[kat_tbs]

A friend of mine and myself are getting ready to start a new chapter of TOPS in our little community. I was just wondering if any of you gals have any good advice for beginners. Thanks so much.

[Jennie527]

Have fun with it! The more fun you have the more likely visitors will stay! I don't know what normal dues are, but ours are 50 cents a week if you lose or turtle (stay the same) and $1 a week if you gain.
I don't know if every chapter does this or not, but we have a board with 100 squares on it and every time you lose you get to sign a square. When the board is full, 3 numbers get drawn and the people who signed in those squares get prizes. The dues help cover the cost of the prizes.
Good luck!

[lynard21]

Have you been to the TOPs website? They will have lots of suggestions. Yes we do the bit with the squares, too. Our dues are $1/week and if you gain there is an optional penelty of 25 cents/quarter pound. We try to run some kind of game each month or two. The last one we had was a flower game. You started with just a stem and added petals for each quarter pound lost, and other things like keeping a food journal. Our club really liked the team game we had too. We gave out movie passess as prizes at the end. Like Jennie said - make it fun.

Lyn

[phantastica]

Oh, good luck to you! That is cool. I think TOPS is one of the most under-rated weight-loss programs around, and the coolest part about it is that it's flexible enough to make it what you want it to be. I don't have many suggestions, just to visit the TOPS.org web site and get ideas. Our fees are $4/month, and we frequently have challenges where you have to pay if you gain or you earn if you lose.

[kat_tbs]

Thank all of you who contributed to my request. I just want to make sure this is a success and everyone has fun and stays with the program. The board with the 100 squares will be a for sure thing. Thanks again and I will let you all know how things go. Our open house is not till Sept. 28th but I will let you know how we do.