REPORTComparison of Weight Loss Companies (Weight Watchers vs Slimming World)An assessment on the most suitable diet plan for Fitness Mania’s health and fitness programmeCONTENTSTerms of Reference   page 3Procedures    page 3-9Findings     page 10Conclusion    page 11Recommendations   page 11Index     page 12Bibliography    page 13-14Appendices    page 15-16Comparison of Weight Loss Companies (Weight Watchers vs Slimming World)Terms of ReferenceSally White, fitness guru at Fitness Mania requested a report on which weight loss company, Weight Watchers or Slimming World was most effective, so that she could implement the diet into her clients health and fitness programme. Sally is looking to find out which company is most cost effective, easy to follow, what benefits and support they offer and ultimately the results and people’s experiences.ProceduresInterviewAn interview was carried out with Cathy Russell on the 6 December 2018. Cathy has been a member of both Weight Watchers and Slimming World. Cathy shared her experience: “Weight Watchers and Slimming World both have great support groups. Personally, I find Slimming World easier to follow. Slimming World has a ‘free food’ list which includes a range of vegetables, fruit, meat, poultry, fish, some carbs, dairy and drinks. You can have as many free foods as you like, any food/drink that is not on the list you can have but you must stay within your daily allowance of syns, which is between 5 and 15. Whereas the Weight Watchers diet plan you need to count/weigh everything you eat with their points system, I find this not so easy to use and follow. Portion sizes are a lot smaller. Another thing I like about Slimming World is that once you reach your target weight you don’t have to pay, as long as you stay within 3 pounds of your target weight (over or under).”Cathy shared the following books that she received when she started Slimming World:Love food love food optimising – Information on foods and syns, including recipesLove life love body magic – Information on body magic and having an active lifeLove friendship love your Slimming World group – success stories and adviceSee image of books in Appendix AOnline ReviewsTrustpilot ReviewsWeight Watchers UKImage sourced from: https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/weightwatchers.com/ukSlimming WorldImage sourced from:https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/www.slimmingworld.co.ukWeight Watchers UK have received a lot more reviews (207) than Slimming World (18). The above diagrams show that Weight Watchers have received a lot more excellent (42% more) and great (13% more) reviews than Slimming World. However, due to the huge difference in the amount of reviews I decided to look back at the last 10 reviews for each company so that the results were more accurate and fair.The last 10 review ratings for each company are shown below:Weight WatchersSlimming WorldExcellent11Great1Average2Poor44Bad43See Appendix B for the chart on the above tableThe last 10 reviews show that Weight Watchers and Slimming World have recently received roughly the same ratings. Both companies are showing more poor/bad results than excellent/great results!Slimming World’s negative reviews were around the online membership and unhelpful consultants.Weight Watchers negative reviews were about signing up and then not being able to cancel the membership for a year. How easy is the diet plan to follow?Both companies have support groups, websites and apps where you can access various helpful information which makes the diet plans easy to follow.Slimming World review on how easy the diet plan is to follow:Image sourced from: https://www.netmums.com/coffeehouse/diets-1061/losing-weight-619/585707-slimming-world-extra-easy.htmlWeight Watchers comment on how easy the diet plan is to follow:Image sourced from: https://www.womansday.com/health-fitness/nutrition/a58249/i-spent-a-month-on-weight-watchers/Weight Watchers and Slimming World WebsitesHow each weight loss programme works?Weight WatchersWeight Watchers works by a ‘SmartPoints’ counting system. Each food has its own SmartPoints value which depends on calories, saturated fat, sugar, and protein. When a member joins Weight Watchers they are given a personalised SmartPoints budget which is worked out by the persons current weight, height, gender, and age. It will be made up of a daily allowance and a weekly allowance for extras, such as going out. You can become a member and follow the plan digitally and studio where you can follow the plan online and attend the support groups. You can also just attend the support groups.Image sourced from: https://www.google.co.ukSlimming WorldSlimming World works by ‘Syns’ and a ‘free foods’ plan. You are allowed to eat as many ‘free foods’ as you like on the Slimming World’s diet plan. Any food that is not ‘free foods’ are counted by syns, each food has a different amount of syns allocated to it. You are allowed between 5 and 20 syns per day. Slimming World focuses on a diet for the long haul, something you can stick to and won’t want to give up on within a week. You can either be a member that attends meetings with other members, or you can follow the plan online.  