There's a lot that WW does NOT want you to know - and Randi Cox is here to tell us!
Randi is a former WW coach who now helps women break free from the diet mindset and develop confidence in their bodies, so they can Stop Weighting and Start Living. She is on a mission to help women empower themselves to live their lives to the fullest regardless of their size.
Additionally, Randi hosts a podcast called "Life is too short for Weight Watchers" which offers inspiration and guidance for individuals who are looking to improve their body image and relationship with food. Because your body was never the problem!
Follow Randi on Instagram
Read my full Weight Watchers Diet Review here
Topics covered: 👇
LEARN MORE
🔥 My Signature 4-Month Program, Nourished & Free
📲 Follow me on Instagram (you'll get to know me pretty quickly!)
📖 Check out my Blog for tons of helpful articles
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⭐️ Loved this episode? Leave a 5 star rating on Apple podcasts or Spotify (thank you!)
💌 Share this episode with a friend who you think will love it
📌 Subscribe/follow the show so you never miss an episode!
There's a lot that WW does NOT want you to know - and Randi Cox is here to tell us!
Randi is a former WW coach who now helps women break free from the diet mindset and develop confidence in their bodies, so they can Stop Weighting and Start Living. She is on a mission to help women empower themselves to live their lives to the fullest regardless of their size.
Additionally, Randi hosts a podcast called "Life is too short for Weight Watchers" which offers inspiration and guidance for individuals who are looking to improve their body image and relationship with food. Because your body was never the problem!
Follow Randi on Instagram
Read my full Weight Watchers Diet Review here
Topics covered: 👇
LEARN MORE
🔥 My Signature 4-Month Program, Nourished & Free
📲 Follow me on Instagram (you'll get to know me pretty quickly!)
📖 Check out my Blog for tons of helpful articles
SHOW SOME LOVE
⭐️ Loved this episode? Leave a 5 star rating on Apple podcasts or Spotify (thank you!)
💌 Share this episode with a friend who you think will love it
📌 Subscribe/follow the show so you never miss an episode!
Welcome back to the Nourished and Free Podcast. If you're not already following the show, be sure you hit the follow buttons so that you never miss an episode. As a reminder, this is where we talk about how to heal our relationships with food, overcome things like binge eating and emotional eating and chronic dieting.
And so a big part of that is actually talking about these fad diets. And so if you haven't already listened to my episode from March 14th about Weight Watchers, I highly recommend it. It's my full review on Weight Watchers. And as I was recording that episode, I was thinking like, man, I wish that I could just be a secret agent and go undercover and be a coach for them so that I could just learn the ins and outs of how this, how this company is really run.
And so after I recorded that episode, I thought of Randi Cox. Randi is somebody who I've connected with on Instagram and she is a former Weight Watchers coach, and I thought, who best to hear the inside scoop on Weight Watchers from than Randi? So I'm really excited for you. To hear this conversation with, with her for this inside perspective on what Weight Watchers is really like.
Randi actually hosts her own podcast too. It's called Life is Too Short for Weight Watchers, which I love, and it offers inspiration and guidance for individuals who are looking to improve their body image and relationship with food. Because let's face it, your body was never the problem and Randi's here to remind you of that.
So before I dive into this episode, just a quick reminder that I have no idea if you enjoyed this episode unless you actually tell me. So you can do that in a few ways. You can leave a rating on Apple Podcast and I think you can, on Spotify two, you can actually write a review as well if you really want to tell me how you feel and you can come over into Instagram and you can send me a direct message.
I got the link to my Instagram and the show notes. I'd love to hear your thoughts on this podcast, especially this episode. Okay. Without further ado, welcome to the show. Randi.
Thanks for having me. I'm so excited to be here. I am
super excited to have you here. I don't know if you know this, but I just did a full dietician review on Weight Watchers a couple months ago, maybe a month ago now.
Anyway, I did like an article on a podcast, the whole shebang, and I have had a lot of clients come to me. Post breaking up with Weight Watchers and I just was like, I know this is a really horrible thing, but once I really did a full review, I was like, oh my gosh,
there are so many red flags. I can't count them.
