty about not going to class.
 
sweetierufus said:
I like coming on here for the advice and support and like the anonymity. I feel I can confess to slip ups and not have all eyes staring at me in a big group circle! . People here understand how I'm feeling at that moment and offer advice and support.
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That's so true, there are times when you feel so fed up & like you can't lose weight but to admit it at group would be like admitting you're a failure, but on here admitting that would get a completely different response.
 
Just adding my two cents worth.... the reason I pay is not because of guilt about getting advice that somebody else paid for, but for ME personally to benefit. Anybody else, paying or not, who wants to ask a question I will happily talk to or try to help or share my experiences with. That costs me nothing. I choose to pay, and I get what I pay for. Why should I be upset about talking about it? All the non payers are getting from me is my own personal experience and ideas which they can use or ignore, and yes, also friendship, affection, loyalty which don't cost me anything, they are not getting a money back (ha ha) guarantee. It is a free forum. Don't post anything if you don't want to share what you paid for. It is a CHOICE on all sides.
 
Like a lot of people on here I have attended classes off and on for many years (either sw or ww). I have not attended a class for a couple of years because they are not for me- I find them really repetitive and am constantly clock watching when I'm there! I know the plan inside and out and have probably paid hundreds (if not thousands) over the years in joining fees, weekly fees, books, magazines and other slimming club 'must have' items. I come on here every so often to read the posts, occasionally answer any questions and sometimes to ask a question myself. I really take issue with the term 'unpaid consultants' - this is a free forum so if you only want to speak to people who have paid then use the sw site. I don't go to class because I find them boring, not because I don't want to spend £5 per week.
 
Personally I find the syns advice etc fine, but when someone comes on asking the basics of the plan and expects to have it laid out to them- it's annoying.
 
* and I wouldn't reply^
 
Slan22 said:
Personally I find the syns advice etc fine, but when someone comes on asking the basics of the plan and expects to have it laid out to them- it's annoying.
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I totally agree with the above. While this site is great for support and getting little bits of info on syns/HEX's etc.. to come here and expect to be given the equivalent of a 'new member talk' is taking advantage IMO (although not sure if that has ever happened on here?). Plus, as I think has already been mentioned on this thread, some of the advise on here is not 100% accurate so could potentialy do more harm than good.

I go to class an come on here for a bit extra support and helpful tips etc.., i've no major issue with those who are not members coming on here for information, but the OP does have a point. It may be perhaps more a personal opion than a fact, but it can be annoying to some.

Some of the responses on here have surprised me with their harshness, it has certainly sparked a very passionate debate :eek:
 
Well, I kind of suspected, Catherine, when I wrote the OP that someone might go off on one - which is why I put an "exclusion clause" right at the beginning of the post! I wasn't pointing any fingers at anyone it was just a general observation and my personal point of view - which is what a "forum" is for! In fairness, most people put their point across reasonably and made the subject quite interesting (for me anyway). I'm too long in the tooth to worry about those who act indignantly or have a go at me on an online forum. :ignore::ignore: .......and don't react is the way to go!
 
Yes a forum is just that! It is easy to have a knee-jerk reaction to something that you don't agree with, I perrsonally prefer to hear both sides to get a more balanced view.

I appreciate some folk can't get to a group, or don't want to have to pay. But if people want direct support and the facts about the SW plans they ought to go straight to the source if they can. Anyway, i am sure there are many more sites aside this one where they can get their info, I doubt this will have a negative impact on SW (in fact it may well encourage more people to go).

A bit of lively debate never hurt anyone I say, sometimes you've got to let it all out, and if some don't like what we've got to say, they can :kissass:!!!!
 
I'm not a paying member, but I do have books. Sitting in a meeting wouldn't do it for me personally, but even if I did pay, I wouldn't have any qualms passing on information to others- we are all here for the same reason, and I sort of think that if you know something that could help someone else, then why wouldn't you share? That being said, paying members aren't forced to share info- if you pay and begrudge non payers getting free info, then don't share info, but like someone else said, the internet is full of free information that someone at some point may have paid to receive, so I don't really see the difference.

This site to me is so much more than getting info on food values, it has been a fantastic support network when I have felt like going off the rails. Similarly, if I see someone else struggling emotionally, I would like to be able to give them some support, not based on whether they pay or not, but because they are human and struggling, and I think it's nice to be nice.
 
I found out about slimming world through a friend who never joined but seemed to know a lot about it and this has changed my life. In fairness ladybird23, you have a reasonable point but can I ask how would you know if someone was just freeloading here, this is impossible. To me, I'm one of those people who really needs their image therapy and so yes unless my eyes are falling out of the back of my head I will be at image therapy every Tuesday evening. You have decided to go to image therapy yourself and that is your decision, are you one of these people (like me) who think they really need it and cant function without it then you go and pay your weekly fee but there are some who don't need image therapy and do it alone (I reckon very tough) and if that is what floats their boat then so be it
 
One more point, I wonder how some actual consultants feel about this, not sure has any said anything on this thread (okay I do confess I haven't read every reply !!!)
 
