Weight Loss Groups: Those who post lose the most!

Howard’s story:
     I retired in 2010 at age 69.  Wayne [Altman, MD, my PCP] said, Howard, you should join these groups that Kerri and I have been running.  I was pre-diabetic, on the threshold of being obese.  I had issues with my blood pressure, glycemic index, cholesterol, and all that stuff.  I was skeptical but I was willing to give it a try, because I’ve dealt with weight issues for all my life, and nothing I’d tried before ever worked (or worked for very long). 

     The secret sauce?  You’re in a group, where we all come from different facets of life.  The thing we have in common is the need to deal with health and fitness.  It doesn’t make a difference if you’re a high-powered executive, or retired, or you work like Stacie.  Over 20 weeks, you bond, and you develop a community, and affection.  These e-lists are set up for each group, and remain even after the group is over.

     I was in Group 4, which began in September 2010.  We had buddies; Gerri was mine.  I was sending emails.  But then I thought: Does she really want to hear this?!  She’s much younger.  I’ll send her an email, and I’ll ask her, Is it too much? I won’t be offended.  Her answer was, Oh, absolutely not!  I love it.  It’s a reminder for her of what SHE had made as a commitment to do in her own life.  It’s support and accountability at the same time. The next week, she shared this, and she suggested Wayne should appoint a nudge to remind the group to do emails.  So I did, sharing a daily email about me and responding to others.  The traffic on the e-list just took off!

     So now we say, Those who post lose the most!  You have to be willing to share your difficulties as well as the successes.  This is for life.  Doing it alone wouldn’t work. 

     I found I was having success.  I decided four months wasn’t enough of a baseline.  So I re-upped with another group.  By June 2011 I lost 30 pounds and eight inches in my waist, and even better, I managed to keep it off.  I sleep like a babe!  I’ve become active – I Nordic walk, power walking with poles, and I go to the gym.

     I’ve been in a regular group or an advanced group since I’ve started.  Although I’ve mastered the exercise and the food piece, my sense is I will always want the connection, the group.  The advanced group meets once a month over ten months.  Also, occasionally we can get together between the monthly meetings. 

     So now I’m giving back, paying it forward.  I serve as a resource for the wellness group program and I’m a regular “guest speaker” at one of the initial weekly sessions of each new 4-month program to share my experience and offer support.  I thank Wayne and Kerri [Hawkins, nutritionist] for saving my life.  All my tests are normal or optimal.  I’m off statins and blood pressure meds, and I just take Vitamin B-12.

     I’m still in contact with my group from 2010, since you develop friendships.  I still post to all the groups I’ve been in, and some people respond, even now.  

Read another story about weight loss.  Thanks to Howard Cloth for sharing his story.