Yeah. So
share with me. What was the first time, or I guess, what led you to starting Weight Watchers in the first place and what was that first time like?
Yeah. Um, so I think like what ultimately led me into the meeting room, um, I was at my cousin's wedding and we got photos taken and I was the biggest one out of all my cousins and.
I'd always heard my grandma tell me like, you're bigger than your cousins. You need to be smaller. And like our bodies were constantly compared. So when I saw that picture, like right lay down in front of me, I was like, oh yeah, okay. So I like searched a few different diets and like went on and did like the intro and Googled them all and Weight Watchers was the one that promised me the most.
And there was like scores of happiness in the smaller gene size and. We all know it's not actually a diet. I say sarcastically, and they sold it as this very easy, maintainable lifestyle. Like you just have to track your points and you're good to go and you'll be happy and healthy and confident. And I really was like, yeah, this is what I wanna do.
So I joined, um, I was a very religious follower of the program. I tracked all my points, I drank all my water. I checked off all the little boxes I needed to check off. So I was brought into an open house to speak. And I mean, I am an extrovert. I love talking in front of people. So I was like, yeah, okay. And I shared my journey through weight loss and shared all the glamorous parts about it and.
Then afterwards the manager was like, how would you like to work for us? And in my wildest dreams, I woulda was like, oh my gosh, you want me because I'm pretty and thin and I did it and I'm so successful and yes, okay, I'll work for you. So I ended up working for them for close to 10 years, was my stint, working with them.
And yeah, I just thought to myself like, how committed can I be like. If I work for them, there's no way I'll gain my weight back. And so it really became like my life's purpose to be thin. And I often say like I was the poster child for Weight Watchers. My face legitimately, they used my face for advertisements and I became the poster child and it was.
Like my full-time job to stay in this body and stay thin and it really felt like I was like just the epitome of health and just like this super confident person and slowly over time that like. Chipped away at my soul really. I ended up like as science and our bodies do gaining weight back. And then I like doubled down and I started working another meeting and I took on another workshop because if I was doing it twice a week, there was no way I could gain the weight back.
And yes, I did start gaining weight back. So then I started doing like paleo on top of Weight Watchers. And then I started making like a keto Weight Watchers hybrid diet and like, Just was constantly in this pursuit of thinness.
Yeah. Something you said was so powerful. You said It became my full-time job to stay thin.
Yeah, that's a lot of pressure.
I. Yeah, and like we as Weight Watchers leaders, um, or WW coaches, we had to actually weigh in and submit our weight to higher ups once a month. No. So you had your goal weight and we had to submit it, and once a month you submit it, and if you were like two pounds above, you were supposed to set up a meeting with your manager to like have your game plan on how you were gonna get back to your goal weight.
And I usually weigh in on Saturday mornings. That was when my workshop was. And like my Friday nights were terrible. My friends would all be out having parties and I'd be like, let me just bring my chickpeas and my water and not have any fun. Or like, I would miss pizza nights cuz I was like, oh my God, the sodium will make my weight fluctuate so much for the morning.
So like, I did not have a life any Friday nights. I missed out on so much stuff. Mm-hmm. Cause it was my job. I was, I love spin, I love yoga, but I was doing like, I did a 45 minute yoga class and a 45 minute spin class every day. And then I would go to work, I would come home from work. I would run 5K probably three or four times a week.
Like Sundays would spend four or five hours measuring and weighing and prepping. And I was like it. It was a full-time job, like if you calculated all the hours I spent maintaining this body. It was a full-time job.
So it was supposed to be part-time, but really it was like you're working probably full two, two full-time, time jobs.
Right? Yeah. Yeah. Man. That is like the fact that you said they had you submit your weight to your managers. I got chills all over my body. Experiencing like secondhand trauma, the concept of that, I mean, how
did that make you feel? Like it was like living in terror essentially, because like, and yeah, it was a part-time job.
