Here I am now going to go through the comments that were left when asked what they least liked about Why Weight Ireland.

Q: I find on the left of the food diary that it's all a bit cluttered, i dont really use any of the buttons, i just type my food in and hope for the best

A:The icons/words on the left side of the food diary are shortcuts for you to use. You do not have to use them and can continue to enter in the food in the search box as you currently do, I myself tend to be in the habit of typing in the food into the search box - the great thing about the diary is that there is no right or wrong way to use it, whatever works for you is the right way :-)
 

Q:I don't like the Facebook community forum. Its all about running. I preferred the original Forum where people used nicknames and it was for members only.
A: Unfortunately the reason the old forum was removed was because it went over a month with only very limited activity by only 1 or 2 members.  The majority of people found that it was troublesome to access and I was also aware and concerned of the fact that somebody's question may go without a response and I hate to think of anybody not receiving a reply. Members have a Members Only Forum within the diary itself and whilst this is linked to another weight loss site, you can still receive more motivation and encouragement and also use a nickname to remain anonymous. The Facebook group is all about health & fitness, I do try to encourage anyone and everyone to post. Unfortunately for the non-runners in the group there are a lot of people who have the shared interest in running or learning to run so there is an increased number of posts about running. There are also people who post about their weight loss, or struggles with the food and exercise. This is NOT a running only forum, there just happen to be a number of people that do run. There are also a lot of people I know on the group who are non-runners but just do not post. I do hope by continuing to encourage people on the group that more people post on all topics.

 

Q: Cost is a factor
A: Why Weight Ireland is cheaper than all of its competitors and offers a lot more services

 

Q: The diary is great. But could do with a restaurant section and more irish shops.
A: There is a restaurant section on the left hand side entitled 'eating out'. Restaurants are a difficult situation due to the change in their menus - as stated by the restaurants themselves, they are unable to state the calories on their meals every day due to the fact that they change their menus and recipes on an ongoing basis. But you can use the restaurants that are already on the diary and select a similar meal. Unfortunately when you are eating out you are always going to be "guesstimating" to some extent, however if you select the option closest to your meal then this will help you be as accurate as possible :-)

 

Q: Would like face to face meetings but don't live near
A: Why Weight Ireland is primarily an online business which appeals to those who cannot get access due to work or family life. Over the coming months and years we do hope to have 'local; fitness centres available for Why Weight Ireland members to get free weigh-ins and access to quality fitness classes, but as this is a home-grown business the development of these is slower due to no financial backing. 

 

Q: I fell off the program for a while and it would be good to have had some 'check-in 'emails from Hannah as I had at the beginning to help me get back on track. Understand she is very busy with new studio.
A: I used to send Check-in emails every week and with nearly 500 personal emails going out and only a hand few of people responding it was starting to become very time consuming and also a little demoralising for myself after spending several hours ensuring no members were left out to only have 1 or 2 emails in response. With the increased activity on Facebook and new amendments on the site & newsletter etc I felt my time was better spent continuing to respond to those who were openly requesting help and also continue to further improve the other areas of the site. I have always had an open door policy, and almost every email I send I try to reiterate to please email me and check in to let me know how you are getting on -  so please if you have any problem, feel like you need extra help and just need to talk then please contact me. I ALWAYS respond very quickly, and if I cannot respond straight away then I usually send a short email explaining that I will respond in full later on. I often will reply to emails early in the morning and up until midnight 7 days per week - I am passionate about helping people, but unfortunately with the number of non-responses it became very difficult to second guess who needed help or not and I wanted to continue the prompt replies to the emails that were coming through. I honestly LOVE to hear how everyone is getting on, so please please PLEASE keep in touch with me :-)

 

Q: I would like to see more Irish products from Supervalue/Dunnes in there. Most are UK.
A: This is a work in progress. It is difficult to get information from shop head offices but hopefully over time this will become easier. in the mean time you do have the advantage of adding your own foods in to your diary and will be there for ever. Please continue to bear with us while we slowly continue to improve and better our services.

