Wednesday Weekly Meeting Topic: Community

This week at our meeting we talked about community. We mostly talked about personal, face to face connections, but being that this is cyberspace, I'd also like to talk about the online family of Weight Watchers as well.

So let's start with the face to face connections.  My leader focused a lot on the pairs and small groups that attend our usual Tuesday night meeting. We have many mother/daughter teams, husband/wife teams, sisters, co-workers, etc that share in their Weight Watchers experience. The attend meetings together, exercise together, cook together.  They have a great support systems built into their every day life. Which is fantastic. Research shows that if you take the steps towards a healthy life with the support of friends and family, the weight is more likely to stay off in the long term.

I never had that. Not really anyway. When I walked in the door at my very first Weight Watchers meeting, I did it alone. And, for the most part, I lost my weight on my own. I work out on my own most of the time. Yes, it would have been great to have a buddy - someone really close to hold me accountable - but instead, I had to learn to hold myself accountable. I had to learn to take the steps I needed to take by myself. Sure, I had support from friends and family along the way, but no one who was doing the program with me. No one who really understood what I was doing and going through.

But that never bothered me because I had my meetings. I knew that once a week, I had a room full of people who knew what it was like to walk in my shoes. People who had done the things I'd done (like downing a pint of ice cream or a box of cookies in one sitting) and who knew the challenges of losing weight. I had a place to share, connect, and be heard, and to listen. I am a big fan of my meetings. And, I've made many friends over the years in my meetings. Many of whom I stay in touch with (which has become quite easy in this day and age of social media!) even though I haven't seen them in some time.

I also love my meeting because I know I will not be judged there.  Being at my goal weight is great. It really is. But so many people around me don't know that I used to weigh 35 pounds more than I do now. So when I say things about calories or PointsPlus I get funny looks. When I said something about my Weight Watchers meeting to a co-worker, she said "WEIGHT WATCHERS?!?"

But when I walk into a meeting, I don't get funny looks. I get pats on the back and support.

Once, I visited a different meeting at a different location. The leader and other members didn't know me at all. When I showed the leader my lifetime book at weigh-in she welcomed me and asked, "So, how much weight did you lose?" When I told her 35 pounds, her jaw dropped. She said, "I can't picture it! I thought for sure you'd say something like 5 pounds." When I took a seat in the meeting room a few minutes later, a woman behind me tapped me on the shoulder and said, "I'm sorry for asking this, but you are so skinny, what are you doing here?" I said, "Don't apologize! I never get tired of telling people that I lost 35 pounds and [at the time] it's been off for 9 years." Even in a different place, with different people, I gained acceptance right away because they understood. That's what meetings are all about!

And then there's the online community - which I'm only beginning to discover. There's a whole world of bloggers and twitters that are out there sharing their experience with the world. There's something to be said sharing your thoughts and feelings with a wider community - and I was so inspired by the other women out there that I decided to start blogging myself.

I am not going to say much about the community on the Weight Watchers website. Maybe I'm reading the wrong boards, but I find that more and more posts are filled with sarcasm rather than support and it's quite annoying to read. I much prefer the fitblogging and twitter community. They are beautiful, positive and inspirational people!

The community on the FIRM website is wonderful asa well. I do frequent the boards over there (you have to be a paying member) and I don't think I've ever read a snarky comment from anyone in the FIRM world. They are also beautiful, positive and inspirational women.

But no matter where you find it, this journey would not be possible without a sense of community. And if you can't find it within your friends and family, just know that it's out there somewhere. And it's amazing!