What format does your class take??

VeggieBev

Silver Member
I was at my SW class with my sister last night and we were chatting about the format that it takes and what the CL actually does throughout the class.

At my class, the first half hour of class is for payment, WI, looking at books in the shop etc. The class leader is never there, sometimes she is inducting new members but when there are no members I have no idea where she is or what she is doing. She then appears for the second half of class to lead the discussions and take questions etc. The payment desk, WI and the shop are all manned by 'helpers' - usually there are 4. I was just quite surprised that there are so many helpers and just wondered if this is normal?
 
Our class is really quite chaotic. I've only been there a month and have met some really amazing people so there's a good Group atmosphere, everyone very helpful and friendly and very encouraging of one another. So I'm really happy with that aspect of it and have even made a couple of new lovely friends.

However, there are sixty people in the Group and it's just way too much. I'm terribly fond of our leader, she is so sweet, but the class is simply too big for her to handle. On our first night she got confused about EE and asked us just to read the books as she couldn't seem to get her head around it. That's fine, I'm an adult and knowledge is power after all so I've read voraciously around the topic. There are a shocking number of members though who seem to be grappling in the dark as nothing was ever really explained.

The class starts at half five and because there are 60 members, weigh-ins take the bones of an hour. Then it's an hour sit-down and everyone goes through their losses/gains. So there is no image therapy as the sheer size of the class is so prohibitive and it's pretty loud too.

Our leader has about six helpers.

I stay for the first hour to have my WI, catch up with a few people and have a little chat about how we're doing but then I go. I get more use out of going on to Minimins and getting the support and advice here. I probably should stay for the duration but I find the last hour quite tedious and not particularly helpful. Each to their own I guess!
 
Yes, that's pretty much normal. I mean, a C can't be expected to take pay, weigh people, run the shop and meet & greet new members all at the same time.

The "helpers" are known as the social team, and will do the basic admin jobs whilst the consultant focuses on meeting and greeting new members and talking them through the plan. Weeks when there are little or no new members, our C walks around group chatting to members 1:1, etc.

This should go on for 30 minutes, and the C should then take charge of the group, armed with her PDA, and begin Image Therapy. This can last various times, depending on group sizes.
 
I joined SW this week and whilst I'm loving the eating plan, books, magazine etc, I actually found the class (image therapy?) very dull. Our consultant is a very sweet lady, with her heart in the right place. Unfortunately the actual class seemed to just be a big moan-fest of how badly people were doing, although most had lost a bit this week. The consultant tried to be positive with them, but seemed a bit out of her depth when trying to get them thinking along a more positive line. One lady even started crying! It's a shame, because I really wanted to stay to class each week, but this experience has put me off. I bought a 12-wk countdown, so does anyone know if I can just go along to a different class instead or do I have to stick with the original class I joined?
Thanks!
 
I joined SW this week and whilst I'm loving the eating plan, books, magazine etc, I actually found the class (image therapy?) very dull. Our consultant is a very sweet lady, with her heart in the right place. Unfortunately the actual class seemed to just be a big moan-fest of how badly people were doing, although most had lost a bit this week. The consultant tried to be positive with them, but seemed a bit out of her depth when trying to get them thinking along a more positive line. One lady even started crying! It's a shame, because I really wanted to stay to class each week, but this experience has put me off. I bought a 12-wk countdown, so does anyone know if I can just go along to a different class instead or do I have to stick with the original class I joined?
Thanks!

Aww thats a shame!! No you can go to any class and once you find one you like just re-register there!! It wont affect your countdown and you wont have to pay a joining fee xx
 
I am a member of the social team. I used to be on the pay but have moved to the shop now, prefer that to be honest. I love being on the social team, chatting to members old and new. I always go and sit with new members at the start of IT. Wow, 60 is a big group and to take an hr weighing in, the queue must be massive! I think the format for all the groups is pretty much the same. I think if you can stay to IT it helps your weight loss as you can get so many hints and tips, but there again I suppose it depends on the consultant. Ours is fab, she starts with any info from head office, asks if anyone has made anything they want to share with group. Sometimes we have taster sessions as well. We have quizzes, competitions and fun She then goes onto the awards, personal weight losses etc, then we have the raffle and slimmer of the week with the fruit basket. Love group and have made so many lovely friends. But I am a chatty people type person and love meeting new members :)
 
The class I attend is very boring and I have been to many, all about as entertaining as sticking pins in my eyes. I just don't find it very motivating to listen to other people talking about how many buckets of lager they've consumed or how many laughing cow triangles they've had on their scanbran that week. I only do Green days and all the chat and tips are aimed at the EE folk, so I don't find that helpful. I go to class though, because if I need the public weigh in to keep me going!
 
