How much do we really need our Image Therapy?

seren

Member
I was doing so well upto Sept 09 having lost 5 1/2 stone the previous 12 months. I was loving my class, the food, the body magic........everything.
In Oct 09 i took a new job and needed to shift classes. I did, and then it all went wrong..


I joined a new meeting and just HATED it. The consultant was the most uninformed SW advocate ever.. I dont like to say it, but i think i knew more about the structure than she did (and she had apparantly been doing it for almost 9 years)! She literally had her aides finding out info at the nod of her head because she literally didnt know the answers.
I found her so uninspiring that after persevering for 4 weeks, the 19th Nov was my final SW class.
I was unable to find another suitable time/venue. I even tried to persuade my previous consultant to change her class times so i could make it after work!!!! (sadly, the answer was No)

I have since tried to do it alone. AND FAILED BIG TIME. Which brings me to my question.....
Do we really need the Image Therapy and our 'classmates' in order to succeed?:confused:

It has now been 7 months and i am 2 1/2 stone heavier. I am appalled and angry with myself for letting the 2 'b' choices turn into 4 'b' choices a day, having the extra latte, the extra slice of bread, f/f creme fraiche instaed of h/f. having both fingers of kitkat and so on and so on.........
I tried to keep track by getting on the scales once a week and using SW online for support but nothing seemed to be able to stop me from throwing things into my shopping basket that my purse hadn't paid for in over a year.:cry:
1 bad day led to 1 bad week, and now im 30 weeks later with only myself to blame.

Yes, i want to lose weight and generally maintain my health for as long as possible, but when we dont have the class to rely on once a week, what keeps us in check?

Is attending class really that essential,
or can the desire to lose weight be all the motivation one needs to shed the wobble?


I know many many members have succeeded without regular SW groups.
How do they do it?

I need the Image Therapy for sure!


(i have now found a new group which i attended this week, so i hope i prove myself right about needing it, and that i am not just a hopeless greedy pig who loves her food too much and cant ever say no!!!!!!)
__________________

 
I need the Image Therapy and I know not everyone does. I need to go every week and stay for the class otherwise I wouldn't achieve anything. But my leader is wonderful and so supportive

Irene xx
 
I was doing so well upto Sept 09 having lost 5 1/2 stone the previous 12 months. I was loving my class, the food, the body magic........everything.
In Oct 09 i took a new job and needed to shift classes. I did, and then it all went wrong..


I joined a new meeting and just HATED it. The consultant was the most uninformed SW advocate ever.. I dont like to say it, but i think i knew more about the structure than she did (and she had apparantly been doing it for almost 9 years)! She literally had her aides finding out info at the nod of her head because she literally didnt know the answers.
I found her so uninspiring that after persevering for 4 weeks, the 19th Nov was my final SW class.
I was unable to find another suitable time/venue. I even tried to persuade my previous consultant to change her class times so i could make it after work!!!! (sadly, the answer was No)

I have since tried to do it alone. AND FAILED BIG TIME. Which brings me to my question.....
Do we really need the Image Therapy and our 'classmates' in order to succeed?:confused:

It has now been 7 months and i am 2 1/2 stone heavier. I am appalled and angry with myself for letting the 2 'b' choices turn into 4 'b' choices a day, having the extra latte, the extra slice of bread, f/f creme fraiche instaed of h/f. having both fingers of kitkat and so on and so on.........
I tried to keep track by getting on the scales once a week and using SW online for support but nothing seemed to be able to stop me from throwing things into my shopping basket that my purse hadn't paid for in over a year.:cry:
1 bad day led to 1 bad week, and now im 30 weeks later with only myself to blame.

Yes, i want to lose weight and generally maintain my health for as long as possible, but when we dont have the class to rely on once a week, what keeps us in check?

Is attending class really that essential,
or can the desire to lose weight be all the motivation one needs to shed the wobble?


I know many many members have succeeded without regular SW groups.
How do they do it?

I need the Image Therapy for sure!


(i have now found a new group which i attended this week, so i hope i prove myself right about needing it, and that i am not just a hopeless greedy pig who loves her food too much and cant ever say no!!!!!!)
__________________



Firstly, well done for finding a new group and heading back to class!

Whether we do SW via a class, Body Optimise or alone with purely this fabulous site for support, no-one but yourself can help you lose weight, yes we can be supported but until you have that lightbulb moment and everything just clicks into place it's probably nigh on impossible to shift the excess pounds xx
 
I don't stay for image therapy, I just go to the class and get weighed. I find that the thought of having to get weighed at class enough motivation for me.
 
I'm not sure what it is about staying that helps, but it does. I think it helps me feel I've made more of a commitment then just popping in get weighed.

Good luck with your new group :)
 
I have always stayed to I.T. as I find it motivates me. At my class, quite a lot of people just weigh and go though. Each to their own. I enjoy the class but as you say, it is very important to have a good C that you can relate to.
 
I find the weighing in class is enough, although I normally do stay for class too, I lost 5 stone with CD last year, I maintained for 4 months, then Christmas came and I put on a stone, so joined WW after Christmas and lost that stone, got to gold and became a gold member but because I didn't go every week I put that stone back on, so now I am at slimming world trying to lose it again, but this time I will continue to go even after I have reached goal as I know now that it is the weighing with other people that keeps me on the straight and narrow.
 
I definitely need the image therapy, for me it works, and the fact that i am at class for nearly 2 hours each week (even though i never start my day wanting to stay at class) i always feel more motivated afterwards. But some other people are doing a great job on their own, so i think its down to the individual. For me personally, i need the class to keep me going, dont know why, but i just do! xx
 
Like some of the others, I find the weighing in itself good motivation. Our Image Therapy is hit and miss for what I get out of it, but it generally is a good laugh. We have a really good bunch of people there, and there's just the right number. I suppose the group support motivates me more than what is actually covered in IT. I tend to get more of my hints and tips from here though.
 
