This might not have registered on your radar just yet but it seems that Patsy Kensit is the new “face” of Weight Watchers. And indeed voice as her advertising it on the radio today.
Now I have a problem with this for a number of reasons.
Firstly Patsy Kensit is not really Weight Watchers target market so why is she “the face”. When she started, apparently she was just over 10 stone. For somebody who is 5’3 that is hardly morbidly obese. Yes, I understand she might have felt fat, or uncomfortable or that her clothes don’t fit but what does that tell other women and girls? That 10 stone is fat.
That we shouldn’t be happy to be that shape. Not weight or size. But shape. That young girls are growing up to think that they need to be skinny to be successful or happy in themselves.
That at 10 stone you need to lose weight.
And so we are led to believe that after being unhappy with her weight for 12 years and trying every diet known to man, Patsy has lost a stone in three months.
I am sorry but I could do that with a single poo.
2lbs is the standard weight loss if you cut down on food and move more (I know, I know, who am I to preach) so if Patsy was serious about really wanting to lose weight she could have done that in seven weeks. Why did it take three months to lose that weight?
Not buying into this I am afraid Weight Watchers. Not at all. And I am your target audience. It seems to me that Patsy Kensit is simply fronting this campaign as she said yes to your offer of money.
Call me cynical but I don’t think for one minute that Patsy Kensit has spent three months losing a stone for anything other than the cash.
And that is the last thing that will get me to sign up.
I found the idea of patsy kensit frothing weight watchers absurd. She’s hardly fat is she? She’s not even overweight. I’m only 5ft and I weigh 10 stone and I’m still classed as healthy. It’s very, very poor and desperate advertising. Show me someone who has lost a decent amount of weight on the diet, when they actually needed to, and I might buy into it. For now though I am really unimpressed
I’ve managed to lose 5 stone in the past 18months, without wasting my money going to Weight Watchers. I looked at my eating, I looked at my lifestyle, and I looked at my wardrobe.
I cut out all the crap I was eating between meals, I. It down my carbohydrate intake, I. It down on the size of my portions, and I cut the size of the clothes in my wardrobe.
I eat about 60 gm of carbohydrate a day, I go to aquarium once a week, I walk a out 2 miles 4 or 5 days a week, and the clothes in my wardrobe have shrunk from a size 30 to a size 20. I can now wear what I like, not what covers my bulk.
I am no spring chicken. I will be 70 next year.
Oh, what made me look at my lifestyle, being diagnosed with diabetes. I feel better now that I have for years.
Sorry about the essay.
I must admit that I don’t ‘do’ Weight Watchers, I don’t buy into the whole thing… but like you I am WTF at Patsy fronting it – surely they could have found someone, well frankly, larger. Who needed to lose weight. That would inspire people more surely ?!
I have just lost 21lbs with weight watchers, and have another 7lbs to go to hit my target weight. My end goal is to weigh 10 and a half stone- which by their own advertising is apparently fat enough to warrant going in a diet – so they are actually in a sense demoralising their own customers!! Doesn’t bother me personally- I have no desire to be rake thin, and a nice curvy size 12 will make me more than happy- but I do think that it is an unhealthy message for them to be sending out.
Hmmm, 5ft 2 and 10st 2 is BMI of 26.0, so yes, the NHS would have deemed her overweight. Losing 14lbs would put her at a healthy BMI of 23.4. So I don’t think it’s irresponsible at all. And actually, people who are just a point or two into the the ‘overweight’ range on the BMI chart and who want to nip it in the bud are exactly the WW target this time of year. Losing a stone is achievable – it’s not like those seemingly impossible ads of old with the tiny woman standing proudly holding out the waistband on some giant jeans. The rate of weightloss is more akin to my experience too – it’s not so fast when you’re already close to your BMI and already active. I’m not sure what the problem is, to be honest.
The BMI thing is actually pretty inaccurate in a lot of cases. I have a friend who is is 5f10 tall, I don’t know her weight, but there is not an inch of fat on her, but she was told she her BMI put her into the overweight catagory. She’s got a solid muscle mass because she is very fit. She eats healthily, she’s vegetarian, she runs 5x a week, does dance classes and is superfit, and looks fantastic, she isn’t overweight. I don’t think Patsy Kensit, for one minute is a good representative for WW, either.
I agree. I think the criticism of Patsy Kensit has been really unfair. Not everyone joins WW to lose half their body weight. Not everyone is morbidly obese. But that doesn’t mean we aren’t allowed to be unhappy with our weight. When I went on Rosemary Conley I weighed 11 and half stone, which at 5’7” isn’t overweight. However my clothes didn’t fit, I felt miserable and had NO confidence. One night I ran a bath and emptied it again because I couldn’t bear to lie there and look at myself naked. I’d just got engaged and I hated myself. People scoffed and told me not to be silly, I didn’t need to lose weight, and I found that incredibly hurtful and dismissive. So if Patsy Kensit took a month to lose a stone and feels great then good on her. It took me 9 months to lose 21lb and I don’t feel I’ve failed at all. But it completely changed my life. I was able to wear a wedding dress with pride. So what if I’m not standing inside the leg of a pair of jeans I used to wear? Doesn’t make my achievement any less important to me.
I totally agree. There are plenty of people who want to lose a stone and are put off joining Weight Watchers because they worry that they wont be taken seriously. I think they have been very savvy to tap into to this Market. After losing a stone last year I am made up. I agree that if you are a few stone overweight you probably think why worry about being just a stone over? You would be surprised at what a difference it will make……. You wait until you are a stone away from target……….
I think the who weightwatches concept it a con! (sorry all no doubt i will be shunned)
EAT LESS MOVE MORE, it really is that simple.. i did it last year and have lost 4 stones. i still have a takeway i still have the occasional drink and i still eat chocolate although the only difference is moderation and portion size!
I wouldnt of said patsy kensit is the target market at all!
A wise(?) man once said that WW are not in the business of getting people to lose weight, they are in the food business. They (he suggested) want people to think there’s a mystery to it. Eat less, move more. Expend more energy than you take in. If you take in more than you expend, you will convert the remainder to ‘reserves’.