Karen’s Success Story

I've been a Weight Watchers leader for a year and a half now, but although recently I've struggled with continuing in this role for several reasons, Karen's story represents the major reason why I keep this job.

Karen has been an active WW member for over 89 weeks folks! EIGHTY NINE! That is one year and almost 8 months. I can't say that I remember her when I started my weight loss journey but she must have been there around the time I reached my goal. I do remember when she reached her 75 lb mark as I weighed her then. I weighed her at her 100 lb mark as well.

When I do my getting started meetings and when I took this meeting over I told everyone that no matter what, if you feel like quitting, please come and talk to me. I truly and genuinely care about you reaching not only your weight loss goal but your YOU goal. I tell them that I understand what it is like to be at a plateau. I was at one for NINE WEEKS, and I never want to forget that feeling. I tell them I have big shoulders and I can deal with the fact that they don't want to track exercise or they are just sick of doing this. But please, come and give me one chance to help them get re-motivated and to stay with the program.

Well, Karen had been struggling for three months to lose three pounds. She had been up 1, down 1.8, up .6, down, 2.6. Back and forth. You know what that's like, we've all been there. Yet, each week she would continue to come and weigh in. Last night she came as usual and I happen to weigh her. She was in a doom and gloom frame of mind and said she just really didn't know how this was going to go. I told her not to worry, let's just see what happens. She stepped on the scale and had lost 4.6 which pushed her into her goal weight of 154.6. Her total weight loss was 158.8 lbs. That's right 158.8 over an 89 week journey. She burst into tears, I cried for her and hugged her tightly and told her how proud I was of her (I'm tearing up right now thinking about it). I told her that it was now the beginning of a whole new her.

It doesn't end here. She proceeded to tell me that she almost didn't come to the meeting that night. She said she was sick of living like this and messing around with three sticking pounds but somewhere in her head she remembered me telling her to "just give ME a chance" and that we would work together to get over that hump. She said after she thought of that, she just had to come to the meeting and talk with me. To make things even better, her granddaughter who usually just drops her off at the meeting, stayed that night and was there to celebrate and witness this life changing event for her grandma. We also figured that during her weight loss journey she lost an AVERAGE of 1.77 lbs each week. What do we say here, "1-2 lbs per week".

We celebrated that night hard in the meeting room, we talked more about what it means to reach goals and persevere. We talked about support, what it is, and why we need it. We talked about never letting a little thing like the number on a scale, a cookie or pie rule how we live our lives or how it can make us feel.

I can't stress to each and everyone of you enough, that you can do this. You can learn to change your life, to live a healthy and fit lifestyle. You are worth it, and if I could hug and cry with each one of you as you reach your goals, I would do so gladly.

In short, this is why I'm a Weight Watchers leader and this one episode has brought more joy and satisfaction to me than anything I've experienced in the last few months.