I don't stay to class anymore, i just find it so boring with the same dreary stories everyweek from the same people who hog all the limelight. At the end it's a mad rush to get the syn and recipe ideas in.
I need the disipline of the weigh in every week though.
To be honest i've learnt more from this forum :)
 
For me i think its very important to stay for I.T. By the end of the session i usually feel more motivated and have maybe take a few ideas that i never had myself. Also if youve had a bad week, you dont feel as bad once youve spoken to the group and find that other people have struggled too, no ones perfect and we cant be 100% all the time, so def helps to have the encouragement from other like minded people. I love my group and I'm gutted if i have to miss it.
 
I have always done it alone but I have very good willpower ,I think it all depends on your personality and whether you thrive on the support.
I'm glad you have found a new group ,hopefully better than the appalling C you had before.
My Wii Fit keeps me motivated as it keeps graphs of all your losses and I love seeing the line nosedive.
Good luck ,you've lost the weight before and you'll do it again!!
 
I've been lurking around this forum for a while now, getting loads of great ideas from you all, but until today was never really sure about registering and posting. This post has really inspired me to share my experiences.
in the 18 years since I've got married I've been a yoyo dieter, never with much more that 2 stone to lose, but never actually feeling happy with my weight. In that time I've tried most of the well known diets but SW is the one I can best lose weight with. However, in the past (and my old booklet can testify to this) I've gone along to class lost my weight, then got casual, the plan to get weighed once a fortnight became once a month if there was a bad week in between weigh ins and I'm sure you can picture the rest. My book shows me going back a few months later after piling on the weight and having in most cases to start again.

This time I decided it was going to be different - as my consultant says it's for life! I decided once I got to target (April 2009) that I was going to keep going and I do every week - I now even do the weighing which gives me even more incentive to go along. This is the longest I've ever kept at target and I'm sure it's the discipline of knowing I'll be weighed each week. Yes, at times it's tough - at the moment I'm struggling a bit, but I'm still in my target range and I know I wouldn't be if I stopped going to class.

Last week a new member told me I was an inspiration to her, which was lovely and a wonderful boost.
 
Lowrygirl i think that really is an inspiration! i really hope that when i get to target i continue to go, because i think i'll need to.

I've found I.T. a bit hit and miss, but i have to have the discipline of being weighed at class every single week, even when i've been bad and REALLY don't want to hear it, i still go.
 
I've stopped going to my class because I found that I was going in, getting weighed then sitting round for an hour waiting for the C to finish doing her thing chatting to the new joiners and everyone else, then all she would do was go round and read out everyone's losses/gains.

What is this image therapy that you all talk about? I felt like I was paying £5 for someone to weigh me then tell the class what I'd done.

I haven't been to class for 4 weeks now and the C hasn't rung up to see what's happened. She runs 3 classes in one day and I reckon she sees at least 50 people in each of the first two classes and then maybe 30 in the late class.

I have lost a few pounds more in the 4 weeks I haven't been going but have not been totally 100%. Today is my day of going back to it 100%.
 
For me the whole thing about group isn't so much the IT though I always stay and enjoy it mainly. I love the time it takes everyone to get weighed as I've met some really lovely people. I was shy and scared when I first started but made a real effort to talk to everyone. I can't wait each week to see how my new friends are getting on. I've bumped into some at shops and ended up chatting in the aisle for ages, it's a real social thing for me.

IT is great for just reminding us about things we may have forgotten. I don't think we often learn anything new but we all need reminders. The only thing I find frustrating about group is how people often feel it's necessary when they've had a great loss to say 'oh I am surprised I was awful all week!'. It annoys me if I've not had a great loss that week and know I've been 100% but then it's jealousy on my part I need to get over. I'm always so pleased for everyone though and love that there's always a lot of chatter going on when someone raises an issue, everyone shares ideas. It's just great to be with people who are trying to achieve the same thing.
 
I find it a bit hit and miss, last week was a taster week and it was so much better because most people didn't stay for class so the C had time to go over things properly and answer our questions, when the class is full it can be a bit rushed. I used to hate IT because my old C was so useless, the class consisted of her going on about how much she had drank that week or how many syns she accidentally had - it was so pointless! (btw she got replaced so maybe someone complained? wasn't me..!) But now, my C is lovely so I enjoy it more :) I tried for 6 months ish to do it alone and didn't get anywhere so I do feel that I need the added support of the class :)
 
I like the support of the class. Also as people have already mentioned, the discipline of getting publicly weighed each week. I know of people who miss a week because they know they've put on, but I don't see how avoiding it helps any?

I have avoided staying for class after having a bad weigh in because I didn't want to discuss why I'd put on 1.5lbs, but I still got weighed so it's there in black and white to get me back on track.

I talk to most of the people in my class and I actually went to the xmas meal last year with them (I don't even go to my work xmas do!). It's not so much the 'therapy' that I need, it's the company and knowing that I'm not the only person who sometimes struggles with the choice between and apple or a kitkat!

Also there are people at my class who have lost over 5st and that helps to motivate me. They're proof that this works for anyone!
 
few hours away from kids lol
chat to everyone who knows EXACTLY what im going through
everyone there is for same reason and lots of compliments
publicity get told ive lost/gained so gives me a kick
get to hear from everyone there..

i always think its not about the consultant however ive heard on here about people talking over people and my c tells them to button it everyone gets there chance... so love that!
 
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