Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Seriously? You went to Weight Watchers meetings?

It is true that, relatively speaking, not that many men go to Weight Watchers meetings (i.e., roughly 10%).  However, some of the most passionate meetings members I have ever met have been men.  Why is this?  

Let me try to answer this from my own personal perspective....

First off, my entry into Weight Watchers was via the internet in helping to build the WeightWatchers.com business.  I use one of the two internet products, Weight Watchers eTools (for people who go to meetings) ALL the time.  I track POINTS, I use the weight tracker, I use the recipe builder, etc.  I love it all.  

That said, I have only had success losing weight by also going to Weight Watchers meetings.  Certainly part of it is the tremendous amount of tips, tricks, concepts that I have learned over the years.  I could go on for days on dining out tips I have picked up in my meetings.  

The other very significant variable in my personal weight loss equation is the scale (hence the name of the blog).  

I suppose I am a pretty achievement-oriented person, and I am a big fan of praise and positive affirmation.  Said differently, I would rather get a good grade than a bad grade.  The idea of being able to get a score delivered to me by someone else keeps me highly motivated and focused.  Knowing that I have a weigh-in awaiting me on Wednesday at 11:30 AM keeps my game on throughout the week.  

During the six weeks in which I was trying to qualify for Lifetime Member status, I sweat bullets every time I got on the scale.  One might ask why I can't just weigh myself on a home scale and be done with it.  My answer is that this simply doesn't work for me.  I need to have someone else weigh me and then write the weight loss in my member book.  I thrive on the challenge and the praise, and I cannot stand the idea of backward process.  

The psychology of weight loss never ceases to fascinate me.  The scale is just one part of the behavior modification formula of Weight Watchers.  For me, it's a big one.  

1 comment:

  1. David,

    I could relate to this!!! Going through
    program, even though the majority of
    members attending the meeting were female,
    I knew the meetings were key to my account-
    ability, fun, and challenge to loss weight.
    I never missed a meeting, and continued to
    attend meetings as a Lifetime member.

    I loved the meeings so, and developed a
    passion for our program, that I decided to
    work part-time for Weight Watchers. I"m
    maintaining a 61 pound weight loss for over
    10 years, and love my job as a Leader!!!!

    A male just lost over 100 pounds in one of
    my meetings, along with another man losing
    over 50 pounds!!!! Both these members have
    expressed the importance of attending
    meetings, which they do consistently.

    I've been running for over twenty-five
    years, including running the New York City
    Marathon while overweight!! Not a smart
    idea back then, but I continue to run
    Marathons around the country, along with
    being a "Team in Training" Alumni (Leukemaia
    & Lymphoma Society) fundraising, and running
    marathons on their behalf.

    Our "MOMENTUM WALKING CHALLENGE" is awesome!
    I believe this will generate and drive new
    enrollments, hopefully, with more males
    joining, increase product sales, and lead
    to participants referring family, friends,
    relatives, and others, to join Weight
    Watchers. I will be volunteering/
    participating in our upcoming "WALK-IT
    CHALLENGE WARM-UP WALK" on April 25. A good
    time should be had by all!!!!

    Have a great day, good weekend, and enjoy
    your holiday!!!!


    Sincerely,

    "JOGMAN" Andrew Paer
    Weight Watcher Leader
    Region 501
    Territory 1115

    CHALLENGE

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