AN IRISH WEIGHT-LOSS guru doubled his pay to over €1 million last year, as the company seemingly reaped the benefit of WeightWatchers’ surprise exit from the Irish market.

Bodyslims – which files accounts under the company name Shard Ventures Ltd – more than doubled its profit in 2022 to €820,365.

Gerard Moran, the company director, received total remuneration of €1.04 million, of which €700,000 went into his defined contribution pension scheme and €340,000 was salary.

This was more than double what Moran received in 2021, when his salary totalled €127,083 and pension contribution €300,000.

WeightWatchers, another diet programme, left the Irish market in December 2021 and is no longer offering in-person meetings here. 

Bodyslims has also benefited from already having an online version of its programme when the Covid-19 pandemic hit in 2020. The company expects to enjoy further growth this year relative to last.

The company does not use traditional advertising, instead relying on word of mouth and paid promotion on social media by an influencer who is a former participant.

Scientific studies demonstrate that weight is often regained following lifestyle interventions and calorie counting aimed at weight loss. 

In recent years, there has been a growing movement in Ireland and internationally scrutinising and criticising “diet culture”, in particular for its impact on mental health. RTÉ’s annual January ratings winner, Operation Transformation, has in the past two years dropped its weighing scales logo and the requirement for participants to wear lycra while being weighed in favour of a more “holistic” approach to health promotion.

The Bodyslims programme is based on calorie restriction, daily walking and motivational seminars with Moran – dubbed “the weight whisperer” by the company – as well as optional coaching.

Moran said over 80% of participants stick with the programme for its 10-week duration. He defended the focus on calories, stating: “There is no weight loss programme in the world that can work without calorie deficit.”

“There’s a group of people now who will say ‘you shouldn’t promote this’. You’re not trying to upset people but there are a number of people who want to use this [approach]. It’s a very fast-growing programme and a popular programme,” he said.

He told The Journal he accepted that maintaining weight loss was “neither simple nor easy” but added that the programme coached people on maintenance.