Mieke, a member since 2012 talks about her experience on the program.
What motivated you to join the program?
I joined the program because I felt completely uncomfortable in my own skin. I was working where I was travelling quite often and sitting in my own clothes just felt absolutely painful. I felt super uncomfortable and really wanted to be able to make a change, both to be able to teach myself how to be able to eat properly, so to create a balanced plate, but also so I could feel a bit of confidence in myself, again.
What surprised you most about the program when you joined?
The ability to still be able to eat some of my favourite foods. To be able to have nachos, to be able to eat burgers, to be able to go to a buffet, and still be able to be on point and still be able to be full. And I also love that it really took a kind of holistic view, kind of mind, body, spirit, in a way, but food, exercise, activity and mindset in a way to be able to focus on all of those things, versus just losing weight.
What’s your "why"?
I think my “why” is myself, if that makes sense. The confidence, because I was so uncomfortable in my own skin, to be able to wear a pair of jeans and shorts and not double think about going out into public is such a big thing.
Talk a bit about the foods you eat on the program.
I eat a lot of vegetables and fruits. I eat a lot of protein; I also have some more snacky foods as well.. But I always try to incorporate salty snacks every day because that is my favourite, so I weigh out chips, or crackers to be able to have a little bit of the things that I love. I also, pick one day a week where we go out and eat. So I don’t limit that, we still go out and have sushi, or burgers, or pizza.
Describe the meeting room experience.
To be able to go into a room and be surrounded by people who have either struggled with their weight, or how to cook and prepare food, is something that is really comforting to me; it’s very empowering. You can be as vocal or as quit as you want. No one is calling on you to speak in front of people, but there is this level of camaraderie and sense of community.
What's the roll of community in your weight-loss journey?
On my weight-loss journey I found community in my meeting with a few specific people; people that I sat next to and had the courage to kind of laugh and joke with. Eventually after our meetings we would go out for dinner with each other and stay on plan but still eat out.
How has tracking helped with your weight-loss journey?
Tracking is big. Tracking basically taught me how to have a balanced plate. Tracking gives you the power to know how much you should be eating of certain foods. Its most definitely given me the red light, green light, yellow light in terms of when to start eating, stop eating and kind of keep it slow, that my stomach and my body in the past never told me, I just kept eating, because I liked the taste of food, how it looked, all that kind of good stuff.