It’s 9.30am, and Hayley Roberts is excited. In a few moments, she’ll discover whether or not she’s eligible for an award. The key ring enclosed in a celebratory card is small but its significance is not. It marks her three-stone weight loss. Just half a pound to go.
Roberts passes the time in the weigh-in queue chatting to women aged from 20- to 70-something in a community centre in West Derby, Merseyside, north-west England. The air is thick with optimism and apprehension as they remove jackets and jumpers and change out of shoes into lighter flip-flops. “Trainers weigh about two and a half pounds,” one woman explains.
Presiding over the electronic scales is WeightWatchers coach Jennifer Klimczak. She’s been doing this for nine years, having joined the slimming group herself more than 20 years ago. Trim and elegant, with ash-blonde hair, her role is that of cheerleader, pragmatist and priest. A woman steps off the scales and confesses to eating three Snickers ice-cream bars and an apple turnover. “I didn’t need to do that,” she tells Klimczak. “I’m just greedy. I like sweet things.” Another admits her 6lb loss over two weeks was partly motivated by wanting Klimczak to think, “Well done.”