Asking for Help

Here is a summary of my Weight Watchers meeting September 21, 2010.

This week in the meeting room we talked about being able to ask for help with our weight loss from the people around us.

Asking for help means:
• Involving the people close to you in your efforts to lose weight.
• Deciding what your friends and family can do to help you achieve your goals, and asking for their assistance. Maybe you want them to fill your wine glass with a diet soft drink or put food in serving dishes rather than piling up your plate.
• Anticipating how your loved ones will feel about you trying to lose weight, and negotiating with people who are unable or unwilling to help.
• Being flexible, and if you're not getting what you need, being proactive enough to look for motivation elsewhere.
•Posting and reading topics on the Message Boards at Weight Watchers.com.

Successful people do what it takes to get the help they need.
Some simply ask—people with great motivation systems are often in the habit of asking for the help they need, and the people around them are used to being asked.
Others, whose immediate family and friends aren’t as helpful, expand their networks to include more of the kinds of people who understand.

Those of us who aren’t used to asking the people in our lives for help with anything (much less something as big as weight loss), may feel tempted to just go it alone. But it doesn’t have to happen that way.

The encouragement that comes just by asking for help can be a big boost.

Asking for Help is useful because…
• Research shows that ongoing social motivation from family and friends, as well as other sources, may help to sustain weight-loss efforts.
• When you make an effort to ask for what you need, you’re more actively thinking about what you need.
• When you involve people who are willing to help you, and negotiate with people who aren’t, you’re nurturing healthy relationships.
• When you recognize the gaps in your network, and seek help because of it, you’re taking a great step toward success (not to mention your self confidence).


Remember if you ask for help, the answer is sometimes “No”, but if you don’t ask, the answer is always “No”!

1. Decide what kind of help you need and from whom.
2. Ask for the help you need in a stern, assertive way and be sure that the other person understands.
3. Explain why you need the help and what kind of a difference it will make in your weight loss efforts.
4. Accept that not everyone is willing to help you.
5. Be flexible and willing to compromise.
6. Always say “Thank You!”

Maybe you need to tell your coworkers that leaving a doughnut on your desk isn’t helping. Maybe you need to speak to your grocery store manager and ask that certain food items are kept in stock. Maybe you need to ask your grandmother to stop making you homemade pies each week. Maybe you need to ask your friends to go to a restaurant where you can make healthier choices.

Essentially, we are the only ones that will make this weight finally come off…but it sure would be nice to have some help along the way!