first meeting

bonbon1472003

Hi All

I went to my first meeting and was disappointed. One of the ladies gave me a magazine to take home to look at. I asked about what eating style or diet do we follow and they said you pick your own and that there were people here that are doing weight watchers. I don't see the point of TOPS. maybe I expected more or other groups are more about diet. This group weighed in and then the leader did the minutes and talked about the Christmas meal and everyone was interrupting her and generally a free for all. I really took nothing away from this meeting. It was also $ 2.50 a week and i never got a straight answer about do you still pay for missed meetings. can anyone tell me what their group is like and what you have to pay?
Bonnie

nmleisa

Hi there,

Sorry that you were disappointed with your first meeting. Every chapter is different. I am in New Mexico and i attend a chapter who meets at night...our group has younger people than some of the chapters who meet during the day (I'm 34 and the youngest by far!) TOPS is more of a SUPPORT GROUP than a diet plan (i.e. weight watchers). They do have their exchange system and you can find more info on it in the TOPS book "The choice is Mine" which is available on the TOPS website, or i think you can place your order in your chapter. That was part of the reason that i wanted to do TOPS...I know what i need to do, i just need the support to carry me through while i'm doing it

We have a really good leader in our group that generally doesn't let our meeting end up in a free-for-all...she generally has a list of things we need to discuss or take care of, and keeps us on track. Our dues are $4.00 a month...since we don't collect weekly, we don't have to worry about paying for missed meetings...it's just a flat monthly fee. we also ask for each person to pay 25 cents to weigh in, and another 25 cents if they have a gain. The money goes into our chapter treasury for contest prizes and such. We have a program calendar, where chapter members can sign up for a program throughout the month, and we leave the last meeting of the month for a general discussion. Usually members will bring in articles that they have read to discuss or talk about what they are doing if they are being successful in their weight loss. People will also bring in new foods for people to try....for example, a new fruit that they tried or for my last program I made a ranch dressing using greek yogurt that was really low in calories. I cut up carrots and brought some pretzels for people to try the dressing.

Now that i have totally bored you with the mundane details of our chapter...i want to say that you need to find a group that works for you and makes you excited to go...or at least look forward to going Did you see if there is another group you can visit? You might find a group that is a better fit. I know you are allowed to visit different chapters before you are committed to joining. I was lucky that the first group I visited was perfect for me and i joined...that was 11 years ago. There are definitely chapters that, if i had visited first, I would have not been excited about TOPS. If you don't enjoy it, you're not going to be motivated to go, that's for sure

Feel free to friend me if you have any other questions...i'm sure other people have experiences they can share too. If you lived in Albuquerque, New Mexico, i'd tell you to come and visit us on Wed nights!

Leisa

susan9

I joined Tops for the first time 23 years ago. My friend at work told me about it. I was shocked to see that the ex-wife (who was my bridesmaid) of my husband's friend was the leader. We had not seen each other in 15 years. Small world. It was a big group and we had fun and learned a lot about weight loss. I think competition to lose motivated me. We had contests and used visual aids like stars on a board next to our names.

My youngest sister joined Tops with me. All the ladies liked her so much and it seemed to me that when we got there, everyone got excited to see her. Our group went to a Tops convention and we stayed at the Holiday Inn. At lot goes on at the conventions, and I still make sure to go now. The circle of lights is so inspirational. it was especially so when they used real candles. KOPS (who have keep off lbs) by the hundreds circle the dark room....got to go

Harlemite

I joined TOPS May of this year. I was "hooked" from the start. We meet on Thursday mornings and that works for me even though our group is a more "mature" group and I know there are other groups in the area with younger participants. I chose this group for convenience (it's only 2.5 miles from my house).

I basically joined TOPS for the accountability. I did another weight loss program two years ago and lost 43 pounds but without the accountability of facing the scale, I re-gained almost 30 pounds! :-(

Our group dues are $4/month and can be paid monthly or longer.

I hope you give TOPS another chance whether it's the group you already went to or another one in your area.

Elaine/aka Harlemite

clicker_70

I'm sorry you had a bad experience. You should look for a different group. Even though they are they are a mostly more "mature" group, I love the ladies in our group. I'm our treasurer, and I collect $2 from each member per month. We pay a dime each week when we weight in, and pay an extra dime for each extra pound gained. For holidays, we do quarters. I think TOPS is all about support, more than a specific plan.

bigsis91

BonBon,
My first meeting, which was last Tuesday, wasn't very exciting but I think it will get better. I know the initial cost is $28, but I'm not sure exactly how much after that. I think it is $28 per year plus $2 in dues per month and various costs for penalties (have different competitions and such). I hope it gets better for you; hang in there and I'll be doing the same. Sincerely,
Clare (bigsis91)