Officially official!

Yay!

What a great weekend. I must say, this was a whole new experience for me. I’ve never worked at a job where I’ve been to any type of formal training. I was really anxious about the weekend and I had a lot of fears and anxiety going into these last three days. I think my biggest fear, as I’m sure was felt by so many of us at Leader training this weekend, was standing up in front of a group of people and speaking.

A large part of me had decided that since I was so comfortable talking and sharing in my own Friday morning Weight Watcher meeting, that it wouldn’t be a big deal. Another part of me knew that now all eyes would be on me, and I just might be a nervous wreck. 

What did I learn this weekend that will help me the most in being a Successful Weight Watcher Leader?

Be myself. Listen to my members. Get to know my members. Do not overthink how I will word the next question that comes out of my mouth, but listen to the person that is speaking.

The first couple of times that I did any role playing this weekend, my nerves were all over the place. I will say, that as the hours went by, and as we all were able to get to know each other just a little bit better in our small groups, the nerves started to fade just a little. Don’t get me wrong, I was still really nervous on our last role play, but I felt like I worked through it a little better, and I felt like I was actually leading a meeting. My small group was great at participating. We all helped each other work through a Mock meeting by offering up a part of our real story and our personal experience as a Weight Watcher member. I only cried once and it was a one on one role play that I was doing with my new friend, Helen. I got really wrapped up in the moment!!

These are just a few of the amazing people that I was able to share my Leader Training in Dallas with this weekend. What an awesome group. So many great stories, so many nice and interesting people. I wish I had a chance to chat with all of them just a bit more, but the ones that I did get the opportunity to know just a tad, were all so nice.

There were new Leaders from all over the United States. I think that there were 29 of us? We were split up into two groups, so it was hard to get to meet everyone. I know that we had Leaders in training who have reached Lifetime status and we had Leaders in training who are still on their weight loss journey.

I met one new Leader who had lost 20 pounds to get to goal and I met one new Leader who had lost 260 pounds to get to goal. I met many in between. I met new Leaders in their twenties and I met new Leaders in their sixties. What a wonderful and diverse group of people!

I wish that I had taken my picture with the trainers. Connie, Kathleen and Maria were the trainers for my group and they were AWESOME! They all had a great sense of humor, they all shared their own story, and they were all just so darned nice! I’m fairly certain Connie is a stand up comic, and I might be in love with her.

Friday was a long day, and after wine with a few new friends in the hotel bar, I was off to my room for some hot tea. I watched a few planes take off and land at DFW, then I crashed. Learning is exhausting!

We stayed at the DFW Hyatt at the airport, which is apparently where they do WW training on a regular basis. The meals that we ate together as a group were prepared by the staff right out of a Weight Watcher cookbook! Nice, huh?

I didn’t take a picture of every meal, but here are most of them.

Breakfast each morning was in the hotel restaurant at the buffet. I took advantage of the Omelet Bar each morning, along with a few taters, Chicken Sausage and fruit.

 

One of the meals that they prepared for our group? Chicken Fajita buffet with lots of veggie options too.

 

Another lunch for our group, a Veggie or Beef Burger option with all of the fixings. There is a Veggie Burger under there somewhere. I was starving at Saturday’s lunch!

 

We had dinner on our own Saturday night. I decided to stay at the hotel and rest up. I had wine with a few new friends in the bar, then I enjoyed dinner with two of my new friends in the hotel restaurant. I opted for the Chicken with extra veggies. Dinner was delicious.

We wrapped up late Sunday afternoon and I headed to the airport with my Weight Watcher Kansas City buddies where we ended the day with a beer. Of course we did!

I am leading a meeting at 9:30 in the morning as a sub. I’ll tell you all about it tomorrow.

I have several opportunities to fill in as a sub for the rest of December, so I’m really excited to get to work this month.

It was great to be inspired and motivated by so many Weight Watcher members this weekend. 

I tracked like a champ today!

Here are the day’s eats….

Breakfast – 7 SP

Kodiak Pancake Mix (1/2 C Water) topped with Cherries (I keep some frozen, and I cooked them just enough for a sweet topping!) and 1 tsp Pure Maple Syrup, Egg Whites Scrambled.

 

Lunch – 9 SP

Street Taco size Corn Tortillas filled with Grilled Chicken (I found some in the freezer) with 1 Laughing Cow Cheese Wedge, Apple with Almond Butter and a Honey drizzle.

 

Dinner – 8 SP

Dinner was out. I never made it to the store. We have no food!

The perfect Blackened Salmon Caesar Salad, dressing on the side. (no dressing was needed)

 

Have a great day!

 

“love the life you live, live the life you love”