I only do Green days and all the chat and tips are aimed at the EE folk, so I don't find that helpful. I go to class though, because if I need the public weigh in to keep me going!

I do Green as well. I sat through class last night and didn't really get much from it because everyone was talking about what meat they had found that was free. I do usually enjoy the class though so hopefully that was a one off. The public WI definitely keeps me motivated!
 
I do Green as well. I sat through class last night and didn't really get much from it because everyone was talking about what meat they had found that was free. I do usually enjoy the class though so hopefully that was a one off. The public WI definitely keeps me motivated!

Me too, that's what keeps me on the straight and narrow. I have struggled for nearly three years now with home-weighing and I'm finding the public weighing every week really motivating!
 
I've found that the classes vary wildly. At my local class it would take at Lear an hour to weigh in then 25min of IT where she went round everyone's week individually. The was no shop and she ordered in the books except hi fi bars. Sometimes I had to weigh in after the class if it was really busy and people were arriving to wi at the next one. I stopped going when I hit target as I didn't feel I had to get value for my money.
I did go to a different class to help out a friend when she started and it was so different. There were loads of books to see and she only did significant losses, she had a whole bookshelf to browse through and even a taster evening. Wish I could have kept going but it was really awkward time wise.
Basically it really does depend on the consultant and I'd say if you don't like the class change, it'll really help
 
I've been to two SW groups. The first had about 15-20 people, a new member would come once every 3-4 weeks, we all knew each other and supported each other.

The second was HUGE. There were a number of groups spread over the day, each had 50-90 people, there were about eight people on the 'social' team and only two members spoke to me over the space of about three months. The C insisted on going around every single person, group took about two hours as a result (1 hour weigh in, 1 hour IT).

Although I preferred the first, SW clearly much prefers the latter, and the performance pay structure for the Cs (the more members, the higher cut they get of the takings) encourages them towards this.
 
I've found that the classes vary wildly. At my local class it would take at Lear an hour to weigh in then 25min of IT where she went round everyone's week individually. The was no shop and she ordered in the books except hi fi bars. Sometimes I had to weigh in after the class if it was really busy and people were arriving to wi at the next one. I stopped going when I hit target as I didn't feel I had to get value for my money.
I did go to a different class to help out a friend when she started and it was so different. There were loads of books to see and she only did significant losses, she had a whole bookshelf to browse through and even a taster evening. Wish I could have kept going but it was really awkward time wise.
Basically it really does depend on the consultant and I'd say if you don't like the class change, it'll really help

Very interesting how classes vary. She sounds very good, the only thing I would say is that you say "she only did significant losses". To be honest I think thats wrong personally, because if you have a loss no matter how small its significant to the member. I had many weeks of just a little half pound but it was significant to me. I think if small losses werent mentioned but large ones wered, that would de motivate me. Others however may disagree. Just my take on it.
 
Very interesting how classes vary. She sounds very good, the only thing I would say is that you say "she only did significant losses". To be honest I think thats wrong personally, because if you have a loss no matter how small its significant to the member. I had many weeks of just a little half pound but it was significant to me. I think if small losses werent mentioned but large ones wered, that would de motivate me. Others however may disagree. Just my take on it.

You are right Holly's nan, everyone should get their time in the spotlight, no matter what they have lost or gained. The I in image therapy is Individual, each person getting their time.

As for the books posted about earlier, consultants have to buy books upfront so maybe she couldn't afford it.
 
Our class is really quite chaotic. I've only been there a month and have met some really amazing people so there's a good Group atmosphere, everyone very helpful and friendly and very encouraging of one another. So I'm really happy with that aspect of it and have even made a couple of new lovely friends.

However, there are sixty people in the Group and it's just way too much. I'm terribly fond of our leader, she is so sweet, but the class is simply too big for her to handle. On our first night she got confused about EE and asked us just to read the books as she couldn't seem to get her head around it. That's fine, I'm an adult and knowledge is power after all so I've read voraciously around the topic. There are a shocking number of members though who seem to be grappling in the dark as nothing was ever really explained.

The class starts at half five and because there are 60 members, weigh-ins take the bones of an hour. Then it's an hour sit-down and everyone goes through their losses/gains. So there is no image therapy as the sheer size of the class is so prohibitive and it's pretty loud too.