So I did two meetings a week on top of my full-time job. Um, and in those two meetings a week, like you had to be on, you had to be thin. There was such a pressure and like, Yeah, like as I'm saying it now, I can just like feel the anxiety of like how I constantly felt. Um, and like we lied so much like, because I have to be like, oh my gosh, I'm pointing to above what I'm supposed to be.
And we'd like make deals as other Weight Watchers leaders to like fake our sign offs and submit our weights falsely. Cuz it was just like, it was so terrifying to like have to admit that you failed, which, You didn't, but like that you failed the program that you were like 0.2 above where you were supposed to be like it.
It was such anxiety inducing and it, it stole so much of my life.
Wow. So even if it was only 0.2 pounds above the agreed upon goal weight range, they would still have a meeting with you? Yeah.
I never ended up having a meeting because I usually would. Yeah, I made
some numbers, bargains,
um, and I, like my territory manager was pretty lax and we'd just be like, Hey, I know I'm up, but like I'll work on it.
I'll add an extra run in. I'll drink some more water like, You would always be like, here's my weight and here's a million excuses of why it is that way. When you submitted like it, it was a such a terrible way to live.
Yeah. Which is interesting because like you were talking about how the appeal of Weight Watchers for you personally, and I think for a lot of people is.
This idea that it's easy to track points, it's easy to make this your lifestyle, it's just easy. But really it's not to try and keep up with all of these things. And I mean, at the end of the day, did you really find that tracking points was easy? Maybe you did, but I'm, I'm curious what your thoughts on that are.
I feel like in the beginning when you start out, it's like a honeymoon phase and it's exciting and you're like, oh, I got my fun little tracker in my new little book. So my shiny calculator and now, now it's phone app, but like, it's like, ooh, look at all these fun things that I get. And you are in like this honeymoon phase and it is like, I think it does come easy at the beginning cuz it's a, it's an excitement and you're like, I'm gonna do all these great things for myself.
And so I think. People have great intentions of doing these things, and it's so exciting, but then it doesn't, it only can go so far and that excitement can go so far. And then eventually you're like, oh my God, I have to track, I have to do this. And yes, like the actual act of typing in a piece of food in an app is not difficult, like that actual action, but the intention behind it and the thoughts you have behind it and the like, The weight that number has on who you are.
Like it just gets so tied up into who you are as a person. So the actual tracking of points is easy. Like anyone can open a phone app and put it in, but there's so much. That weighs on that.
Yeah, it's, it's maybe tactically easy, but emotionally it's not. And also pretty time consuming too, once you kind of add up all of that.
Oh, yeah. Like full-time job, like Yeah. Getting your skill out and measuring and weighing and, oh man.
Yeah. Yeah. You mentioned that they brought you on to be a speaker because you were a lifetime member. Can you explain more to the audience What. A lifetime member is at Weight Watchers or ww. Yeah,
so once you reach your goal weight, which is based on a calculation, has nothing to do about you, um, once you reach this like elusive goal weight number, um, you become a lifetime member and you stop paying for weekly meetings and then.
If you gain the weight back, which everybody does, um, you don't have to pay the registration fee again. Uh, but my theory was if I work for them, I'll never have to pay again and they can pay me and I'll just like being in here once a week, I'll just be thin forever.
Mm-hmm. I've had clients Tell me about the requirements to maintain that weight.
Is it a two pound range or something like that?
Yeah, so when you and the program, like I, I've been out of it for three years, so it could be very different now, but Okay.
I was gonna ask you that, so that's good to know. Three years. Well, I
guess more like four now. Time flies. Um, but yeah, so once you hit the goal, you have a six week time to like lay with your points and see which points allow you to stay within a two pound range on either side, which.
So when we talk about like maintaining weight, you're still forcing yourself to stay within a range. It's not like you hit your goal weight and like your body's like, okay, this is where I am. Like that's garbage. Um, so you have these six weeks to play and then you have to stay within that two pounds on either side range or then you get charged for the week.
Wow. So it's
a lot of pressure. No kidding. Yeah. It's like my money's on the line here.
