Hi Pook, go in with gusto. I wouldn't feel funny about a thinnner person coming in simply because it is a weight issue to you and doing something about it before it does become a problem. Good for you to be aware of this. Good luck and you will do fine.
Pook - I agree. There are women in my meeting who had goals equivalent to my 10% We are all at the meetings for the same reason. To learn to live and eat a healthy lifestyle. Something to remember is that numerous lifetime members come to the meetings and they have already lost their weight. I say do it - you have nothing to worry about.
KT
Pook -
Go to that meeting - you're just a lot smarter than a lot of us who waited until we gained WAY more than 10-15 pounds before doing anything about it. Someone from WW once said to me: "Everyone knows what a fat day feels like whether you have 10 pounds or 100 pounds to lose."
I just wanted to let you know that when I joined WW I had 17 pounds to lose, and I never felt like I was treated any differently than the people who had to lose much more than that.
Don't let other's opinions deter you!
I just have to respond to this question. Twenty years ago, I was in this exact position.
Once my second child was born, I was 12 lb. over my skinny usual weight. I tried and tried to drop that 12 pounds, but it would not budge. Sooooo, I joined WW and embraced the program wholeheartedly, dropped the 12 pounds over 6 weeks and was back to my usual weight.
The night that I received my award for making goal and losing 10 lb., I was ecstatic. This was a great achievement for me. However, one of the ladies from the audience made a snide comment while the leader was presenting my pin. In her stage whisper, she said something like "Why is she even wasting her time here when she only has 12 pounds to lose? She has no idea what it is to be really overweight."
The leader asked my to respond, so I did. My response was "Your're right. I have not idea what it is like to be overweight because I have never been overweight in my life. However, before now I have also never had to watch what I put in my mouth and have not understood the struggles that people with weight problems have. If you think this 12 lb. was any easier to lose than anybody else's weight, you are wrong. Any time people take on a change in their eating habits and continue that for a lifetime, they have accomplished something significant. I feel that, for me, this weight loss has been something significant." Once the opinion was voiced and I responded, those ladies treated my differently. They didn't realize that the struggle was just as difficult for me as it was for them...I just responded to it before it got out of control.
I agree with all of the above and add my encouragement to you, Pook, to join up. Personally, I don't think you'll get any flak, maybe some good-natured ribbing? But even that I doubt. Certainly not from the staff.
Hey just wait til all those people who are giving guff get to the point where they "only" have 12 pounds to lose (assuming they will get that far). It's a challenge and it can take a long time. That's when the going gets tough.
Hi Pook!
My goodness. Don't even think twice. Go, learn the WW strategies, enjoy the fact that you were so very smart to join when you did. I think around here so many people join with a small amount to lose that we wouldn't find it unusual. Good luck!
Enjoy the program and welcome.!
I always laugh when I think of people possibly behaving badly towards someone at a WW meeting if that person has relatively few pounds to lose. I lost 30 lbs on my own before joining WW for the last 10 and had similar thoughts about "only having 10 to lose". Remember, nobody at that meeting knows where you've come from or what personal struggles you have with eating. You're there to help yourself, as is everyone else.
Hmmm, personally, the last ten lbs took the longest, those were the hardest fought pounds. My advice is that go, be happy that you're catching yourself and changing your eating habits now. Personaly I know that 10-15lbs of weight-loss does make a difference!
I can totaly relate! When I joined I was at the top of my weight range and my goal was 16-17 lbs (142)...anyway, I went and I feel good about the decision. My mom asked me when I joined why I was going and I told her very nicely, "Before my weight gets out of control and I have a lot more to lose." Part of the equation was for me to feel good about myself--the extra weight made me more tired, etc. and now I feel so much better.
These are all good answers...but I would add one little caveat: go proudly, but be sensitive to the fact that others are struggling to lose 100 or more pounds, that it's going to take them a lot longer to do it, and that this means they're probably going to feel discouraged many more times than you are.
One lifetime member in my meeting is 5'0" and maybe weighs 95 pounds soaking wet. At every single meeting she stands up and talks about her success, but then refers to her ongoing "weight problem" and how it continues to rule her life. I'm sure it was extremely hard for her to lose that 10 pounds, and she's to be commended for taking the excess weight in hand before it got out of hand, but I can see the looks of dismay on the faces of the severely overweight members when this woman constantly talks about her huge "problem." They obviously are thinking, "If she lost 10 pounds and still feels awful about her weight, what's the point of my even trying?"
Shake Those Hips - I agree with you about not flaunting a problem that others cannot see. I know what it is like to go to WW when there is only 10 pounds to lose, as well as to attend when there is 60+ pounds to lose. Both scenarios are just as difficult for the individual, but I also think that those with lots to lose need to be supportive of the person who only needs 10 pounds to lose.
When I was the 10 pounder, some 25 years ago, the support from the group was non-existant until I had reached goal. I did go to meetings and received support from the leader who was terrific.
However, from what I have read on this list, people are supportive, no matter how much there is to lose. When someone is overweight it is important to support everyone. That's what is so important about this group to me. I thank everyone for the support that they give indiscriminately to everyone.
I think you'll find people at the meeting as wonderfully supportive as the folks here. I remember one gal at our meetings who had "just" 5 lbs to lose. Apparently she struggled for a year! Then finally about a month ago she got up and our leader awarded her her goal keychain and charms. We were thrilled for her.
For all of us lifetimers, it's curious to see some women look at us and wonder why we are there. But the continued support keeps us going. Even though I lost a total of 30+ lbs on WW... and kept it off for 2.5 years... this past year I put back on a good 10 from my official goal weight. I struggled for 6+ months before getting back to goal and I really was so appreciative of the support I got from the group.
How would you feel?
You'll feel good!
