Kim

 

About three years ago, long before this Thank You Project was born, I had a four month old baby and more than fourteen pounds of leftover baby weight. Actually, it was way, way more than that. As January and the time for New Year’s resolutions came, I vowed to lose it and chose Weight Watchers as my vehicle. The closest meeting to work back then was downtown on Sumter Street so I chose that. I had no clue Kim was waiting there for me.

 

Dear Weight Watchers,

My name is Julie Turner and I am a writer on a yearlong quest called The Thank You Project. Once a week for the next year, I am thanking someone who quietly makes my life or my community better.

This letter is to someone who didn’t quietly change my life. She did it loudly.

When I first met Columbia Weight Watchers group leader Kim McElroy, I was an exhausted, nearly-middle-aged mother of two with lingering baby weight and serious love of General Tso’s. I went to my first meeting with the goal of losing 25 pounds. I had no idea I’d learn things that would change how I live and eat forever.

Kim is an incredible leader. She inspires you throughout your day-to-day life not just in your weight loss journey. She’s just the right mix of vivacious and fun with heaping sides of accountability and stick-to-itiveness. More than not letting you quit, she leads and teaches in a way that seems to eliminate quitting as an option.

Thanks to Kim I quickly gained the tools to shed the excess weight. Even better she taught me how to keep the weight off for good. Believe me, I’ve put this education to use plenty of times since I met my weight loss goal a few years ago.

Kim always says of Weight Watchers: “It works if you work it.” She’s right. But with an incredible leader like Kim in the equation, it works on a more powerful level.

Kim didn’t work to change my old habits. She instilled in me the courage, motivation and desire to develop my own new, healthier habits.

She’s an amazing asset to your program and lifelong ally to me. Thank you for bringing her into my life.

 

Sincerely,

Julie Turner

 

The Thank You Project is a yearlong Wordsmith blog project recognizing people who need to be thanked more often for their many contributions to our lives and communities.