Our leader has about six helpers.

I stay for the first hour to have my WI, catch up with a few people and have a little chat about how we're doing but then I go. I get more use out of going on to Minimins and getting the support and advice here. I probably should stay for the duration but I find the last hour quite tedious and not particularly helpful. Each to their own I guess!

Which group do you go to? Sounds exactly like mine!
 
I realise I made it sound like small losses weren't worth celebrating but I averaged a pound a week so know what it feels like. I meant that when 60 people get to have their individual say this is literally all of IT and I preferred when the consultant had time to talk about, for example dealing with all the chocolate at Easter. Significant losses aren't just big ones either. I lost a pound one week and me and another girl had to tell her that was us at target cause she hadn't had time to talk to the weigh in team.
 
60 people staying for IT is indeed a lot. We may well get 60 people through the door but we average about 30 who stay to IT, sometimes a little less. I know because one of my jobs on the social team is to count how many stay to IT and then to make a note in the c's notebook every week of the numbers.
 
I joined SW this week and whilst I'm loving the eating plan, books, magazine etc, I actually found the class (image therapy?) very dull. Our consultant is a very sweet lady, with her heart in the right place. Unfortunately the actual class seemed to just be a big moan-fest of how badly people were doing, although most had lost a bit this week. The consultant tried to be positive with them, but seemed a bit out of her depth when trying to get them thinking along a more positive line. One lady even started crying! It's a shame, because I really wanted to stay to class each week, but this experience has put me off. I bought a 12-wk countdown, so does anyone know if I can just go along to a different class instead or do I have to stick with the original class I joined?
Thanks!

I've cried in group before. Can't say I'm massively proud of it, it just happened. Losing weight can be a very emotional thing, it certainly is for me because of why I'm doing it. We all have our own reasons for being at SW, our own burdens and our own fears.

For some of us our journey is pretty long and it's impossible not to have dark times during that journey, even if to the outside world it looks like you're doing well. We don't always know what's going on under the surface. To me IT is about helping people through the hard times and celebrating the good.

I'm just glad that my group are for the most part very supportive and lovely and help me, as I try to help them too when they need it. I'm very grateful to be part of such a lovely group and I hope I didn't put anyone off by being upset. x
 
I have been going to my class for just short of a year, and have missed only two weigh ins. Our C is fantastic, I only came to SW as a result of meeting her.

I ordinarily go to the 7pm weigh in. Usually about twenty to thirty people stay fo body image. Her husband does the taking of payments, and the shop and weigh in are the only volunteers.

i normally get there about 6:50, queue for payment only a few minutes. The consultant is always floating around asking people how their week has been, looking out for new members. She does the new member talk from about 7:10 to 7:30. By about 7:45 she starts body image, usually done by 8:15.

The beginning of body image she announces all the awards (I got,both my eight stone and eight and a half stone awards this month, I still get gasps in the audience).

Sometimes body image is formal, and she has the PDA and goes through people one by one, but sometimes she'll just play by ear, ask first who is happy with their losses, and just go,along from the back row to front rows.

Of course the same excuses are trotted out, but we are always talking about recipes, shaking it up, how to make good choices. She might bring up something said in an earlier class (she runs four to five sessions during the day), goes over the syns of certain things. Gives us little anecdotes. Always positive.

She then announces who has slimmer of the week. Whenever she says 'guess who' there is a loud groan across the room because it means I have won it.

Shenthenndoes raffle, and we finish.

I look forward to my Wednesday evening I have made some great friends, it feels like a social evening.
 
My group too is massive, we have two huge circles of chairs, we fill a massive church hall, I got to group 15 mins early this week and was still number 34 in line to be weighed, I would guess it takes 45 mins to weigh everyone ( thanks to a well oiled team of 5 very practised helpers) and always 1 and 1/2 hours for image therapy as consultant speaks to everyone, its a marathon and to be honest its too much most weeks, I always feel sorry for the last 20 odd people who weighed in as the group has lost all interest at that point and talks to each other over consultant, its not really a great experience if im honest but I need to stay to be motivated and its the only group and times I can make in my local area, I would love to walk out half way through but I dont want to be rude!! Most people I have ever counted that have come through the door is 76 and thats not including people already there, would roughly guess that around 110 people weigh and about 50 stay to IT. Hoping this will tail off in coming weeks as even though its not the best experience its one I must continue!
 
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