Is Slimming World a MLM?

[Ihatesundays]

Just out of interest.
Someone I used to work with has given up a very well paid job to do Slimming World full time, the mention of Team Leader pricked my ears up!

Can you really make a good living from it...?

As a slimming world member on/off for the past year, we have had 3 consultants come and go so I am not convinced it is as great as promised!

I don't think it's an MLM, but that doesn't mean it's great. I've heard several stories of the pressures that the head office put into consultants.

I’m just surprised that someone thinks they can make a good living out of it (considering what they were earning).
Wondered if it was just people up there tree making all the money...

It's very culty.

Had colleagues who followed it. They had 'meetings'. The diet advice was very weird. None of them lost any weight despite it being all they talked about.

I’ve lost 2.5 stone with SW. And it’s definitely got me back on a healthy eating track. Not sure what you mean by weird diet advice. There are no weird shakes or exclusions. It’s just normal food which tends to be low fat with lots of veg. That’s not weird is it?

I’ve namechanged just because

Yes you can make a living from it. IME you’d struggle to replace a very well paid full time income and it’s less than the example numbers they show you before you buy the franchise, but it’s not badly paid either.

I know someone who runs 5 or 6 meetings per week and she does well at it, but definitely puts a shift in to keep her memberships up!

I do follow a twitter account that shows peoples SW meals. Some of them are distinctly odd!

“ On average, Consultants earn between £100-400/€200-600 for working 10-20 flexible hours per week*”

From SW website.

My local leader runs 3-4 groups, and probably has 80-100 people in total. At £5 a time, that’s a lot of money, although I don’t know how much she has to pay to SW, plus buy all the stuff.

I’m surprised she has given up a job to do it, unless it’s to fit around kids etc, as most local classes are day times or evenings.

I think it's similar to one. A successful one.

And there's nothing weird about shakes. I have a nonbrandname 'slimfast' shake at bedtime as one of my meals and it stops me night eating.

On average, Consultants earn between £100-400/€200-600 for working 10-20 flexible hours per week

Yeah, most work more hours than that and are in the middle of that range, well I do and so do all the consultants I know.

To be at the top end you would be doing full time hours.

It's not an MLM, no.

She has no children. Her first meeting was when she had quit her other job, I would think most people would build a base first.

I think SW can be quite saturated in some areas. Seems to be a lot of meetings near me.

I didn’t last long at Slimming World. It was all about Muller Lights and Super Noodles (specific flavours only). And I disagreed with both the name and the content of the Syns system. I possibly got a bad leader though.

“I would think most people would build a base first.”

Depends really, it’s quite time intensive to start up, so if you’re planning to do it full time you’re better to just go for it tbh, because otherwise you’d struggle to get everything done and that will affect how many people you get.

“I think SW can be quite saturated in some areas.”

You can only become a consultant if you’re a member, so you tend to get clusters of groups fairly near each other.

It’s got that culty feel of MLM but it’s not on my list of MLMs whereas the Cambridge Diet is now MLM. There isn’t a recruitment element where SW people are encouraged to bring in other SW people as leaders is there?

“There isn’t a recruitment element where SW people are encouraged to bring in other SW people as leaders is there?”

You are encouraged to recruit, yes, but you don’t profit from it, well other than having someone you know as a workmate, lol.

I’ve attended slimming world for 6 weeks now and lost a stone. There is no secret to it apart from I’m filling up on fruit, veg and protein instead of carbs and I’m allowed a treat as long as I keep within my syns. So I’m eating healthy and cooking from scratch but I can have a bit of chocolate if I fancy it. Or I can go out for a meal with friends without it setting me back. I’ve lost weight every week but still had the odd night out and takeaway which makes it sustainable. I’ve tried calorie counting and I end up so ravenous and deprived I end up binging. I’m now back in my size 10 pre-pregnancy clothes and happy! It has not felt like a cult to me, just a group of people sharing support and recipes.

This woman has lost a lot doing it so I suppose she is a fan.
I did have 2 friends who were obsessed with going and talked about the recipes all the time. Went for years, lost no real weight. I can see it’s a bit of a social club too.

I lost three and a half stone on slimming world ,the meals don't have to be odd yeah you can buy their ,bars eat mug shots and Mueller lights if you want but you don't have too ,i have mainly cut out ,crisps ,bread been mindful of read !are sauces etc and eaten loads more fruit and veg have land have a while range of slimming world sauces ,meals etc to choose from but again it's not obligatory

Mindful of Jars and sauces *

Are they celebrating some kind of anniversary this year? I keep getting leaflets through my letterbox offering some kind of discount if I join.

I tried. I couldn't stand the muller light mantra. Surely those who say they now fill up on veg and fruit and still get a treat etc, can do this without SW? It's no secret that eating less crap will make you lose weight

I've lost almost 9 stone now on an alternative healthy eating plan, I go every week to be weighed, attend the meeting etc. and when I try to go it alone I've fallen off plan. I need the support of my leader + the meeting to keep me on track. I'm a gold member now so I attend meetings for free as long as I stay within my goal weight

And I don't eat any of their products apart from an occasional rich toffee bar which I love.