Ethnography

Weight Watcher

            This morning I went to a Weight Watchers meeting with a friend of mine.  When we walked in it looked like a mini store.  They had Weight Watcher products lined up on the shelves.  I saw rows of different foods, and cookbooks.  My friend got inline, and I stayed closer to the shelves that had the food on them.  There was a long counter with several women standing behind it.  In front of the counter were black platforms.  The ladies called each person up to the counter, and took a little booklet from them.  After they looked at the booklet they had them step up on the platform, and then they printed out a sticker, and put it in the little booklet. 

            Now that my friend was done with her weigh in we went into the next room.  This room had a bunch of chairs lined up, and several posters on the wall.  One of the posters was the food pyramid, and another was about the points program.  In the far corner there was before, and after pictures of other Weight Watcher people.  The room filled up fast with a bunch of different people.  There were mostly women, but also a few men.  There were people of all ages.  Most of the people found their own little group within the group.  All the little groups were having their own discussions about how they think they did this past week. 

            The leader arrives, and the meeting begins.  They call the lady who guides the meeting the leader.  She seemed to be very nice, and welcoming.  The meeting starts with them awarding some of the people with charms for how much weight they have lost.  The leader asks them to please share with the group what helped them the most on their journey.  One woman said “If you nibble, you must scribble.”  Meaning if you eat something you must keep track of it.  Another woman said “Having the Weight Watchers pre-packed snacks in my pocketbook helps me keep on track.” 

            The leader goes over to the dry erase board, and asks people for their favorite recipes.  She starts writing “Fried Chicken”, “Macaroni and Cheese”, “Broccoli Casserole”, and several more.  She asks if we know how we can make these dishes healthier to eat.  They all start yelling out suggestions, “use butter substitute”, “use canola oil instead of vegetable oil”, “bake don’t fry”.  She encourages them, and adds a few ideas of her own.  The leader tells them that for next week she would like each one of them to come in with two recipes.  One recipe like how they would have made it before and one recipe how they would make it healthier. 

            It’s time to wrap up the meeting and the leader asks everyone if they have anything coming up this week they need help with.  A man speaks up, and says “this week at work they are having a cookout, how do I keep from eating all my favorites?”  The leader says “You can get a few of your favorites, but just a smaller portion.” Another woman says “have a piece of fruit before the cookout.”  Someone else suggests “Drink plenty of water before the cookout, this way you fill up on water.”  The leader agrees, and tells them they have given great suggestions. 

            The leader leaves the room, and some people stay behind talking.  They encourage each other, and chit chat about what they have planned for the next week.  Some of the people went into the first room to buy Weight Watcher products.  They all keep moving in the direction of the parking lot, but they keep talking with each other.  Eventually they crowd disperses, and everyone gets into their cars.

            I found it to be a very interesting collection of people.  There were men and women, and there were people of all ages.  There were a few girls in their early twenties, and there were many ladies in their fifties.  Some of the people didn’t look over weight at all, but they had been doing Weight Watchers for years.  It was a nice experience seeing people who didn’t know each other come together and try to help each other with their battle with food.