Weight Watchers

New thing today, went to a Weight Watchers meeting.

This all started when I asked a friend for help. She is a coworker who has made some fantastic progress on losing weight. For about 2 years I've been trying to lose weight, no dice. I've tried on my own with work and life, subscribing for gym membership, getting DVDs, getting the healthier foods, and slowly my weight has creeped up about 15-20 lbs over the years. It's frustrating because I've been successful at losing weight when I had no job, and nothing but time. Now I work full time, I have life commitments and stress, and can't seem to get anything to stick. It's been frustrating and emotionally defeating not being able to lose weight, or feel good about myself physically.

Anyway so this coworker, I've watched her lose about 70 lbs over the past 2 years and I emailed her and asked her how she did it - if it was Weight Watchers which I'd heard her talk about, or if it was something else. She told me about WW, and how it's helped her. She told me about the meeting she goes to which is near my house, so decided to try it. She was also NOT pushy, but super supportive.

This is my review of my first time at a meeting. Basically it's a very positive support group for people who are on this journey. It's a weekly reminder of your goals, and their meetings remind you, reinforce positive healthy habits, and demonstrate other successes. People make friends, and are social, so that helps. I was emotional and touched by the people in my first meeting. One was a teen who came with her mom and lost 30 lbs, which must make a huge difference in her teen life. Others are moms or grandmas losing weight. There were about 3 men and maybe 50 women in the meeting I went to. It was overall very nice and I wasn't really looking for a way to lose weight, but a healthy lifestyle change which this group I hope can help me with. Because the hardest part was to admit I needed help and couldn't do it on my own. I mentioned it to someone and they said it sounds like AA for weight loss, and ya I can see how that sort of fits. WW!

So I signed up. They weigh you every week, and this program holds you accountable. My coworker friend was there supporting me and giving me good advice and just being there for me was really nice. The program also has snacks and foods and tools to help with your goal. They have free samples, and today was a sample of Chili Lime Multigrain Chips. That was tasty and I will have to try some of their products and give reviews :)

I also went to their online tracking tool and downloaded the app. It all looks very intimidating and a lot at first, but I think it's a very good resource in my future path. I feel like I have trouble making healthy decisions and I have developed some very unhealthy habits, so this is a constant and good reminder to do the healthy thing. I think "health" watcher is more accurate for their program, but the weight part is a reflection of the health I think. Plus it's catchier.

My friend coworker also said something along the lines of, you can't put a price on learning to love yourself. The monthly program can be considered expensive, but I need/want to take care of myself and am worth the extra money. Also I'm at this place where I want and need to start feeling better about myself and taking care of myself. This is a program developed with a support system to help you learn how to be healthy, and how to be better. I will write as I go.

Another important piece of advice, my coworker friend says you have to listen to them, and follow what they say, and do what they recommend. You can't win if you cheat the program basically. Sticking is going to be the hardest factor, but this program appears very sticky indeed with all the built in systems and support.

I think the greatest asset to this might be the social one. This gets to me emotionally and I'm not sure why. I think it's because you're seeing all these people who want to be better and who are going through the same struggle you are. It might be a great place to find nice friends or people who make your day better. It's also just somewhere you can sort of be open and honest about your struggles, personal issues, and things that are making you fatter. Maybe it's the zen part of me, but it's about letting go and asking for help and saying I can't do this alone.

Here's to hoping. I really enjoyed and liked my first meeting. I hope this is the beginning of a good journey.