Unislim's Fiona Gratzer: Menopause shouldn’t be an excuse to gain weight

“There are members who maybe join us when they are 16 and we have members in their late 80s. There is no age restriction.”

Fiona, who is 56, also knows the menopausal years can be a challenging time for women.

"The menopause shouldn’t be an excuse to gain weight – it’s a time to really reflect on our health and wellbeing because we want to be fit and healthy for the next decades of our life.

“There is a little bit of bloating around the waist during the menopausal years, but menopausal weight gain is down to losing our muscle mass – there are of course hormones that fluctuate, but a lot of it is down to us not exercising to the same level as we used to.

“It is so important for women in the menopausal years to do weight training or resistance training. It doesn’t have to be going to the gym, it could just be doing exercise at home, squats, yoga, anything that puts resistance on our body.

“And of course, over the years our eating habits slip. It’s easy to gain weight. If you are on holidays you can easily gain five pounds. Or maybe when we’re a little bit older we might drink a bit more wine. It’s just about focusing on what we can do better. It’s the small changes that make a big difference.”

And Fiona, who trained as a personal fitness instructor during Covid, practices what she preaches in terms of keeping her own body and mind fit and healthy.

“I do yoga two mornings a week around 7am. Breakfast is my favourite meal of the day. I take the dog for a walk and sit down at my desk and I love to read the newspapers online. I like to do a crossword in the morning to get my brain working and then I do my emails. I never work in bed.

"I work from home a lot, so you have to have a lot of structure in your day because you don’t want to get dragged into doing the laundry.”

From Atkins to the Paleo, the Keto and the cabbage soup, there’s always been a diet for anyone looking to lose weight.

But long before the fads, there was Unislim – a straightforward plan which encourages a sensible approach of healthy food and exercise to lose weight and feel good.

Established in 1972 in Newry by Fiona’s mother Agnes McCourt and her late husband Brian, it would go on to be one of Northern Ireland’s most popular and successful slimming clubs.

Fiona has immense admiration for her 83-year-old mother – hailed as Northern Ireland’s first lady of slimming.

Although no longer involved in the day-to-day running of the company, Agnes is “still involved in the background”.

“I discuss nearly everything with her,” says Fiona.

“I’m so lucky to have such an entrepreneurial mother and I hope a little bit of that has rubbed off on me. She has so much wisdom and knowledge and a depth of life experience which is irreplaceable. She is very supportive of everything that I do.

"It (Unislim) is her baby, which I now run – and you never lose touch or interest in your baby. She’s a wonderful mother and mentor for me in business.”

Now with some 10,000 members and 51 years under its (very trim) belt, Fiona, who grew up just as passionate about the business, is working to ensure that even after five decades in business, and with fierce competition, Unislim remains in the best possible shape.

“The ethos behind Unislim is just about helping members to eat good, nutritious food that’s going to help your body, like medicine from within, to help you be happier and healthier.

"We have always had a holistic approach to weight loss, and for us it’s never been solely about food, but also about your mood and, of course, movement and exercise.

“It’s about living healthier and looking at stress levels and even sleep patterns. We take everything into account.

“Our approach is slow and steady; it’s about helping members to make small, sustainable lifestyle changes that will ensure lasting success.

“There really is no better way to get healthy, confident and looking great.”

The humble beginnings of this now popular weight management plan goes back to the Co Down village of Killeen where Agnes, as a mum-of-three, realised she needed to lose weight after having children. Brian suggested that she should hire the local school hall one night a week to run a weight-management class.

And so, it grew from there, with Brian and Agnes still working full-time as teachers, parenting at home, and running their classes at night; but by 1972, the business had mushroomed to such an extent, with classes all over the country, that the couple took the brave step of giving up their jobs to run it full-time.

Initially known as the Agnes McCourt Weight Reducing Programme, Brian came up with the snappier name, Unislim.

Fiona came into the company from college and started by making coffee and printing for people in the office. She eventually worked her way up to becoming managing director.

She says: “The most important aspect for us has always been that it is a family business, and everyone involved, from members to our leaders, are part of that family.”

Covid-19 hit the company hard though, with lockdown forcing classes to close across the country. But, it’s now back on it’s feet offering both in-person and online support to those seeking a healthier lifestyle.

"We are a Northern Ireland company, but we are up there with the big boys on an international scale.”

And the business is still very much family affair with Fiona’s son Luca, a fitness instructor, involved in online exercise classes, and daughter Mila, a marketing graduate, bringing “fresh ideas and different perspective.”

Family is everything to Fiona, who lives in Dublin and commutes up and down to Newry. Tragically, her Austrian-born husband, Uwe, died in a motorbike accident eight years ago.

"It was hard. I was 48 and he was 51. And my dad passed away when he was 48 and I was 18, so we’ve had a lot of tragedy, not that any family is untouched by tragedy.”

The company has “evolved massively” from those early days of meetings in church halls. For a start, weigh-ins are no longer obligatory.

"It’s not necessary to weigh in when you go to the classes. Some people can dread weighing in at times. Some people are very happy to weigh in each week, but a lot of people want to go (to meetings) and get the motivation and support and the community spirit and be educated about healthy eating."

Unislim has a range of healthy oven chips, Gorge Us, and in October is launching a new range of frozen meals, made in Northern Ireland.

"There’s a thai green curry with jasmine rice, a mango chicken curry, a spicy cauliflower and chickpea curry and a wholewheat pasta ragu. It’s really good food fast, rather than fast food.”

The company is also holding it’s inaugural ‘Inspire Awards’ in October

“I am very excited about that. I really just wanted to have an opportunity to celebrate the transformation people have made in their lives with Unislim.

“Members inspire me, I feel like I’ve been one small part in their transformation. I’m just on the sidelines of it though – because it’s them, they do it and the leaders encourage them and it’s a privilege to be part of that.”