Weight loss support groups are helping shed pounds around Clark and Cowlitz counties

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Experts say accountability is one of the key components to losing weight. 

"Most people put all their effort into finding the right diet or exercise program but don't put any energy into creating a support and accountability system, and too often, that's where the devil lies,"  said Adam Shafran, an exercise physiologist, chiropractor and author of “You Can't Lose Weight Alone: The Partner Power Weight Loss Program,” in a report titled “Choosing a Weight Loss Buddy” from Web MD. 

Fessing up to someone when you skip breakfast, instead opting for a donut in the breakroom at work, isn’t fun and can serve as a strong motivator next time you’re faced with a with a less-than-healthy choice. When you do fall to stagnant and/or sugar saturated temptations, an accountability partner — at least a decent one — will help you return to your diet and exercise regime and continue to push toward losing weight. 

But while an accountability partner is good in theory, it can oftentimes be tough to find someone who has similar goals — and maintaining a routine when you do, can be a challenge as well.

That’s where weight loss, or maintenance, support groups can help. Fortunately for folks in the area hoping to shed a few pounds, there is an abundance of these groups gathering every week around Clark and Cowlitz counties.  

Although there are likely smaller, private groups among friends and family, the largest system of groups in the area is under the umbrella of a national organization known as TOPS (Take Off Pounds Sensibly), which originated in 1948. 

Groups vary in size and members are all different ages and weights. 

Pam Fich, who co-leads a group out of Vancouver with about 12 to 15 members, walked The Reflector through what happens during a group meeting.  

Members have a private weigh-in with the weight recorder and assistant weight recorder, before sitting down together and discussing the week. Some members will share a success, others a failure, while others choose to say nothing at all. Some will also share something that has worked for them — maybe a new exercise or food. Then, to conclude the meeting, there is a presentation from someone in the group about a particular health-related topic. 

But the group’s primary function, Fich said, is for members to foster an environment of support and strength. 

“We encourage each other,” she said. “If someone is having a real hard time, we just encourage them.” 



Along with the encouragement, Fich said falling into bad eating habits isn’t as easy when you know you're going to be weighed each week and perhaps share your failures. 

“It’s made me more accountable,” She said. “I know I have to step on that scale every Monday. It’s made me more aware of what I’m eating and where I’m eating.”

Fich has been a part of a support group since 1994. She lost her target weight of about 65 pounds over a period of 19 years. Being a part of the group helped her not lean on food for comfort when she went through a number of family tragedies in the early 2000s, she said. 

Area captain Ellen Hendl, who oversees groups in three counties — Clark, Cowlitz and Wahkiakum — echoed many of Fich’s sentiments.

“Our main thing is to give support where needed,” she said. “We don’t judge people. We’re there to support. Everyone is on their own mission. … I believe strongly in it — I believe in support. I reached my goal and now my goal is to see everyone else reach theirs.” 

Prior to joining a support group, Hendl had tried “every diet plan there is out there,” but to no avail. What she needed was the accountability and support, and she found it in 2012 when her neighbor invited her to a meeting. 

“I heard that there were other people in the same situation,” she said of her first visit.  

Now, after losing her target weight of 50 pounds, Hendl tries to not even say the word “diet.” Instead, the support groups focus on making healthy choices in life and finding exercises that work for you. 

“That’s our biggest thing,” she said. “Choosing what works for you, because everyone is different.”