Bonnie Federico

“Expected more from this service. When I was told about it, it was made out to be amazing. But it did not live up to the hype. First, I told them straight out I didn't want surgery. They put me on that route anyway. And I was constantly getting things to do so that I could have surgery. The weigh-ins were 5 minutes to weigh, tick a box and go home. I even had to ask if I had lost or gained as I was never just told. I did not feel supported at any point. I wouldn't bother using them.”

“Terrible service and a waste of time. Firstly it's all about attending appointments, not about actually getting help or support. And the appointments are useless. You have to attend online seminars that are dreary and just tell you information you could Google or probably already know. I feel confident in saying that the majority of people who have gotten to the stage of using this service have tried and researched methods of healthy eating and losing weight. It's the same stuff like chew longer, eat with a smaller plate, understanding food groups and portion sizes… so on and so forth. You have to attend monthly weigh-ins. They like to make out that it's a support session but you go in… they weigh you… get you to tick a few boxes on a sheet and then you go home. However, be prepared that if you are disabled and can't get out of the house and suffer with mental health, autism, mobility issues or anything that could hinder this - they still expect you to go every single time and even if you explain your situation and try to reschedule you will get penalised for this and they will not put you forward for surgery either. Oh, and they don't offer support for this either, they will just bluntly rebook you and tell you later after you complete the entire course that you can't be put forward for surgery now. Not to mention, they only have one clinic on ONE day of the month so if you miss it you miss an entire month. The staff sadly were also rude in my area and when I managed to drag myself there and go through all of the steps to arrange a carer to get me there - they double book and scoff and lie to you even though you have literal evidence of when they told you to be there. Don't get me started on the dietitian appointments - a lady calls you up and recites food group knowledge from a screen. Don't tell her you're a vegetarian or vegan, she will tell you to just eat chicken anyway. "I know you're vegetarian but just eat it anyway" erm, no. I also asked for an alternative to a few foods such as eggs due to being my main IBS trigger and got told to just eat them. Helpful. I found myself just saying "yep, yeah, sure, yeah" until the appointment was over as she didn't listen or seem to care about a single thing I said. That's it. That's the service. I'm just doing exactly what I did before I started the service as I was already trying about 90% of what they suggested (which is what Google tells you) and it wasn't working. I'm not expecting deep-rooted trauma-based counselling as to why I have eating problems, but I thought there would be… something? The other issue is, everyone has complex and individual needs. I'm disabled, have conditions that cause me to gain/retain weight. I have eating problems too and other issues as well as not being able to move to exercise, other than basically starving myself which still does minimal what do I do? I won't ever know cause they never said. Just be aware that it's a waste of time if you genuinely have issues. And be prepared to lose a lot of weight before they even entertain you… but don't lose too much! They want to keep you at a certain level of chunky or they won't help you either.”

“For long, been trying to lose weight without success, along the way, I do always lose the motivation and willpower to continue, then I was referred to TBC and everything changed. They held my hands all through the journey, from the weigh-ins, to the dietitians down to Alan of the men's group, I doff my cap for you guys. Now awaiting my bariatric surgery. Wish I can give more than 5 stars.”

“Excellent support with the NHS weight management programme. Delightful, kind, understanding staff, always had time for me however daft the question. Carly was especially lovely as was Nicky who I sadly only met today on my last day. Encouraging you all the way thanks everyone & 20% of my body weight gone for good YAY 👏😘 Thanks everyone Barbara”