The women of various ages come straggling in, mostly two at a time. Michele is there, tanned, relaxed and eager to get started with her boundless enthusiasm. This is the Slim Easy Slimming Club, which at the time of the interview was being held every Thursday morning at the Maritime Hotel in Mellieha.
“I was a slimming consultant in the UK with a company called Weightcare and it was brilliant to see so many
people lose weight; it’s very rewarding. My husband and I came here to retire about nine years ago, and last year I thought it would be great to do something similar here.”
Michele started her modest club in January of this year by distributing flyers around Mellieha, and most of the ladies who joined then are still with her now. She doesn’t like to use the word “diet” (“Everybody hates that word don’t they?”), preferring to describe it as a “healthy eating plan”, which has been approved by doctors.
“It’s based on good food, and cutting down on carbohydrates. The majority of ladies who come are not 100 metre hurdle runners who can burn off all those carbs, so all those extra carbs get stored as fat. I like to emphasise that the plan is based on higher protein and lower carbohydrates, and has nothing to do with the Atkins diet. Mainly, I encourage and educate the girls and they’ve all done so well,” she adds proudly.
Most of all, the team spirit in the club offers much needed support for days when someone “slips” and reverts to unhealthy eating habits. “They often come in pairs, with a neighbour, or a friend, or the sister-in-law, or whatever. Coming through that door is the biggest step to make because many of them are shy. If they’ve had a bad day they know straightaway that they can have a good day tomorrow. They’ve started to eat more salads, fruit, vegetables, chicken and fish, to get all the vitamins and minerals they need.”
Each week, the ladies get on Michele’s scales and are weighed, wearing the same clothes. Her trained eye can now basically look someone up and down and, judging by their height and age, can estimate how much they need to lose. When she puts the combined weight of all her members together, she says the class has lost over 400 kilos.
Keeping track of everyone’s progress, Michele makes it fun by awarding gold stars for those who have lost the most each week, and even buys them little presents.
Michele can relate to her members because after she moved to Malta she started putting on weight and she went up to a size 18. These days she doesn’t spare herself either and gets on the scales in front of her members to keep herself in check.
Speaking to the women themselves, it is apparent that the solidarity they find here at the slimming club has given them the impetus that they needed to shed the kilos.
“If I’m about to eat something extra, I think twice because I know I’m going to get weighed. And even now that I’ve reached my target weight I keep coming, because it keeps me on the right track,” said one lady.
Another member points out that the fact that they’re all in the same boat gives them the moral support they need to not feel alone in their quest to lose weight.
One of the biggest success stories is Cheryl Borg, whose new figure has spurred her to have a new haircut, start wearing make-up and splurge on a completely new wardrobe.
“I was so big that I looked more like my husband’s mother than his wife, and that was what spurred me to do something about it. Every week at this club has been an achievement because I always won winner of the week or winner of the month. I’m eating more than I used to eat before but only healthy food, and the children are benefiting as well because I’ve eliminated all the junk.”
Most of the women have been on countless diets before, but have found that being in a club where they are given guidance makes it easier. They all admit that they know what the pitfalls are, but somehow, doing it alone makes it easier to give up. “When you know you are going to face those weighing scales, you are more disciplined,” was the general consensus.
It is obvious that the friendships that have been formed at the club are another integral reason why these women succeed in losing weight. Sitting alone at home, perhaps in front of the TV, one is more tempted to turn to snacking mindlessly out of boredom. The fact that one has a place to go every Thursday morning to meet other people who have the same problem, combined with proper eating habits, undoubtedly goes a long way towards making weight loss an achievable goal.