Behind The Scenes of My Weight Watchers Success Story Shoot
/I. Am. Speechless. Okay people stopped laughing! I know it is hard to believe, but I am.
When I found out I was selected to have my story shared as a Success Story on the Weight Watchers website in August 2013 I was over the moon.
I've spent hours pouring over that section of the website and app. Reading people's stories and getting the motivation I needed to keep going.
As my social media life grew, I started actually meeting people who were on the website.
Like...
(Please click on their names to read their stories!)
And so many more!
Being chosen as a Success Story meant I would be traveling to New York City for a photo shoot and on-camera interview in November 2013.
I was psyched. Not only would I get to head to NYC, but I would get to see some of my favorite Weight Watchers ladies while there.
I took the train to NYC on November 7 and had a lovely time. It was WAY less stressful than taking the train and with security, etc of the airport it probably took me about the same amount of time and less hassle.
My girl Kitty picked me up at the train station and we headed to the hotel. We decided to enjoy the afternoon/early evening and walk to dinner with the lovely Weight Watchers ladies.
I have to give a big thank you to social media for connecting me with these lovely souls.
After a great night of laughter and stories, it was time to head to bed to rest for the next morning. I had to be at the shoot by 9am, which meant an 8am departure from the hotel.
I arrived to the studio and found out I was the first person of the day so I headed to wardrobe for them to fit me for an outfit. The stylist Amit took out a size 6 Calvin Klein skirt and I laughed out loud. I said "Sir there is NO way that is fitting on me." But he gave me a look and off to the curtain (aka makeshift dressing room) I went.
And you know what??
It freakin' fit!! I was in tears. A medium top and a size 6 skirt.
ME!!
After the outfit was set, I was sent to hair.
I'm not sure what the stylist thought of my need to take selfies, but I tried to explain to him that I was a blogger and needed to document the day. :P
After hair - where I explained to him I usually wear it in a bun that anything he would do would be greatly different -
Tad surprised at the poofiness
it was make-up time.
Now I am far too lazy to put on make-up and when I do it is basically foundation and some mascara and that is about it. So I let the make-up artist do her thang. She was SUPER nice and great to talk to!
While in the hair and make-up area, it was nice to meet the other folks being interviewed and photographed that day. Especially since they were usuals for the series so they knew a ton of my friends! :)
After a little snack time, it was finally time for the photo shoot.
Let's take a moment to check the shoes out.
Yeah I moved wicked slowly around the Studio so that I wouldn't fall ... but I almost did a few times.
The photo shoot portion was an all white part of the room. The job - stand on the X and do what the photographer said. Okay I think I can do that.
The photographer was SO sweet and really encouraging.
Let me tell you when I crossed my one leg over the other in this photo I almost fell over. Thank goodness there was someone off to my right there if I needed them. Hello klutz! :P
This was such a scary experience. It felt so out of my comfort zone. I mean there were like half a dozen people watching you stand there and pose, while looking at the shots on a laptop. I tried to just zone out the nerves and live in the moment. Because this was most likely a once in a lifetime experience so no need to waste it being scared/nervous.
The photographer even told me I was a natural, which really made me feel awesome. Now I'm not sure if she says that to everyone, but even if she does it still made me feel great.
After the photo portion was over - which was the shortest and most fun of the morning - I got another snack break. YAY! Before heading to the downstairs area to film the short video that attached to the Story.
The folks were nice enough to let me take the big shoes off for this and keep slippers on instead. :)
While the group worked on sound check, etc, I asked another helper to snap a couple of pics for me.
WAY TOO excited to have the scary shoes off. ;)
This portion was pretty straight forward. The editor of the Weight Watchers website, Mary, had already gone over what topics they would cover. Since I am a WW Leader and share my journey here on the blog, I tend to talk about these things all the time.
Once we wrapped up the video portion, I was free to dive back into my normal clothes - hello yoga pants and sneakers - and enjoy NYC.
I grabbed a quick bite, chatted with the editors/etc that were there and then headed out. It was about 1pm when I wrapped up and was couldn't believe how fast the time went.
It was one of the coolest experiences of my life and felt like a total rockstar the entire time. And hey the shots came out pretty darn well.
If you want to see the actual story and watch the video, you can click HERE to check it out. You do not have to be a Weight Watchers member to view the Success Stories.
Since the shoot happened so long ago (November 2013) and hit the website on May 26-27, 2014, it is so surreal to really see if on the site.
It takes me back to when I started this journey and I would look to those Success Stories for hope. Now I have the chance to give someone hope to give a healthy lifestyle a shot. It is an extreme honor.
It is tough to share my story at times, but the more response I get from people about it touched them or it made them feel like they weren't alone - makes it all worth it.
So once again thanks to Weight Watchers, Mary and the whole team for selecting me to share a story about little 'ol me!
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If you would like to read more about what I did in NYC that weekend, check out the whole recap HERE.
