to be wary about an overweight WW leader?

[ivybridget]

There's a Weight Watchers meeting not for from me and at time that could suit me. The woman who leads it lives in the area and seems very nice. I know her only very loosely through various neighbourhood events.

Thing is she's quite overweight, quite significantly rather than just a few pounds. From memory, I think she's previously had a dramatic weight loss but it seems as if she's gained it back. It's none of my business and as a serial dieter myself I wouldn't ordinarily judge another woman's body shape. But it doesn't really inspire confidence that she practices what she preaches.

AIBU to think this is probably a bad idea?

WW is such a throwback, I’m surprised people are still paying for it. My mum used to drag me to her meetings because she couldn’t find childcare and my god it was so toxic. She’d literally get back in the car and sometimes cry but mostly rant and rave at how amazing she’d done all week yet stayed the same or even gained a pound.

For me, even as a child, I could see the company was simply trying to flog shit to vulnerable women. My mum bought into it all, she even had their scales to weigh out rice/pasta/potatoes etc. I figured everyone was done with this approach now and on ozempic, seems to be the done thing.

It shouldn’t. It’s such a scam

As many others have said, the whole point of the WW business model is that it's unsustainable. If you're in the right frame of mind you'll lose weight, but you can't stick to it so it goes back on. I found the second time I did it I was much less invested and found it much harder to stick to, because I knew it wasn't a long-term solution. (Never bothered again after that.)

Our leader was very slim, but was clearly an alcoholic - she used to constantly tell us she would rather have a drink than food, that she saved all her points for a drink, which drinks had the fewest calories, etc.

I was a WW leader 20 years ago and I had to stay within a healthy weight range as part of the condition of running meetings.

Theres a balance of though as I ended up being about a 21 BMI and some customers said I was unrelatable and felt more comfortable with a leader who was at a BMI of 24.5 (a lot kept their weight at the top of the BMI to meet the t&c of being a leader). It was also down to the area manager to enforce this rule.

Thanks everyone for your comments.
All things considered, I think I'll give it a miss.
This lady's story and journey are none of my business but in all honesty, rightly or wrongly, I don't feel she'd be someone I'd look to for advice or support.
I know how to lose weight. I guess I'll just crack on and do it!