How do things like slimming world "get away with" using their members as free labour?

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So, you have the leader who is making money, bit the "social team" are paying members of the group that are volunteering their time for the leader.

I mean, maybe some leaders give them free membership? Or a free magazine or whatever?

But it's crazy that the business model is one paid employee and half a dozen 'volunteers'.

I'd suggest your mother gave you disorder eating. Sounds awful, sorry you were put through that and hope you've managed to find a way that suits you now x

Slimming world is basically low GI so how is that scientifically proven BS? You fill every plate with 1/3 or is 2/3 of basically calories zero food and eat as much pasta or protein as you can. If you ate half a iceberg Lettuce for example, how much jacket spud could the shovel in afterwards? Your brain thinks your full as your supposed to eat the Lettuce, brocoli, Cauliflower etc first.

I lost weight on sw. I stopped and put weight on. That's not because low GI is BS. It's because I'm a fat pig who makes shit choices with food.

I don't volunteers are all thick woman craving power either. That's a pretty sad way to view life

Not that it answers your question OP, but a lot of women at my work are on it and have been for YEARS. Some lost weight at the beginning but put it back on and ended up back there. I have been in my job for 18 years and these women have been talking about slimming world for a lot of that time - not one of them is any slimmer than they were when I met them. Even the one that is a SW leader.

So the results of my totally anecdotal research there tell me that if it does work, it's only in the short term. However, the long term commitment that people give it as a result of that initial short term and temporary success is what makes it a successful business model. A business model which has absolutely nothing to do with its members losing weight permanently, and is actually built on the opposite of that. Therefore I would never trust it.

But SW doesn’t actually tell you not to eat a lot of fruit. Fruit is actually encouraged as a free food. A healthy diet would be eating some fruit as a snack, then some nuts as a snack. People eat half a bag of satsumas because they’re free rather than a handful of nuts and a satsuma, which is a more balanced and healthy diet. People eat 5 bananas a day, unmashed, because they’re free. I know someone who went to a different group but got potassium poisoning because they were eating so many bananas a day while on SW.

It also promotes unlimited amounts of pasta, rice and potatoes. It doesn’t differentiate from wholewheat pasta or white pasta, both are ‘free’, even though white pasta is a high GI food. Pasta can be extremely calorific in high doses, as is an avocado. So why is unlimited white pasta ‘good’ and half an avocado ‘bad’? Because they label food and they demonise it.

Your body needs healthy fats. And usually low fat things are pumped with sweeteners to make them taste nice. Full fat Greek yogurt, some seeds and blueberries is a nicer, more filling and nutritionally better breakfast than low fat Greek yogurt, some sweetener, some muesli and some blueberries. I’m glad it’s working for you but it absolutely demonises food.

Cult comes to mind

Healthy eating my arse, they sell you those bars that are made of sawdust and aspartame

But the whole point is balance, they don't say unlimited pasta etc. It has to be done with the 'third of your plate' guide and 'eat to your fill.'

Anyone eating 5 bananas a day is frankly bonkers and if they showed a consultant that on their food sheets I imagine it would be picked up pretty quickly as not a great idea.

You don't have to buy them,it's not essential to weight loss or the plan.

I don't think they're compulsory just a recognition that some people eat these snack bars. They have their own brand but other brands are available and equally acceptable.
Same with their ready meals, not compulsory but a nod to the fact that many people like to have a microwave meal available. They do tend to push cooking for yourself with a number of recipe books and quite a few recipes in their magazine.
The big problem with any diet is when you reach your target weight and then go back to eating as before.
OH lost lots of weight with SW (me too as he's the cook), unfortunately he loves butter, rich sauces, pies etc so when he stops it tends to go back on.

Because (sorry to say this) but the types who attend aren't usually the brightest bulbs are they. The diet is horrendous and doesn't work long term. I mean unlimited pasta and baked beans seriously?!

It's not healthy eating. No good fats, loads of carcinogenic sweetener, high carb. It's awful .
The healthiest diets are Mediterranean with lots of olive oil.

@purplebananasmoothie the only reason ypu will have put the weight back on is because you stopped eating well. Hardly Slimming world's fault!