And not only money, but like it's a very public open space to weigh in. Like, Hmm. It's like public shaming almost. Like you stand on the scale and everyone knows like whether you've gone up or down, and then like people just get so embarrassed, which Yeah, it's like publicly shaming.
That really is, I can't think of a worse way to encourage somebody to be healthy.
Yeah. And it's the farthest thing from health, like Right. Um, when I was. On my maintenance, I was like, I wanna see how low I can go. Like I made it a challenge to myself and my doctor actually told me, she's like, you need to stop.
Hmm. Like you have lost so much weight. You are extremely unhealthy on the other side, and like your body is gonna stop functioning, so you need to stop. And I was like, but I really wanna hit this number on the scale. Like, yeah, it had nothing to do with health. And then I went and shared that. My doctor told me that in a meeting room and I got a sticker for it, and I got applauded for it.
Mm. So like it's the farthest thing from health.
Yeah. Wow. That's really powerful. Even though your doctor was like, you gotta stop the community, the Weight Watchers community was like applauding you, rewarding you, recognizing you. Yeah. For being like clinically unhealthy. Yeah. Love it.
So what
was your breaking point, I guess? What kind of made you question the system and made you wanna get out? Yeah,
so I had always thought because like I. I was a leader. I was the only one having these struggles. I was the only one that like Googled restaurant nutrition value. Like I was the only one.
And slowly after time I started seeing like all these members, like we had one member in my meeting who was like, I haven't been to a restaurant in over a year. And everyone was like, good job. And I was like, wait, what? Like that's, that's not okay. Like we're not living. And so slowly after time and I'm like, I worked with thousands of women through this program, and men, but mainly women, but thousands of them, and like I can count on my hand one hand how many people hit their goal weight and maintained it like, hmm.
And the CFO F of Weight Watchers actually came out, a former CFO F, and said, 84% of people fail and that's how their business stays. Like, keeps going, oh man. So a former CFO F has actually been quoted saying it has an 84% fail rate. So I was slowly starting to see all these things and I could see the.
The body image part of it, and like how the more people lost weight and myself included, the more I lost. I hated myself. I hated the way I looked. Everything became something to fix, something to change, and my worth got so tied up in my waist size and like if I, I was a better human if I could wear a smaller pair of jeans.
And so I then found out I was pregnant and was like, I never want. This future being to have to feel like they need to step foot into a meeting room. And I was like, this mama bear overdrive protection of this like little tiny group of cells in my body that was like, I. This being is never like, I don't ever wanna perpetuate that feeling that their body is not gonna be enough.
And I also had to start eating when I got pregnant cuz I was not feeding myself enough. So I, I remember I gained like, it was like 15 pounds within my first few months of being pregnant because I was, had to eat. And it was like, my doctors were like, what are you doing? And I was like, I'm not dieting anymore.
Like I'm actually gaining weight. And so I. Like I remember that and I was like, I have to eat. I have to protect this little thing. From feeling this way. And I was like, oh my gosh, if, if I'm okay with my future child not going into a meeting room, like why am I still putting myself in this? Why is it okay for me to be doing?
And it just was kind of like a huge slap in the face, like, what the heck am I doing? And then I was like, no, I'm done. I'm not doing this anymore. And um, so I stopped going to meetings and I was. Leaving anyways for maternity, and I was like, okay, I'm dad and this is not a thing I'm gonna be part of anymore.
But then it was like, Hey, what the heck do you do now? Like for so long, for so many years we've been told that Ben equals health. So if I'm not pursuing a diet, what am I supposed to do with my life? Like, and so it's been a very interesting journey over the past little bit of like rediscovering what life is and making peace with my body at a different size and post-pregnancy and aging and all that stuff.
So, yeah. I love that you brought up how that was a slap in the face to realize I'm so protective over how you said a tiny little bundle of cells and I never want that, who I haven't even met yet. You know, I don't want that tiny. Like embryo peon of a human. Ever experienced that, but yet I'm willing to like shame myself into that type of environment.
