Did you have to announce your weight in front of your classmates in your education classes?

The public weigh in at Weigh****chers was one of the reasons I quit going. I understand that they don't do it now, this was in the late 70's or early 80's so I've been told things have changed a lot. There is absolutely no reason to state your weight, to me it shows that they are no way enlightened. Why would any WLS group do this? We all know shaming doesn't work, why inflict more pain and trauma? I used to even refuse to be weighed at my doctors office. I wasn't in denial just couldn't take the humiliation and pain. I would kindly refuse and say that it is between me and my doctor and I don't feel comfortable disclosing it.

Good luck, and sorry you have to go through this.

I agree that this is fat-shaming.

If you want an "out" without making a fuss, what about something like, "Hi, my name is Roselane, and I'm down by 4lb since I started my surgery journey."

Thank you all so much for the support. Because you validated my concerns about this, I did end up telling the educator that I felt like this was fat shaming and she said that I could call and tell her my weight before class. I am happy that I had the nerve to speak up for what I felt was right, but the fact that so many of you commented on this does make me feel badly for others in the class that might have also been uncomfortable. I just hope that they consider changing this policy. The thinking seems to be that it's just a number, no big deal, we are moving forward. However, it is a big deal to me and I don't think it is a helpful practice.

Thanks again, so glad to have this form for support!

Good for you! This is an outrageous thing to ask of someone and it reeks of fat shaming. I am glad you stood up for yourself and hopefully others will do the same.

Why do you even need to tell her? Isn't between you and the doctor? Seems odd.

Liz

If their reason is that it?s just a number, please tell them to go ahead and pass that along to society, because I don?t think it got the memo.

I'm gonn go ahead and guess the group leader has never been obese.

I did not have to do that. I would not have complied. Perhaps you can tell how much your weight has changed but even that should only be shared if you want to. ("I lost 2 pounds this week!")

This whole thing just makes me angry. I am sorry the person running your classes is an asshole.

Sounds like a violation of Title II of HIPAA...The right to privacy. Does the facilitator report your weight loss progress to your insurance company or doctor? If so, he/she is transmitting privileged health information, therefore he/She must comply with HIPAA regulations. In other words...don't announce your weight to the class!

I'm sorry for your humiliation and I'm glad you've worked it out. Good luck on your journey!

I kid you not, I seriously wondered about that because I used to be a service provider and billed insurance. I was scared to death of violating HIPAA--those regs are no joke and they cover individually identifiable health information, which this is. The educator did say that we had to provide the info so it could be reported to insurance.

Someone should let this "educator" know about the violation. Also...what type of educator in the medical field doesnt know about HIPAA and the ramifications of violating the rules?!