Being a "monthly pass" WW member now off and on since July 2009, I've seen my share of meeting facilitators. I've actually stopped going to meetings at certain times before due to certain facilitators. I feel that you as a member needs to be connected to the person leading the group each week. If you don't have similar personalities, it just doesn't work. The engagement isn't there - and it's the first thing to fall apart in the weight loss journey.
Back in 2009 when I first did the WW journey with meetings, Julie was the facilitator of the meeting I went to on a weekly basis. She was great - very energetic and compassionate. Non-judgemental and a very sweet person. She would e-mail out recipes that worked for her to anyone who wanted them - which wasn't something that as a WW facilitator, she HAD to do or was in the typical regimen. Julie ended up getting a job outside of WW that didn't allow her anymore to facilitate at the Edina WW Center. Liz took over her meetings and was a completely different personality dynamic. It was shortly thereafter that I stopped my WW journey. I'm not blaming the leader change for that stoppage, but it was a contributor. I no longer enjoyed going to the meetings.
When I started back up on the journey back in July of last year, I changed the date that I went to the meetings: 10:30s on Tuesdays. The facilitator was Elizabeth: someone who had a lot of the personality traits that Julie had. I was instantly engaged with her and loved attending her meetings. Elizabeth knew you by name - which gave me extreme accountability for attending meetings. If I didn't attend, she noticed. She also would send out automated "warm fuzzies" through the WW system - e-mails that were personalized based on a specific thing you mentioned in the meeting - an accomplishment, a struggle, or just a general, "You're doing great, keep it up" type of note. Back in November, she took a leave of absence - I found out recently due to the fact that she was a regional manager and was struggling to keep up with commitments there as well as facilitate her weekly 10:30AM meeting in Edina.
In Elizabeth's absence, Hayley became the facilitator. VERY energetic, complimentary and driven. I had seen Hayley as an attendee at past 10:30 Tuesday meetings, so I recognized her immediately. Like Elizabeth, Hayley is very engaged with individual members and remembers them and their struggles/successes. After our meeting two weeks ago, I talked with Hayley for awhile and she actually got choked up as I was walking through my journey (and ups and downs) so far. She understood and related to what I was going through and was excited (and proud) for how much I understood that the change I was making was a lifestyle change.
There WILL be ups and downs along the way.
Focus on the small victories.
Don't get discouraged. Use a "gain" week as motivation to get back on track and make changes to do so.
Just BEING at the meeting is a win.
As I weighed in today, Hayley mentioned that Elizabeth missed seeing and talking with me. THIS is why this works: WW is a family. It's a community of people who have the same struggles, whether it's 15 pounds or 150 pounds - the day-to-day struggle is the same. Since these facilitators have been through the same thing - and are maintaining their successful loss - they get it. They can relate. They've BEEN there. And they want to see you succeed just as much as you do.
At the beginning of the meeting, Hayley announced that she was now the permanent 10:30 Tuesday meeting facilitator because Elizabeth just was too overwhelmed. As much as I'll miss Elizabeth, I'm very excited for the meetings that Hayley will lead going forward.
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