And I think that's like, that in and in and of itself is so powerful and I think women need to hear that if you're willing to, or I guess if you don't want. Your child to go through that, and you don't want them to feel like their weight determines their happiness and their worth, and they need to diet, then why are you okay telling yourself that, you know?
Yeah. It's crazy and that I get that question a lot now, like as a confidence coach, people are like, well, how do I instill body confidence in my daughter? And I'm like, you need to figure it out on your own first. Like that's, that's exactly it is like you need to believe it about yourself and become a role model that embodies this like acceptance of your body and being able to live your life outside of a scale.
100% because they pick up on what they see, not necessarily what you say. And it's, you know, we all have stories of things that women have said that were adults when we were kids that stuck with us and made us, made us internalize this idea that, oh, I should earn my food or I have to fit into jeans in order to be attractive, or whatever it is.
And yeah, I think that's, uh, I get that question too, and I'm like, If they're a client of mine, I'm like, you're already doing it. You know? You're already working on it. Yeah.
And it like, it's just such a normal thing, like not normal, but normalized in our society to like, yeah, like that's what you're supposed to be doing is you're supposed to be dying.
You're s dieting, you're supposed to be pursuing thinness at all costs. And like that's what we are told and that's what we're meant to believe. So like, It is, it is scary to come out of that and go to the other side and do the work, but I'm so glad I did it for my little girl. Yeah. And for me, but right,
for her too.
Oh, it's beautiful. And, and it is scary. I think that's important to, to note is the EV or the transition from dieting that, I mean, that really becomes something that makes you feel safe. Seeing those numbers on the scale or pursuing, even just pursuing those numbers on the scale makes you feel like.
Purpose driven and I've, I've got a system and I'm working on my health and I'm doing the right thing. And so to take it away is really intimidating for a lot of women. And as you said, you're a confidence coach now. What's kind of like one of the things that you do to help your clients make that transition?
I know there's probably a lot of things, but like what, what is one of the main things that you tell your clients or anybody, any woman that's coming off of dieting after. Using that as a source of identity and even safety.
Yeah, so my like the main thing through my coaching is I help women empower themselves to detangle their waistline from their worth.
Like you don't, they don't have to exist together. And so I am a big believer in ER of body neutrality. Like you don't have to love your body, you don't have to enjoy your body to live. A magical life, like I am a body and confidence coach, and there are days where I wake up and see my naked body outta the shower and I'm like, oh my God, I hate my body.
But those thoughts don't, they don't spiral anymore. They don't rule my life. They don't lead to a binge eat or I. Like stress exercise. I'm like, okay, yeah, I know I'm allowed to have bad days. I can meet it with compassion and I can go on and exist in the world.
Yeah. I, I really love that you brought up the neutrality piece of things and that you don't have to be obsessed with your body.
I think that's, um, you know, when we swing from chronic dieting and body hate, so to speak. We try to go into, okay, well what's the opposite of that? It's body positivity. And then we start to follow all these hashtags and creators and stuff that are all, all gung-ho about everything and everything about their body, which can be helpful for the healing process.
But I almost feel like. It's very unrealistic, and we start to set ourselves up for this like new set of expectations of like, well, now I have to be like that, and that's my new goal. So then we're just setting ourselves up to feel like a failure all over again because it's actually so hard to get to that place.
And what we see on social media with these body positive people, depending on the creator, obviously. Is that they're just like confident all the time no matter what. And that's so hard to get to. And so I love that you take the neutral neutrality approach as I do because it is way more realistic to get to a place where it's just like I.
You know what? I don't feel great today about my body, but I'm not gonna spiral and I'm also not gonna beat myself up because I don't like, I'm not obsessed with myself either taking boudoir photos every single day, you know, like, you know what I mean? Like I think that positivity space can be so helpful in your healing journey.
But sometimes like we really just need to go neutral, and that's way more attainable, you know? Yeah.
And like I've heard of people that are like, I just like, I look at myself every day in the mirror and I just tell myself I'm beautiful and I'm telling myself how pretty I am, and then I'm like, and how does that feel?
