“If the world was perfect, it wouldn't be" Yogi Berra born May 12, 1925

Happy Birthday Yogi!

What is the Weight Watchers Experience?

BEFORE

I was working in the Newton Store one evening, a mom and daughter came in, stated they had joined 3 days before and asked for their money back!  Shocking, I know...  When I asked them why, you know I did ask them, the daughter said it was because the experience of the meeting differed from their expectation.  She told me that they had been expecting to have a "one on one" session with a counselor, to have more private attention.  Hmmm, well that got me thinking.

The meeting model worked so well for me as a member for several reasons:

(a) it allowed me to be "anonymous" when I needed to wear tan and keep my head down, at the same time still allowing me to listen to the sage advice and help being offered to and from other members,

AFTER

(b) it allowed me ask questions for clarification or advice when I needed it and not embarrass myself in a one on one setting in which I may be less inclined to ask,
(c) it allowed me to be the advisor and friend to others and offer my wisdom when I had an experience that allowed me to learn and therefore giving me something to offer the group, and finally
(d) it helped me to realize that there's a whole community of us out there doing this and trying our hardest to work at it every day.

Without that shared experience, I KNOW I would not have been successful.  It seems to me that we so want to be perceived as strong, capable and unfailing in our resolve, to be able to come up with the answers on our own, somehow it seems like a weakness to have to come to meetings, to be vulnerable and "bear our souls" in a public setting.  I beg to differ, as do many successful lifetime members I have encountered in the 6 years I have been doing this, they all say the same thing... Meeting are the Magic in the Weight Watchers Experience - the shared struggle, the shared joy, the community.

If you're missing from your meeting - come on back, no questions, no judgements, just support!

Have you ever wondered about The Body Mass Index?  

A MEMBER ASKED ME FOR MORE INFORMATION THIS WEEK:

Why BMI is the recommended method to diagnose overweight and obesity, how it is calculated and its links to several diseases.  Body mass index, or BMI, is a measurement that evaluates the relationship between body weight and height. While BMI is not a direct measure of excess body fat, it is the recommended method to diagnose overweight and obesity. Because it expresses the weight-height relationship, BMI provides a more accurate measure than body weight alone.

The formula for calculating BMI uses weight in kilograms and height in meters: BMI (kg/m²) = Weight (kg) ÷ Height (m) 2; or weight in pounds and height in inches: BMI (lb/in²) = Weight (lb) ÷ Height (in) 2 x 703. Online calculators that automatically do the computations from an entered height and weight are a convenient method of determining BMI.

Definitions of Overweight, Obesity

Over 50 healthcare organizations around the world, including the National Institutes of Health, use the same BMI standards to define adult overweight and obesity.

Definition BMI Overweight 25-29.9      Obese 30-39.9      Morbidly Obese 40+

BMI's Link to Diseases

BMI is used as the standard to diagnose overweight and obesity because there are so many studies that show a link between BMI, the risk of several diseases and death.

As BMI increases, so does the risk for several conditions, including

• Diabetes
• Cardiovascular disease
• Stroke
• Hypertension
• Gallbladder disease
• Osteoarthritis
• Sleep apnea
• Some cancers
• Premature death

While the links between BMI and disease risk is clear, it is important to remember that it is only one of several disease risk factors. In other words, BMI cannot tell an individual that he or she will get a disease, only that his or her risk of developing the disease is increased.

BMI has some limitations.  It tends to overestimate body fat in people who are very muscular and underestimate body fat in people who are highly sedentary. BMI also doesn't show where the body fat is located. Abdominal fat carries the greatest health risk.

And Finally:

“You can see a lot just by observing”  Also from Yogi

See you at your meeting this week :)