Well I disagree. We eat a balanced diet of lean meat, carbohydrates & tons of vegetables.
We don’t choose to consume artificial sweeteners, it isn’t obligatory.
It’s not rocket science, but being part of a supportive group is helpful.

One thing that is the same with any cult, and I'm not saying SW is a cult by the way, but it's always how defensive people that follow the cults get.

You say anything negative about a cult near a cult member and they'll jump down your throat quick smart.

Weird really, it's like they can't abide their belief system being tested even slightly.

As for SW, seems more a MLM / Pyramid scheme type set up. Someone is making a lot of money somewhere and it's in their best interests to keep people on the plan.

Personally, I try to keep calories burnt higher than calories eaten and I refuse to see foods as evil or holy / Syn or Free / good or bad

Well, it is.

The whole point of a diet should be a healthy lifelong commitment to changing your eating habits.

The majority of these diets are not sustainable long term which is why the majority of people always gain the weight back.

Calling food a 'Syn' is fucking bonkers. Food has no moral value. All that happens is when you inevitably eat something that's too many 'syns' or deviate away from the diet in any form, you feel like a failure, get discouraged and stop doing it.

The ‘syns’ aren’t bad or evil, just a way of tracking the calories really. There is free choice….it’s not a cult…. everyone is free to choose their own eating plan & hopefully lose some weight.
Everything is down to personal opinion & SW works fine for me.
No one is captured or forced there!!

@mintich as I said in my post, I continued to lose weight not following the plan. I reached target weight by going completely over my syn allowance by eating avocado, nuts, seeds, honey, full fat Greek yogurt. By cooking with olive oil. I know perfectly well how to lose weight. I put the weight back on because I so was good at slimming world, I was so good at restricting myself that when my grandad died I went for a 10 mile walk in the rain and had a peppermint tea. What I wanted was to sit at home, have some of my grandads favourite sweets. I was so good at slimming world that I went away to Scotland and walked 8-16 miles each day but by the end of the weekend I was struggling with fatigue because I was staying on plan and eating grilled fish and vegetables, my lunches were little salad pots with barely any protein. I was so good at slimming world that I noted down everything I ate for a year and synned everything accurately. I put all the weight back on because I got to my target and still felt shit because my group voted me woman of the year but I still wasn’t thin enough for SW. I lost 6 st in a year and didn’t recognise myself in the mirror. I put it all back on because for every little thing I’d restricted myself, so when I was thin and still hated how I looked, how my only accomplishment was that I was thin now I thought what’s the point of restricting myself to this extent if I’m still miserable. So yes, it is slimming world’s fault. It might not wholly be slimming world’s fault, but it definitely has a large share of the blame.

OP, as you can see on here when you say anything negative about SW you get a lot of abuse. This is why people are saying it’s cult like.

Hardly abuse! It's the truth. So many people bash slimming world because they put weight back on , but to gain six stone again, you had to be eating unhealthily. I doubt you were underweight when on slimming world

I don't think it is high carb tbh. It's pretty much following the NHS eat well plate.

People are idiots though and remember the "unlimited pasta" and forget the ⅓+ speed rule etc so they have a pile of pasta and some boring fat free cheese spread mixed in and call it an "on plan" meal. They also only ever seen to use Syns for chocolate and alcohol etc. Not for things like peanut butter, avocado, salad oils etc.

So why are they called syns then?

See, this is the classic example of many members and non-members interpreting the diet.
Incorrectly.

It's "unlimited" pasta, AS LONG AS it's eaten in combination of veggies and lean proteins AND most importantly to appetite.

But to be fair, SW promotes the "unlimited" pasta and people seem to take that away a lot, forgetting the rest.

Because you literally said:

“I mean, maybe some leaders give them free membership? Or a free magazine or whatever?”

Some BS about "Synergy" or something.

Because I KNOW that some people are absolutely not paid/rewarded for being on social team.

And I know one SW consultant that gives hers a free magazine.

But, as is clear from the responses on this thread, some members aren't being paid/rewarded...

Ah well you could have been clearer in your op.