Hello WW Philadelphia Members!
Like many of you, I have lost a few hundred pounds using the WW program. My best streak was a 94-pound loss at which time I was invited to come to work for WW-Weight Watchers. I was excited to help others lose weight LIKE ME. The part I didn’t understand at that moment is everyone loses weight LIKE THEMSELVES and not LIKE ME.
I was six months in as a Leader/Coach and questioning whether I would ever be good enough to help someone make the big steps in their weight losses when the very first person in a group where I was the leader became a Lifetime Member. I remember being proud but not that proud because she only lost 12 pounds to get to goal.
Then my thinking began to change. For one, why hadn’t I thought of losing weight when I was 12 pounds overweight instead waiting until I had gained an excess 94 pounds???
As the newly minted Lifetime Member shared her story, I realized there are so many stories of value other than my own. She was a young attorney working for the county. She later became a judge. She was a beautiful woman. And tiny; maybe 5’1”. That 12 pounds meant everything to her. One of her comments to the group about her weight loss was she “couldn’t afford suits in multiple sizes” due to paying off college debt for herself and her husband who was at that time completing his degree. Her journey was so different from mine but had equal value to it.
What is a Lifetime Member? It’s a Member who has lost at least 10 pounds on the Weight Watchers plan and reached a goal weight in the range for their height, then completed six weeks of maintenance. At the end of the sixth week, you’re a Lifetime Member! Lifetime Members have special privileges at Weight Watchers. They earn a free chair at the Workshop and free digital tools by weighing in at no more than 2 pounds above their goal weight at the first Workshop attended each calendar month.
I learned to not judge Members by the number of pounds they wanted to lose or the length of time it took to lose it. I do not judge Members for their need to take “time out” from WW even when it means going to another weight loss product. That's because I know that if WW is best for them and I feel for most it is best, they’ll be back, and we’ll be here ready to help.
In today’s world of differences, I encourage you to embrace your difference and the differences of others. I know the older wiser Members reading this have learned this lesson as time has passed but I challenge the rest to appreciate all the differences out there. The HUMAN sameness must override the fear of the differences to make our communities a better place for all of us.
