I'm considering joining Weight Watchers and going to the meetings. I've tired the Weight Watchers Online membership, which fizzled out, since it was just me and my own will power at work. Do Weight Watchers meetings and getting on the scale at the mettings really help to motivate people more?
I'm pretty shy and nervous about my weight and I am not sure that going to a meeting with a group of strangers will motivate me more. Does anyone have any opinions or experiences with this?
Hi Rena,
I don't have experience with Weight Watchers or other in-person support group. I imagine that it might be good to have the connection with other people who have similar goals to your own. I know that weighing myself weekly and posting it here has helped to keep me motivated. Sure, it is embarrassing, but it has also been liberating, kinda.
My daughter and I went to the meetings for about a year. Due to a financial situation we were no longer able to commit to go. During the months we went we both lost over 40 pounds and it does motivate you to stay on track. You only weigh in at the beginning of the meeting and they teach you tricks to keep you motivated. We both had an enjoyable experience. I plan to go back when I can afford it. There is just something about seeing other people who have more to lose than you do and when they reach there goal it is just an amazing experience. The diet is easy to follow and it doesn't alter your lifestyle too much. It is based on accountability.
You bring up a really good point about seeing others who have more to lose and those who reach their goals. I've really been considering joining WW and going to the meetings. I think that the meetings would really help to motivate me. I have touble staying motivated by myself. Thank you for the comment. I think I will give it a try and I hope you can rejoin soon.
I'm a lifetime member of Weight Watchers because in about 1999 I lost 48 lbs.
First of all, I had doubled my weight from having to take a medication that made me hungry 24x7. I mean ravenously hungry day and night. And it happened over just a few months. Then I got to switch to a different med for 2 yrs -- that's when I lost the weight. But when I had to go back to the initial med, back came the weight. Right now my BMI is 31. Too high. And I am forced to increase the dose of this med, which I'll have to take the rest of my life. Bummer.
Back to Weight Watchers: I have joined a total of 4 times are different times in my life. I am 52 now and don't plan to go back. Yes, it is fairly simple but it still is based on the general principle of eating less and exercising more. Supposedly it teaches you the "right" things to eat, e.g., basically the gov't food pyramid. Less alcohol, more water. Less fat, more fiber. You know the drill, right?
My brother was able to lose 20lbs on Weight Watchers online program, but now after a few months has put all the weight back on.
In other words, there is no magic except the magic you have inside yourself. The magic to say "no" to the foods that do not enhance your health and "yes" to the foods that do lead to a healthy diet and some day, a healthy weight. Unfortunately, I just do not seem to have any personal magic left and my health is suffering.
Thanks for the comment. I have yet to join weight watchers. I think I will try to follow the food pyramid myself. I just have to find the magic within me, as you said. Good luck with your medications and your diet. We all need all the help we can get! 
Hi Rena, Hypno here again....I see that you WANT to DISCOVER the magical you...the most powerful way to lose weight is not to gain it (eh? I hear you ask...how can I say such a thing when you've already put on the weight?(I am presuming here that you are not anorexic!) The answer lies in the law of attraction. The brain delivers on what it focuses on...so if you think you need to LOSE WEIGHT you automatically think of yourself as heavy and needing to lose the weight and this is then too late as your brian has already summed up the self image of you as heavy in order to then lose the weight...complex I know...similarly the brain doesn't really know the difference between negatives and positive language so if you say to yourself "I can't eat such and such" your brain focuses on the thing you didn't want to eat and then can't stop thinking about it...example if I said to you "Don't think of pink elephants" you immediately think of the pink elephant in order not to think about it. ...same with children if you shout "Careful you will fall" sometimes it prompts them to do just that! Fall! Anyway I digress.... the secret therefore is to think of yourself as the real thinner and healthier you that is within and think about what a day in the life of the thin you would be like...what you'd eat, where you would buy your fresh fruit and vegatables and your fish/chicken, your live yoghurt, what portion sizes you would eat (smaller plate for example and one layer of food), how you would exercise, where you would go for a walk in the park or by the river (or anywhere else) who you would meet, what clothes you would wear etc and keep focussed on the thinner you.
Good luck with the food pyramid. I don't live in the US so don't know what it says. Some say always try to have the balance between protein and carbohydrate right with a 40%(I think...you'd need to check this figure) protein content for the meal as against the carbs. This is because protein takes carbs to process by the body.
Weight Watchers could provide 3 sources of motivation.... will lose certain numbers of pounds of weight...the weekly weigh-in - not necessary thin people don't have to weigh themselves each week. They know when they feel lighter and look lighter - their clothes become looser!!!! Thin people don't join weightwatchers, they join a gym, go to yoga or go swimming regularly (non-weight bearing exercise).
All the best,
Hypno
I'm replying to my own response as some words got deleted the 3 sources of motivation for weight watchers was supposed to read ...
(1) social connection and shared activity or purpose, where others motivate you...external source of motivation, or the connection with others providing for an internal social need for friendship and community.... this is not needed if you provide the purpose internally - you are becoming lighter day by day for yourself...no-one else...and if you already have friends or can get friends at a gym or yoga group or walking the dog in the park...then you don't need weightwatchers to provide it.
(2) setting a timeline or deadline for your weight loss ... through the weekly weigh-insr life as you will become lighter every week until you reach your target healthy weight which you will then be able to maintain as you'll be eating healthily.
(3) external accountability for the weight lost or gained...not needed as you will be taking personal (internal) accountability and RESPONSIBILITY for your own actions and you will accept that you are becoming lighter to please one person and one person only - yourself - and when you reach your healthy weight you will maintain it as best you can.
Anyway...there's always the choice to join weightwatchers in the future...perhaps as a leader of the group rather than a participant!!!!
All the Best
Hypno
Great comments. You are so right about the "pink elephant" thing. If I focus on what I can and can't eat, I then crave the items I am suppose to be avoiding. I think that we can eat whatever we want as long as we do it in MODERATION and CORRECT PORTIONS. An entire family size bag of potatoe chips is not a portion size!
You are right about the Weight Watchers thing as well. I have not joined, as of yet and don't think that I will. I want to eat right as lose the weight for me and me only. I want to feel better.
Thank you for commenting. Have a great day and take care of you!!!
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Thanks for the reply. Have a great day!