According to Slimming World, two in every three men in the UK are overweight or obese and Slimming World magazine is reaching out to these men.
The October issue will feature the first edition of ‘M’, the publication’s new section designed to champion male slimmers and offer realistic support for overweight men to lose weight. It will be made up of a mix of content including real-life stories, practical and psychological features aimed at men, male grooming and more.
Editor Elise Wells says that as well as filling a gap by talking to men about slimming and slimming clubs, both of which are traditionally seen as female domains, the move is also a result of feedback from readers and members of Slimming World’s 12,000 groups across the UK and Ireland – of both genders.
She says: “Men might only make up a relatively small percentage of our readers – and Slimming World’s current membership – but they are a very passionate audience. We made a commitment to feature a male success story in every issue several years ago, and since then men have been telling us that they’d like to see even more features aimed at them within the magazine – and women are keen for us to show men what they’re missing too – so that’s exactly what we’re doing with ‘M’.”
The new section launches with a round-table discussion of four men who’ve lost weight at their local Slimming World groups. The feature explores the challenges that men face when it comes to their weight and their experiences of weight loss.
Stuart Eggleshaw, who lost more than 22st to be named Slimming World Greatest Loser 2014 and took part in the debate piece, says: “There are definitely some ways in which male slimmers are very different to women who are losing weight. For instance, we all said how much harder we thought it was for blokes to take that first step to walk into a slimming club, yet how determined we can be when we finally make a decision to do something about our weight, which ultimately means we lose weight quite quickly.
“Having said that, we also talked about how much we had in common with everyone at our Slimming World groups including the women. The way we felt and our reasons for losing weight, like wanting to look and feel good, to improve our health and to do more with our family and friends, are by no means exclusive to men. We all said how important the support of other slimmers was to us, and that we loved how we could lose weight without feeling hungry as much as any of our fellow female members!”
This common ground among slimmers means much of the magazine’s content, such as recipes and food news, already appeals to men and women alike and now it’s hoped ‘M’ will balance pages like female fashion and beauty. Elise also says she hopes female readers, perhaps looking to help a man in their life, will enjoy and find inspiration within the section as much as men.
She adds: “At Slimming World we’re always looking for ways in which we can develop and improve the compassionate yet practical support that we offer to people trying to lose weight and improve their health, and this exciting addition to the magazine is part of that.
“Research shows us that when men do come to Slimming World they’re invariably very successful and the men we spoke to were certainly proof of this, having lost nearly 40st between them. They just need a little convincing to get them there in the first place. We hope our new ‘M’ section will prove to everyone that Slimming World isn’t just for women.”
Slimming World magazine, which was named Customer Magazine of the Year at the 2014 PPA Awards in July, is sold on the newsstand and at reduced price in Slimming World’s 12,000 groups across the UK and Ireland.