And people are like, well, I feel like a failure. Yeah. Yeah. Like that's it is that we like try and convince our brains and to like, we're create, trying to create these new neural pathways in our brains and our brains like, heck no. That's way too far out of our comfort zone. That's not safe at all. And then our, we feel like failures once again.
So yeah, that's like I really lie into the neutrality and I think like when you don't see your body as good or bad, but as like in a vessel to experience life, like it's here to, your body is here so you can go and feel the five senses of life and just go forth and enjoy and like, it doesn't have to be good
or bad.
Yeah. I love that. I do wanna backtrack. I meant to ask you, when you become became an official coach for ww was there any training involved, any kind of certifications or whatever that, um, that they wanted you to
do? I'm laughing because yes, there was, um, I think it was two days in a hotel conference room, learning how to ask open-ended questions that like legitimately the biggest qualification you had to work with 'em was that you were thin.
Like that's it. And like, I don't know if this is true, but I've heard rumors of people being approached to work for certain weight loss companies just because they're thin and like had before and after photo. Um, and that like, that's it. That was the biggest thing. So I feel like, yes, it was two days in a hotel room.
I. In like a conference room where we got taught how to like ask open-ended questions and then we had to learn like the structure of Weight Watchers. So no, there's no nutrition advice, there's no dietetics, there's no none of that. Yeah, you're literally a thin body in front of a room.
Yeah. You know, I was suspicious that that was gonna be the answer, but I needed to hear it from the source.
Yeah. And I, like I said, I've been out of it for four years. It could be very different, but I would, I would bet not.
Yeah. Randi, I mean, you've spilled so much tea already with like the 84% stat and the, the fact that you have to report to your managers what your weight is and that. All these things, but do you feel like there's anything else that Weight Watchers does not want us to know?
I can't really think of anything off the top of the head. The most, like the biggest thing I do people get shocked about is that I had to weigh in. Yeah. And then like when people are like, oh my gosh, you had to weigh in to have your job. And I'm like, well, you're weighing in for life right now. And I think that's what we do.
Like, so if you heard that and you're still stepping on a scale like. That's what essentially you're doing is like you're stepping on the scale to see whether you can go have a good day or not. So like me weighing in for my job is like the same thing, so I just want people to like connect that. But yeah, the weighing in and then get that former C F O that just kinda like let loose the stats.
Yeah, that was a great, great. Great
share. I wish that the, I wish that that would happen for all of these companies, Noom, opt via. Like you gotta know that they've got similar stuff, they're just not saying it yet. I just want to hear it so badly.
Yeah, and like I said, like I, I was good at my job. Like I towed the, the line, I did everything I was supposed to do.
I'm a very, like, I'm a coach by nature, so like I can coach people. So like having thousands and thousands of people work with me and like I said, very little people could reach their goal weight. So you are not
feeling, I think that's such an important mindset shift because we really are told that it's our fault.
Even like with your managers and, and just the company saying like, Okay. When you go outside of your weight range, you tell us what you are going to do to fix it. It's like they're instilling that belief in you that it's your fault and that it's your problem and it's a problem you gotta fix. Yeah. Which could, could not be further from the truth.
Well, this has been so good and I am. So excited for people to listen to this. You have no idea. Um, so thank you so much for your time. I would love to know what you're working on that you would like to share with the audience. How can they find you? How can they connect
with you? Yeah, so on Instagram, my handle is Randi Cox coaching, and I'm gonna be just off my microphone.
I'm gonna be launching, um, a whole bunch of like mini. Courses on this, on how to ditch your diet, how to be confident. And they're gonna be super reasonably priced, super accessible, and like, we're just gonna do some coaching. We're gonna do some one-on-one to get you feeling better about your body. Not necessarily better, but more neutral about your body, but that you can go and and stop waiting and start living.
I love it. Well, thank you so much for your time, Randi. It was such a joy to have you on the show and, um, I'm excited to hear the feedback on this episode.
Yeah. Thank you for having me.