TOPS isn’t about tedious calorie counting, deprivation diets, or wearying workouts. Nor is it about 8-day fasting or lengthy colonic irrigation. Instead, it’s mostly about happily sharing new, sensible, ideas and information, fun games that challenge us, lots of encouragement, and non-judgmental, friendly support for workable, longer term goals.
What does a TOPS meeting look like?
We start the day’s business with a weigh-in that is done in private. After everyone has been weighed, our meeting begins with an attendance check where we share whether we lost or gained, never how much, and you’ll hear us cheer for those who have lost. After we find out what the whole group has gained or lost, we go on to news about any upcoming get-togethers for members, as well as celebrating our members’ weight losses with a variety of badges and pins. After that we have draws and give-aways to encourage attendance, and awesome games that challenge us to stay with the program. Then we do 20 laps around the Community Center (No wait, I think that’s those fit tennis players). We laugh a lot and have plenty of fun.
The next part of the meeting is our Program. We all have favourite subjects related to health that we can share, so each week one of us talks to the group about a subject of their choice. These subjects include but are certainly not limited to how to deal with feelings during a pandemic, mindfulness, how to manage portions, eating at parties, food allergies, dressing to feel good about your body, benefits of music, facts about organic vs nonorganic foods, laughter’s benefits, and how the Earth’s gravity sometimes increases 10% in a month. Other key lessons include debunking fake dietary beliefs, such as that stealing calorie-laden items from a friend’s plate when they aren’t looking will not put on pounds, and that if you stand up to eat the food has zero calories.
The meeting ends with our pledge, and then we tidy up and head for home, or, possibly, for a coffee at the Bakery.
In other words, TOPS is not about overnight weight loss that yields short term results and encourages yoyoing. Our members want to keep off that excess weight and to do that, they need to form good habits using know-how that really works for them. Building new habits takes time and persistence, and that is what we aim for. And as community-oriented folks, we want others to benefit from this knowledge, as well.
Some of us have lost and kept off 20 or 30 pounds, some even more. The only drawback has been the need to go shopping for brand-new wardrobes. We are all glad that we’ve found a way to manage pounds without damaging our health in the process. Each one of us has set our private, individual weight goals with the advice of our health professional, and we’re staying healthy while getting healthier. That’s our goal in a nutshell.
So, if you want to take off pounds in a sensible way and keep them off, and have a lot of support and fun in the process, why not join us?
Each week we remind ourselves that we are intelligent people and that we will take off pounds sensibly. We’d love to see you at our meetings. Come join us at TOPS every Wednesday morning at the Community Centre, from 9:00 to 10:00. We wear masks, social distance, and sanitize whatever we touch. We’re a low-cost, enjoyable, international self-help program that welcomes everyone. If you want to Take Off Pounds Sensibly with us, please call.
Submitted by Amber Harvey