What If WW Ceased To Exist?

A conversation was posted on the WW message boards Wednesday.

The question was: What if WW ceased to exist?  What would you do?

It has been a great discussion and as a WW member in maintenance the answer can be drastically different than a WW member who is in losing mode.  To no longer have WW available while I was going through my weight loss journey would have been difficult.  Obviously I proved I couldn’t lose weight on my own and I needed the program guidance and support.  Some maintenance members, most of who might not even be attending weekly meetings, have found other avenues for support and guidance and so they would be okay if WW suddenly didn’t exist.

When I saw this question, my answer was that I am torn.  I love my meeting, leader, and members.  If I didn’t have WW I would miss that interaction and support.  As it is now when I can’t be at my Tuesday AM meeting I often feel like I don’t have a WW “home” and that is very difficult for me.  WW meetings keep me grounded.  It keeps me connected to this journey I have been on for over eight years now.

The other side of the coin is that I would also feel relief.

Since I have been over my goal weight for more than a year now, I know I would feel relieved to no longer have the pressure of weekly WIs and that constant reminder that I am not at my goal weight.  Nobody at my meeting makes me feel bad for being over goal, however, mentally it is very difficult.  I tell everybody I know that is over goal or dealing with regain that you are not a failure.  I tell this to myself and I know I am not a failure.  Mentally it is still difficult to swallow.  It is hard to not feel like a failure when you step on the scale each week and see you are not even close to your goal weight. 

Relief.  I just want relief.

I know getting to my goal weight, keeping that weight off for five years, and even in the midst of my struggles now that I NEED the accountability of the scale.  While it can be a tool of complete torture at times, it is needed.  Ignoring the scale for years is how I got up to 304.8 pounds.

I never want the WW program to suddenly disappear.  If it magically did, I hope the tools I have learned along the way would help keep me going.  Who knows, maybe I’d start my own WW meeting/group.  I always wanted to be a leader.