I read this, and thought.. how mean?

Firstly, I think every individual who choses to follow from home has their own reasons, reasons as valid as those who chose to go to classes. Work restrictions, single mums with no childcare, financial troubles, anxiety, learning difficulties that make large groups of people a real problem for them, the list goes on. As someone mentioned upthread, you will find almost all people doing it from home have at some point paid into the giant money pot that sw is. I paid my membership week after week for years, and still continued to go and help others, voluntered my time to help my consultant when she needed it after target. I've gone back a few times since baby, but classes aren't working for me now. Im grateful to have information readily available here when i need it. Is it right to deny information to people who need to make lifestyle changes for the benefit of their lives, their children, partners.. because they cannot afford a slimming world class? It takes a village, so they say. And i would never deny anyone if i could help.

Also, years ago, access to the online bit of slimmingworld was regulated with a password, that was given out weekly at group. Without a doubt, you could google at the beginning of the week and find that new password through yahoo answers or the like. Now, that did get my back up a little, because the slimmingworld website IS a benefit that is for paying members. However, Minimins is an open forum to anyone seeking help and if lovely people choose to help others, then i think thats a wonderful thing.
 
I also think you need to ask yourself (those who appear to have an issue with those following sw and not paying) why you care? Your journey is your own, and other people and their choices do not affect you. And trust me, Margerate doesn't care. She's on her yaht not giving it a second thought.
 
I have a lady at work who has been watching what I eat and my weight loss and can't afford the meetings every week. I have been supporting her through and synning things for her when I can, I don't feel like an unpaid consultant I feel like someone who's helping someone else change their life and that's a fabulous feeling, just like those on here helping others
 
I opened this thread and read half of it before giving up! Sorry if it's all been said already!

At the end of the day, this is a free website offering lots of advice on other diets as well as SW. There will be people in the dukan bit who bought the book and those who just got it all off the internet, and in the 5:2 bit, and in WW there are those who pay and those who don't.

If anything I would perhaps say that rather than being annoyed at them, we can take a leaf out of the book of those who don't pay and see that we don't need to keep pumping millions of our hard earned pounds into a diet industry when in reality all of the information is accessable for free, regardless of whichever diet we choose to follow.

I've been a sw and ww member on and off for ten years. I probably could've bought a house with the money I've wasted on diet merchandise over the years.
 
Mrs CC said:
I opened this thread and read half of it before giving up! Sorry if it's all been said already!

At the end of the day, this is a free website offering lots of advice on other diets as well as SW. There will be people in the dukan bit who bought the book and those who just got it all off the internet, and in the 5:2 bit, and in WW there are those who pay and those who don't.

If anything I would perhaps say that rather than being annoyed at them, we can take a leaf out of the book of those who don't pay and see that we don't need to keep pumping millions of our hard earned pounds into a diet industry when in reality all of the information is accessable for free, regardless of whichever diet we choose to follow.

I've been a sw and ww member on and off for ten years. I probably could've bought a house with the money I've wasted on diet merchandise over the years.
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I should also say, I bought the dukan book and the 5:2 one as well. I'm single handedly keeping the diet industry going!
 
I appreciate that info on any diet is available from many sources other than this one, the problem that I have found is it isn't always accurate and could well harm someones weight loss journey. For example, I found a recipe for a low syn cake the other week claiming to be 16syns. When I dissected all the ingredients it was actually 24 in total, which is quite a difference. Plus, some of the advice could well come from someone who has never joined SW so is not up to date with the current plans/syn values/HEX's etc...

It makes no difference to my personal weight loss journey, nor have I spent a great deal of time musing about this. I attend a group as I want 100% accurate information and expert support direct from SW.

People on here provide support, motivation, information on HEXs and Syns as well as general weight loss advice, this is what consultants do, so are we not technically acting on their behalf as a sub-consultants? Which (in defence of the OP) is a bit of cheek for those who pay for this very service.
 
I am on the fence here as i see both sides.

I once did it from home and it was hard going. I never asked for help from members as i felt it unfair to ask them when they pay a fee and I dont. I now pay and attend weekly for 4 weeks now and although I lost a fair bit doing from home... i found it easy to cheat, give up and generally not give it my all. At group I feel I must give it my all and its working as I am staying. When i did from home I gave up very easily I would have a bad day and write the week off and start again Monday. Here at group I cannot do that. The Info you talk about is readily available online if people search enough so in my honest opinion you may pay the fee each week but you are paying for being weighed and for the support of group, something that those who do from home do not get. I feel that putting those who do it from home down because they chose to do it without the group is a little harsh. I have confidence issues and I suffer debilitating disabilities myself and if it wasn't for my mum pushing me to go every week I would NEVER have joined a group. My confidence was not equip to face people each week and tell them I was over weight with the support of my group I know I have nothing to worry about but it took a push from my mum to do it! Some doing from home will be in that boat also.
Like you I am on very limited money with bills etc I have very little and struggle to pay my fees each week but I do not begrudge helping people.

Regardless of how we go about it we are all on the same journey :)
 
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