It's Not Over Till The Fat Geezer Slims (Slimming Magazine Clubs)

Member Name: Nibelung

Product:	Slimming Magazine Clubs
Date:	16/01/01 (551 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Informal. Easy to understand

Disadvantages: Weighing out food

I have never really had a problem maintaining my weight during normal times. If I go at it a bit heavy one day, I instinctively drop something from my diet the following day. What gets me every time is a holiday. I always come back that shade heavier than I was when I went, and this stays with me.

A couple of dozen holidays down the line I started to do something about the fact that I was 6’1” tall, fairly lightly-built (under the flab) and weighed 15 st 2 lb – nowhere near obese, but clearly in the overweight bracket, since I was about 13 st when I was 23, an age at which it can be assumed that you’ve stopped growing.

I’ve always thought of myself as lightly-built, by virtue of the fact that nearly every time I shake hands with a man my height and “apparent” build, his hands feel like York Hams compared to mine!

There are no hard and fast rules as to what is the exact ideal weight for me, but looking at all the conventional wisdom on the subject somewhere between 13 st and 13 st 7lb seems about right. This left me with the prospect of losing over 1.5 stone, and if I had anything to do with it, without feeling starving hungry. The other major obstacle is the wealth of people who reckon that you don’t need to lose weight, and that you can’t expect not to put weight on as you get older. I don’t recall any of this advice coming from slim people.

My wife had always been a loyal follower of the Slimming Magazine Clubs (not Slimming World), and since it was time for her to lose some weight (again), we both set off for our local branch for mutual moral support, and dare I say it, a bit of rivalry. The local club in Hounslow is run by a familiar face, who, in her day job has been featured in the TV docusoap about Heathrow, “Airport” – no it’s not Jeremy!

It soon becomes apparent that men are in a minority here, not that it’s a problem, e
veryone being welcome.

Unlike some clubs, there are no hidden agendas, no conveniently “badged” ranges of food and no quirky “only eat tomatoes with meals when the moon is full” instructions. The only unit you need to know is the Calorie, which is useful, since it’s shown on the packaging of nearly everything.

The whole thing is geared towards developing healthy habits, and making you realise the “cost” of certain food items. By taking the stance that all salad and cooked vegetables like carrots, leaks, cabbage are “free”, cooking for this regime is simplified. It might be a conventional caIorie-controlled diet, but it is not puritanical, and takes the approach that a little of what you fancy does you good.

Since I don’t sweeten tea or coffee, and am not a great fan of desserts, my only major concession has been more or less giving up beer for now, substituting my “couch potato” evening drink for a G & T (slim-line of course). Likewise it costs little, if anything to seek out the low-fat version of various foods, although half-fat cheese should perhaps be called half-flavour cheese.

Over the space of about 6 weeks, I have lost about a stone – not bad when you consider that the Christmas and New Year period was in there somewhere, during which time I managed to keep my weight stable, by exercising control over the non-festive days. That way, I didn’t have to insult anyone or turn down hospitality.

I am not finding the weighing-out of home-cut foodstuffs too arduous although it does call for some decent scales.

Once I am at my “target weight”, I only need to lose a couple of pounds in the gaps between holidays, preferably in advance rather than afterwards, which I always feel is like getting the credit card statement in January for all those things that you lashed out on over Christmas, and about as much fun to get r
id of!

Slimming Magazine Clubs are a relatively low-key affair with a friendly atmosphere, and with no axes to grind. Recommended for their common sense approach.

Summary: