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Post by newheavensearth2 on Dec 31, 2016 2:31:59 GMT
I meant in terms of not ever reaching goal and constantly having to pay. Reaching Lifetime and non paying status, staying there to maintain, heck yeah. But constantly going back and forth for "Beyond the Scale", seeing little to no progress, I don't see how many people would stay on for that.
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pbnj
Transcendent Member
184.4--xxx--140
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Post by pbnj on Dec 31, 2016 2:38:24 GMT
Absolutely what luanne said. I honestly believe that being a WW is a lifelong thing. It would be lovely if once you get to goal you magically stay there but we all know better than that WHAT? No magic? You are definitely taking the fun out of this!!
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Post by azcristi on Dec 31, 2016 3:47:50 GMT
But yeah, better life aside, who honestly wants to be a Weight Watcher member forever? Don't we all want to see goal, which is unfortunately based on a scale, at some point? Ummm, me. I've been at goal for 14+ years. Even though I don't attend meetings any longer and only go once a month to weigh in, I still consider myself a Weight Watcher member. It's kept me on track, and at goal, for all of this time. Reminds me of when my dad was surprised when I said I've been on WW for 3 years and he started bashing the program. "Dad, if I go off the program, I'm sure to regain the weight!" He just doesn't get it.
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Post by luanne on Dec 31, 2016 20:59:25 GMT
Ummm, me. I've been at goal for 14+ years. Even though I don't attend meetings any longer and only go once a month to weigh in, I still consider myself a Weight Watcher member. It's kept me on track, and at goal, for all of this time. Reminds me of when my dad was surprised when I said I've been on WW for 3 years and he started bashing the program. "Dad, if I go off the program, I'm sure to regain the weight!" He just doesn't get it. I always loved the people who thought, or said, that once they got to goal they could go back to eating "normally".
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Post by linda72 on Dec 31, 2016 21:07:22 GMT
Some of my friends asked me why I still attend WW meetings now that I'm at goal. I learned from WW members and friends here that getting to goal is only the first step.The next step is maintaining which has its own sets of issues. And, yes, I'm not going back to eating "normally" because that is what got me in the trouble in the first place! pbnj Yea, sorry, no "magic". Just one day at a time. That's why I call it a lifestyle change.
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Post by geric on Dec 31, 2016 21:40:49 GMT
Just happened to start reading this thread and it is what was discussed at my meeting this morning. I'm at goal and stopped going to meetings and watched my weight slowly going up. Back to meetings and lost those few pounds.
The leader this morning asked how many of us were Lifetime, and about 7 of us raised our hands. And all of us had basically the same reason, stay at goal. One lady was a returnee lifer, lost 90 pounds, had rotator cuff surgery and gained 13 back and now will be at more meetings.
Linda72, you mentioned "eating normally", making the lifestyle change has become our normal way of eating.
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Post by diva49 on Dec 31, 2016 21:56:00 GMT
<vigorously shaking my DivaWand>
<checking the batteries>
<shaking it some more>
We had a gal at our meeting this morning who was just-about in tears because she had life-crises (parents' death, etc.) and had gained some and "couldn't find the feeling she had when she was getting to goal" - but IMO that's a feeling that needs to evolve into something a tad different at Lifetime/maintenance.
We have another Lifer who won't come back to the meeting "and pay" so instead she's putting pounds back on (her DH was there last week - he's work-in-progress and having a hard time at least in part because SHE is).
The Dance of Maintenance. Sometimes it means tap-dancin' on the blender blades.
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Kitty
Transcendent Member
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Post by Kitty on Dec 31, 2016 22:03:04 GMT
We have another Lifer who won't come back to the meeting "and pay" so instead she's putting pounds back on (her DH was there last week - he's work-in-progress and having a hard time at least in part because SHE is).
I learned my lesson on that one. About 25 years ago, I got to goal and went through maintenance. It was great. Then I went out of town for 2 weeks for work and ate out 3 times a day and came back more than 2 pounds over goal. It really wasn't a big deal. I was over by about 5 pounds so needed to lose 3 pounds or so to be back in free lifetime. But, I was so embarrassed to go back and have to pay. It wasn't the money. It was being embarrassed at the gain.
So I decided to wait to go back when I was less than 2 pounds above goal. I didn't go back for several years and by then was well above goal. I didn't get back to free lifetime status until a couple of years ago. The irony of the whole thing is that when I was above goal 25 years ago I weighed less than I do now. Back then I had a goal toward the lower part of the goal range and now my goal weight is top of my range. So I wasn't even overweight back then...
I've been free Lifetime for about a year and a half now and DH has been free lifetime for about 2 1/2 years. We do go to most meetings. We weigh in every month and usually go to meetings. We are OK missing a meeting if we have stuff going on but I find that going to meetings keeps my mindset on maintaining.
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Post by linda72 on Dec 31, 2016 22:44:09 GMT
diva49 "The Dance of Maintenance"!! I love that. What surprised me when I first got to goal is that my weight is not static; it is constantly fluctuating. I assumed my weight would stabilize and I could easily stay within 2 pounds of goal. Wrong! My body is constantly trying to go back up!! The other issue is that the older I get, the less calories I need. Guess I can't eat like I did in my 20s! LOL!! I will always have to be mindful of my eating. I guess most people have to do this too.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 1, 2017 0:08:18 GMT
I know I will always have to be mindful.I don't go to meetings b/c there are none in my area close enough to go but I have been an online member for 4 yrs and yes it is worth the price to be able to get to goal and learn how to maintain.I think my DH thought once I lost the weight I wanted to we could eat out like we used to.Wrong!He likes fast food places and I can't do that every week.
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Post by girlyfied on Jan 1, 2017 10:02:10 GMT
The 2017 plan is focusing heavily on mindset. They're going beyond CBT into creating better lives. I know some people hate it, but it's the change of self not diet that really makes a difference. I absolutely agree with you, it wasn't until I changed that I was successful....but for me, if it's connected to Smart Points it's a problem. One year later, for me, it's not a sustainable food plan. After agreeing with zazzles post, I truly don't want to be the cynic that thinks WW's wants their doors to be *revolving*. The last time I joined WW's, in 2009, I actually had a member ask me, "How long were you gone?"; what a double take, that it's just presumed that we couldn't do it and are back for more. I mean the mindset that X diet is the answer when changing how you think is what makes the difference. You're right that a diet that works for you will help you stick to it easier. Understanding what works is even part of that mentality.
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kim
Epic Member
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Post by kim on Jan 1, 2017 13:11:08 GMT
In a month or two it will be 36 years that I attended my first WW meeting and got to goal. I'm still a member. I've been up and down over those years. I worked for WW 2 different times. I had a gastric bypass (that's not magic either ) in 2001, but came back in 2006. I joined online last December since it was cheaper and easier for me than getting to a meeting. I got to WW goal +2 in February and paid my fine. I lost to my personal goal with a total of 12 lbs. in April. I've gotten weighed in monthly and received the free voucher for LT maintenance every month. Today's my weekly at home weigh in day and I'm up 1 from my personal goal. Thank goodness I know what I have to do and have the free account so that it won't be 3 or 4 next week. I finally realized this time around that it has to be a total lifestyle change. I've always followed SF so I don't have to count points for every bite and that makes it easier for me.
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Post by susiq25679 on Jan 1, 2017 13:18:50 GMT
What Luanne said. When I stopped meetings, I put some back. Not much but enough to know I couldn't go it alone. I will always be a WW member.
And it's funny, Luanne. That was my ah ha moment. Someone asked me when I was going to eat "normal" again. I realized this was my new normal.
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Post by fullmahina on Jan 1, 2017 14:05:41 GMT
I was asked how many times I did WW before I finally got to goal (not good), then asked how many times I raised my goal weight (even worse, because I never did). I made the mistake of attending the "no filter, no tact" meeting while out of town. More evidence of not so beyond the scale. Some people have health goals, my goal is strong and healthy weight, be it on the high end of the continuum. But yeah, better life aside, who honestly wants to be a Weight Watcher member forever? Don't we all want to see goal, which is unfortunately based on a scale, at some point? WW's will always be *about the scale* for me, but just color me 👵🏻 I'm sorry---WW may also be about things that are "beyond the scale" (as if life was ever so cut and dried in any aspect) but it also is very much "about the scale." If it wasn't, why do they offer perks for losing a number of pounds? Why do we get on the scale at all? Why does the person who is weighing you crunch up her eyebrows and look sympathetic when the numbers on the scale go up? I don't see any promotions offering prizes for achieving a better mindset. Objective goals are what are recognized, time and time again. It's simply how things are measured. For me, unless the scale is moving in a positive direction, the whole thing is a bust. I can sing kumbaya until the cows come home but unless I get good numbers, the plan is not for me. YMMV of course, but WW is selling a weight loss program. Weight loss is what we go there for---anything else is (non-fat) gravy. If the weight loss portion of the program does not work for me (as SP does not work for me, in the long run) then I'm not handing over the money every week. I can read inspirational books on my own, thanks, without the WW fees. It works for some, and I have come to the realization that WW does not work for me. I believe admitting that instead of trying to make it work, time after time, is what is helping me lose weight now (yay). I need a different formula for success. My long relationship with WW is over, with SP's having dealt the final blow. Happy New Year, everyone!
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Post by ksbruns on Jan 1, 2017 17:14:45 GMT
What a great conversation! I haven't been active in a meeting since I quit working for WW's, 4 years now. And just like only weighing once a month these past 7 years, that has been okay for me. I feel certain if I had never left Buffalo (how many moves ago? ) where I loved my leader and made goal I might still be in meetings, but that just wasn't my journey. I regained twice, two *fast* weight loss programs, but it might as well have been WW's, I was so not in the mental place of accepting that change was necessary. So yeah, being a normal size for the first time in living memory and surviving cancer were strong motivations for making it work, plus I'm one of the ones that think Losing is Hard, and I never wanted to do it again. I was staff at the time...learned so much from fellow staff and LT members, but sadly, it was more of the *don't do this, Kathy* type of learning. I was involved with a group on the old 50's board that was the first time I understood that you didn't have to go up and down, on and off, you just worked the program best you could, imperfectly, every day, and I could count on one hand the people that I ever met in meetings that taught me that....just my experience. However, it is crucial for me to be around *like-minded* people which is one of the reasons I was active on the old boards, still check in here, and on Connect. I figure if I'm going to announce, "I'm In" every day, I better be. Good to see you fullmahina!)
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