Now Weight Watchers is getting woke
SATURDAY AFTERNOON, Brooklyn, New York and, in the Barclays Center – the vast stadium where, last autumn, Rihanna launched her Savage X Fenty range and where Beyoncé once broke attendance records with her Mrs Carter tour –15,000 people are on their feet to give a rock-star reception to two other icons of our age: Oprah Winfrey and Michelle Obama.
In conversation with the chat show queen, the former First Lady, in a dazzling blue jumpsuit, reveals that her husband has an ‘ugly, loud cry’ that he demonstrated recently at Malia’s high school graduation; that now they are empty nesters, ‘the energy in the house is different’ (then warns us, after some serious whooping, ‘Y’all get your minds out of the gutter,’); and, hilariously, that the popularity of cosmetic surgery has left her confused on occasion: ‘When you’re in a photo line, you sometimes think, “Didn’t I just meet you?” Oh, nope, y’all just have the same face.’
Though the atmosphere and energy is that of a pop concert, last week’s sold-out event (97% female) is part of a US stadium tour organised by WW, formerly Weight Watchers. The last time I attended a Weight Watchers event, 15 years ago in a draughty community centre in Wandsworth, south London, it involved a public weigh-in and, unlike today, my fellow attendees definitely did not include TV host Gayle King and Oscar-winning actor Lupita Nyong’o.
Today’s event is the fifth on the ninestop Oprah’s 2020 Vision: Your Life In Focus tour, featuring A-list ambassadors including Lady Gaga, Kate Hudson and Jennifer Lopez, along with the former First Lady. The events are all hosted by Oprah, whose ability to connect with every person in a 15,000-strong crowd is truly something to witness. No wonder there are plans to bring a similar tour, and Oprah, to the UK soon.
And if it seems somewhat incongruous that the woman renowned for her flawless 50-year-old body writhing around a pole in Hustlers is also an ambassador for a weightloss organisation, that’s because WW is no longer focused on weight, but wellness. It’s no longer just about monitoring how many points are in a Greek yogurt or how many pounds you’ve lost this week, but about overall health – mental, physical and emotional – and setting goals that have nothing to do with the scales.
‘We will never abdicate being the number one most efficacious, livable and sustainable weight-loss programme on the planet,’ says WW CEO Mindy Grossman. ‘But weight is a very stigmatised word now. Weight is not the way people define themselves, and we don’t tell people what they should weigh. Instead, we ask people: what do you want to accomplish? What does healthy mean to you? What goals do you want to set?’
Indeed, the ambassadors on the tour aren’t there to talk about their battles with weight (though Oprah, an OG WW ambassador, does), but their ‘journey’ and ‘mission’ in other aspects of health and relationships. ‘Lady Gaga wants to bring mental health issues to the fore,’ says Grossman. ‘Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, whose father recently passed away, talked in Atlanta about reconciling their relationship.’
Counting points is still part of the WW DNA but, these days, members can do it all with an app, scanning barcodes and tracking points digitally. The app also provides access to Headspace meditations, activity and fitness resources, a digital 24/7 coaching service and, soon, virtual group coaching.
Back in the Barclays Center, the day has included a dance party from Daybreaker, a mass meditation and motivational speakers such as Rachel Hollis (author of Girl, Wash Your Face). Some of it might feel borderline cheesy to a cynical old Brit like me but, by lunchtime, even I’ve scribbled down a compendium of new mantras (‘Comparison is the death of joy’; ‘Other people’s opinions of you is none of your business’) and, by the end of the day, I will, uncharacteristically, have let out a few tears at the testimonies of transformation.
But will WW appeal to the young and newly woke customer? I’m certainly curious to give the app a whirl in a way I never would have been before the rebrand. ‘Just as you have Spotify for music and Amazon for shopping, we want to be your one-stop, everything app for wellness,’ says Grossman.