OCEAN PINES—Diet procrastinators
are losing “too far away” as an excuse for not attending meetings, because Weight
Watchers is coming directly to the Ocean Pines Community Center.

According to Leader Ruby Dillon,
starting Sept. 4, the company will add another evening meeting time—5:30 p.m.
on Wednesdays—to its repertoire. Currently meetings are held at the Community
Church at Ocean
Pines, 11227
Racetrack Road, at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesdays and at 11 a.m. on Wednesdays,
she said.

The company was given the
opportunity to hold meetings at the Ocean Pines site because of the Recreation
and Parks Department’s emphasis on wellness programs. Company representatives
are hoping the meetings will make it accessible to a bigger nucleus of people,
she said.

Other nearby Weight Watchers
locations include Fenwick Island, Roxana, Pocomoke and Salisbury, Dillon
pointed out. A goal of the national company is to find places to welcome
members anywhere they might find convenient.

During the half-hour, support
group style meetings, members brainstorm, share success stories that help them
both give and get inspiration to complete their personal weight loss goals.

“There is quite camaraderie
amongst members,” Dillon said.

Prior to meetings,
representatives will be on hand to help members weigh-in and log their weight
and register new members, and offer the products sold to help weight loss and
maintenance, according to Dillon. Members in the program have found that
meeting their personal goals of losing weight often has the added benefit of
also decreasing health conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure, and
cholesterol.

Dillon said the organization’s
meetings teach people good nutritional habits, which she stressed was not based
on denying them foods they like.

“There is nothing you cannot have,”
she said.

Instead the emphasis is on
portion control.

“You just put it in your daily
log,” she added.

The objective is to help members
meet the ideal weight for their age, height, and gender, by shrinking their
stomachs with a diet that helps members recognize “power foods” that are high
in fiber and protein and low in carbohydrates and fat, Dillon said.

She said the expansion will allow
up 150 people to participate in local meetings, with the additional time and
location.

Additional information on the
Weight Watchers program is available at the company Web site www.weightwatchers.com.