Image sourced from: https://www.google.co.ukSuccess StoriesWeight Watchers and Slimming World both have a huge amount of success stories that you can read online.Slimming World:Image sourced from: https://www.slimmingworld.co.uk/our-members/success-search.aspx?Weight Watchers:Image sourced from: https://www.weightwatchers.com/uk/success-storiesMembership Cost Weight WatchersSlimming WorldOnline (Digital) and Studio £12.95 a month plus £10 joining feeOnline Membership £20.00 a monthGroup Membership £6.25 per weekGroup Membership £4.95 per weekExerciseWeight WatchersWW (Weight Watchers) Workouts are available on their US websiteArticles and exercise guides available on their UK websiteSlimming WorldProgramme called ‘body magic’. The programme allows each member to build their exercise plan up gradually.BenefitsWeight WatchersSlimming WorldWeight Watchers AppSlimming World AppOver 1000 recipesAccess to over 1000 recipes24/7 support with an online coachMenu and ideasSocial community supportGroup sessions, including taster sessions, support from Slimming World consultantProgramme with over 200 zero point foodsUnlimited ‘free food’Weight Watchers magazineSlimming World magazineOnline shopOnce you have reached target weight, you do not have to pay if you stay within 3 poundsOnline blogs and fitness articlesOnline articles and success storiesRecipesWeight WatchersRecipe books (see image below)Online recipesFree 7-day menu (online)Recipe of the week (online)Find a recipe (online)Recipe videos (online)Image sourced from: https://www.weightwatchersshop.co.uk/cookbooks-guides-magazines-1?cat=224Slimming WorldRecipe books (see image below)Seasonal recipes (online)Breakfast recipes (online)Lunch recipes (online)Dinner recipes (online)Starters recipes (online)Dessert recipes (online)Cathy Russell shared a book (Love food love food optimising) that you receive when you become a member, which includes recipes. See Appendix A for imageImage sourced from: https://www.theworks.co.uk/p/healthy-eating-books/slimming-worlds-best-ever-recipes/9780091928223?CAWELAID=720011340002618644&CATARGETID=720011340002497956&cadevice=c&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIn53pydah3wIVyeR3Ch1EgQsUEAQYASABEgLFkPD_BwE&q=slimming%20worldFindingsWeight Watchers is cheaper (£7.05 a month less) than Slimming World when you pay monthly, but more expensive (1.30 per week more) than Slimming World if you would like to pay weeklyThe last 10 Trustpilot reviews for each company equalled to a similar amount of reviews for each star rating. See Appendix B for the graph.Both companies have comments/reviews that they are easy to followBoth diet plans work in a similar way in that you have to count points (SmartPoints/Syns) on food. However, Slimming World has ‘free foods’ so you do not need to count your food as much as you would on Weight Watchers diet planWeight Watchers have exercise guides available. Slimming World have an exercise programmeThe benefits that each diet plan offers are very similarBoth companies offer a lot of recipes. Slimming World offer more onlineConclusionTo conclude, I think Weight Watchers prefer their members to pay monthly, which is why their monthly membership cost is significantly cheaper than the weekly cost. According to the negative reviews on Trustpilot, I think Weight Watchers offer great deals for membership when you sign up monthly for a few months, although when you go to cancel members are finding out that they can’t cancel until after a year. I think members are finding this very frustrating. Whereas, Slimming World cost much the same for weekly group membership and monthly online membership, which allows the customer to not feel pressurised into signing up monthly. Overall, I think Slimming World is the most cost effective.Both companies have received positive reviews that they are easy to follow. They also have apps and websites full of useful information, as well as support groups. From Cathy Russell’s experience, I think Slimming World is showing to be slightly easier to follow. I think the main reason is because you do not need to count absolutely everything you eat and your portion sizes are not restricted.I think Weight Watchers and Slimming both have fantastic benefits, which many are the same for each. However, I think Slimming World have the following extra benefits:Body magic programmeNot having to pay when you reach your target weight and stay within 3 pounds of itUnlimited ‘free food’Offer more online recipesBoth companies have received some negative reviews recently which they need to work on. Overall, I think members are happy, the success stories prove that both diet plans can get you the result you want.RecommendationsThe following is suggested:Sally White trials the Slimming World diet plan with her clients for three months. The client is able to choose either the weekly or monthly membership. After the three months, Sally is to review the diet plan by checking her clients results and asking her clients for feedback via a questionnaireSee Appendix C for the suggested questionnaireIndex