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Meet up with the Raleigh Working Women’s Weight Loss Group

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Mary Hartman was getting tired of joining Meetup walking groups that advertised a beginner’s pace, then turned out to be anything but. “We’d get done and they’d say, ‘You’re too slow,’” says Hartman. Then, like Oscar Madison, she was shown the door and asked never to return. By January, she realized that if she truly wanted a group that walked at a beginner pace, she’d have to create one herself. Thus was born the Raleigh Working Women’s Weight Loss Group.

The group’s goal is simple: “to get you out of the house and moving at local parks and hiking areas.” The lone membership requirement: You must be more than 25 pounds overweight. And Hartman, who moved to the Triangle from Albuquerque, N.M., two years ago, guarantees you won’t be dropped.

It’s the supportive, social element of the group that Hartman pushes most. That’s because she knows that so much of being active and losing weight is about getting motivated — and staying that way. Her life, she says, has been a yoyo of getting psyched and getting in shape, then losing focus and getting out of shape.

Members of the Raleigh Working Women's Weight Loss group stretch at the mid point of a recent hike.
Members of the Raleigh Working Women's Weight Loss group stretch at the mid point of a recent hike.

“In high school I was in the second best shape of the girls in my class,” she says of her Michigan high school, with a class of 800. She didn’t play sports, didn’t need to: life on the family farm kept her in shape. Likewise when she went into the Air Force. When she left the service, though, her focus dwindled, her weight increased. After living in Albuquerque for a while, she regained that focus, started walk-running 4 to 6 miles a night, six nights a week with her dog, and lost 46 pounds.

“I hit my target weight, then started slacking off,” says Hartman.

She turned to Meetup groups because of the peer support: If someone’s expecting you to show up for a walk, you’re more likely to show. With her new Meetup, she gives group members plenty of opportunities to show. Monday through Thursday, the group meets at 5:15 p.m. at Shelley Lake to do two laps, or about five miles. Hartman says she set the time so members could come directly from work and not succumb to work fatigue or distracting coworkers who might, say, want to go out for dinner or a drink after work.

On Saturdays, the group does a longer hike. This past Saturday morning, for instance, they did the 6-mile Company Mill Trail at Umstead. Five hikers of varying abilities started, five hikers finished — together.

The group has 58 members. Browsing the club’s Meetup membership list, the top priority for most isn’t losing weight, it’s what Hartman is offering: motivation through a supportive group. Most members don’t know the good places in the Triangle to walk and hike, and they don’t know other women to hike and walk with.

“It’s an easy way to get to know people,” says member Maria Wall. Wall joined the group on day one and does two to three hikes a week with the Meetup.

Wall says the social component is a key element for not only getting to a workout, but through it as well. “When we get our mouths going,” she says, “it makes the time fly by.”

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To learn more about the Raleigh Working Women’s Meetup Group, go here.
To find a similar Meetup group in your area, go here and enter in the appropriate key words (“women,” “weight loss,” “exercise,” etc.) and the town where you live.

17 thoughts on “Meet up with the Raleigh Working Women’s Weight Loss Group”

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    your readers might be interested in. They’re live daily workouts, but they record them so
    they can be watched when you have time. I like these because I don’t get bored like I do with
    DVD’s. Every day they have a new workout, but it’s complimentary to the previous day’s
    workout. They’ve got a good mix of cardio and strength training. There are workouts for
    men, women, and teens. It’s like having a personal trainer in your own home.

  15. Hi I wanted to invite everyone to HealthySocial Thursdays at 101 Lounge in Downtown Raleigh.
    It’s November 18 at 7:30pm, and it’s all about women that are fit minded to socialize have fun and maybe even meet a work out buddy 🙂
    101 will have fresh fruit smoothies available for purchase so we can still have all the fun without the guilt. Everyone is welcome! The perfect girls nightout..
    RSVP at ibanesve@yahoo.com

    For more info:

    http://healthysocialthursdays.eventbrite.com/

  16. Today, I went to the beach with my children. I found a sea shell and gave it to my 4 year old daughter and said “You can hear the ocean if you put this to your ear.” She placed the shell to her ear and screamed. There was a hermit crab inside and it pinched her ear. She never wants to go back! LoL I know this is completely off topic but I had to tell someone!

  17. Hey everyone! I am also a wellness coach in the Holly Springs/Fuquay area. If anyone is looking for extra support or guidance, id love to help. I am kind of new to the area and looking to start up a walking/outing group at Harris Lake. Let me know if you are interested.
    Also I couldn’t find the womens group on MeetUp.

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