Eat Out, Get Paid, Lose Weight. The Perfect Job?

What would you say if we told you there was a job going spare for someone who loves eating out but wants to shift a few pounds? You’d either tell us we were potty, or send your CV over sooner than we could say ‘Hey, we wanted to apply for that!’

Well, we’re not potty and we just might go for this too, because dieting giant (excuse the pun!) Weight Watchers is looking to employ an Official Eating Officer – somebody who is willing to tour the country eating out at restaurants while sticking to a sensible diet.

It’s all part of a plan to prove that dieting doesn’t have to mean putting your social life on hold. New research released today reveals over a quarter of Brits (27 per cent) admit to taking a rain check on social occasions because they are following a fad diet. Cancelled plans equate to over 50 hours a year per person in time lost with friends, family and partners.

The research found that most UK dieters felt the fad weight loss programmes they followed were too restrictive and therefore incompatible with socialising (71 per cent) and when dieting, 1 in 4 opted to stay at home rather than risk falling off the diet wagon.

 To give body-conscious Brits their social lives back, Weight Watchers has launched a nationwide search to recruit the UK’s first ever Official Eating Officer who will tour the UK, dine out twice a week and put the nation’s favourite restaurants to the test to prove that a healthy approach to weight management doesn’t have to cost you your social life. While some diets, in particular fad diets, limit enjoyment of food and socialising, they want to prove that Weight Watchers provides a liveable, holistic and sustainable approach to a healthy lifestyle change.

The survey also found that dieters in the UK are more likely to cancel on their friends than a date or their family, with over 1 in 4 respondents admitting to cancelling on friends (26 per cent) and 16 per cent cancelling on family or a potential suitor (13 per cent).

Many of those surveyed also agreed that being on a fad diet had ruined special occasions such as birthdays (15 per cent) with 1 in 5 feeling a diet had impacted Christmas or a dinner party in the past. Over a third (34 per cent) went as far to say they’d not eaten a host’s birthday cake and 13 per cent admitted to making a separate meal for themselves when hosting a dinner party if they were on a particular diet.

Commenting on the findings, Julia Westgarth, Programme Development Manager at Weight Watchers told Belle About Town: “It is shocking to see how big an impact unsustainable and fad diets are having on British social lives. Losing weight doesn’t have to be restrictive and at Weight Watchers, every day we help millions of people to find a healthier, happier way of life.

“We are proud to provide a programme that encourages a flexible and balanced approach to leading a healthier lifestyle. In fact you can lose up to eight times more weight with Weight Watchers than on your own, all without giving up the food you love.

 “Our Official Eating Officer will demonstrate how Weight Watchers guides people towards smarter food choices and teaches skills, such as portion control, to achieve long term success, so social lives don’t need to be compromised.”

• For further information and to apply for the role of Weight Watchers Official Eating Officer, visit: www.weightwatchers.com/uk/official-eating-officer