 

Q: Website feels quite awkward to get into the food diary - have to click a number of pages - would be better to go directly.
A: You can go directly into the diary page by clicking http://fooddiary.whyweightireland.ie  The reason the diary is separated from the main site is because corporate members only use the diary and do not need to access to the main Why Weight Ireland website, where as the other members get full access to the food diary and also the videos etc but you are more than welcome to access the diary directly by heading straight to http://fooddiary.whyweightireland.ie. You can also save this URL as a bookmark if this makes it easier too :-)

 

Q: Many of the food brands are UK brands so it is sometimes difficult to find an Irish equivalent in order to accurately calculate calories
A: Similarly to the previous question this is work in progress and hope to get as many brands as possible to further expand the ever expanding database, however many of the brands are very similar (almost identical in some cases) and can also be added manually. 

 

 

Q: When I was a member i found it hard filling in the food as i dont spend time on the laptop and dont have internet on my phone and when i emailed to say this and that i was leaving that was it! I now feel i wanted to be told to make the effort and that i could do it but i just got no e mail back.
A: Why Weight Ireland is an online business so if you do not have internet access/access to a laptop on a consistent basis then you will not be able to access the diary. I try to help and support people with their weight loss journeys as much as I can, but if people tell me they want to leave then I try not to force the issue or attempt to "resell" the service to somebody who has advised they are not wanting to continue. I have found that there are many pushy salespeople who are just after money - and that is NOT what I am about and would never want to come across like this at all. I am however extremely sorry that you did not appear to have received an email back from me in response - I always ensure to reply to all emails, and I am often emailing morning, noon and night just to make sure I have not missed anyone so I am disappointed that this appears to be the case and would never have intentionally not replied so I am very sorry for this, you are welcome to send me an email I can see if I can help in anyway. 

 

Q:I sometimes can't access the diary on my phone. Would be brilliant if you could get it as an app. I use an android phone.
A: There is the optimised mobile site for the diary, but if internet access is the issue, then we do have something that is in the pipeline for the android app so hopefully that will be a new addition soon :) 

 

Q: It would be nice if more meals ideas were suggested.
A: There are over 500 different meal ideas in the recipes section which are great to help you find low calorie meals. Part of the idea behind Why Weight Ireland is that you use your own food and make the right choices regarding your meals, and learning about those food choices along the way to help make the new ideas a lifetime habit rather than a passing phase. 

 

Q: I'm not convinced that calorie counting is the best way to lose weight although I do know it can work.
A: The idea behind the diary is calorie counting but it is a simple way for you to measure what you are eating, and learn about the different foods. If you do not know how many calories you are eating then it is difficult to know if you are over or under your recommended calorie allowance, especially if you are trying to lose weight. Even if you are following a "points" system, the principles to lose weight are still the same - you may be counting in points, or drinking a set number of meal replacements etc but those points will still be representative of a nutritional value - and the total number of "points" in a day will still need to be sufficiently below and create enough of a calorie deficit in order for you to actually lose weight. 

 

Q: No personal contact since the first e-mail
A: I do try to be as personal as possible in my welcome email and hope that this will encourage members to keep me updated and get in contact with me anytime. As I mentioned above, I was sending several hundred personal emails a week and with only a handful of replies it just didn't seem to make sense to continue when other members were waiting on responses from me :-( . I always reply to every email personally and as soon as possible. If you do not contact me I can not help you and I really LOVE hearing updates good or bad - If someone emails me and is having problems or falling of the wagon I make sure to check in with them (often this will be on a daily basis and then weekly) until they are able to go it alone. Please PLEASE never be afraid to email, even if its just a 1 line email saying "I had a good week I lost a lb" ........or even " I had a bad week" I will always reply as quickly as possible and with a thorough answer :-)

If anyone has any questions regarding any of the statements and answers above please, feel free to drop me an email hannah@whyweightireland.ie

If you have any queries, compliments, complaints, ideas or would like to see certain things added or removed from the Why Weight Ireland newsletter please feel free in dropping us an email at info@whyweightireland.ie