A SLIMMING guru has told how she is having to ‘spread herself thin’ after the start of a new year led to a flood of people signing up for classes in a bid to lose weight.

Jennifer McDade, who runs a cluster of 13 Slimming World groups stretching from Johnstone to Barrhead, said she has been “inundated” with new clients as people look to use January as a starting point in their bid to get in shape.

“I have had 367 people join up and a colleague’s cluster, roughly in the same area, has welcomed 567 new members – and that’s on top of our existing members,” said Jennifer.

“We’re normally busy after New Year but, this time, we’ve been inundated. People are realising that weight has an influence on their health and are taking steps to feel and look better.”

The upturn in the number of local people who are keen to slim down comes at a time when the NHS is promoting the health benefits that can be gained by losing weight.

Health chiefs have stressed that people who are overweight have a higher risk of high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke and type-2 diabetes.