Social Media for Social Good

If you?ve read my before story and journey to now, you know that Weight Watchers is what got me to my goal weight.

Then:

Now:

I totally believe in the WW program and even worked for them 4 years. Following Weight Watchers taught me so much about balance, health, and ultimately, myself. I made great friends, helped others reach their goals, and had the chance to participate in their Lose For Good campaign, which (I believe) is their best idea yet.

Two years ago, I was working with WW and leading a meeting during their first ever Lose for Good campaign and it was such an amazing thing to be involved in. Our meeting lost over 100 lbs in the time span and we donated over 100 lbs of food to our local food bank ? helping both our own communities and these organizations that help all around the world, to places that we may not be able to reach on our own.

According to WW, getting healthy and losing weight means fighting two global epidemics ? hunger and obesity. This is thanks to Weight Watchers? third annual Lose for Good campaign, a program that partners members, online subscribers and charitable organizations to help fight world hunger.  Between September 5th and October 23rd as members lose weight, Weight Watchers will donate up to $1 million to two leading hunger fighting organizations ? Share Our Strength and Action Against Hunger. The more awareness generated, the more Weight Watchers will donate to their two partner charities.

And, on top of Lose for Good, WW is also holding a  Lose-A-Palooza today!

Lose-A-Palooza event runs one day only ? September 14th, TODAY ? and its objective is to drive as much social media awareness as possible for Lose For Good.

For every mention of ?Lose For Good? made on September 14th through blogs, Twitter, Facebook, check-in via foursquare, or a ?Lose-A-Palooza? Twibbon to your profile picture, Weight Watchers will donate $1 to Share Our Strength and Action Against Hunger (yep it?s that easy!) ? up to $60,000.

Today, they?ll also be using the hashtag: #LoseForGood to help spread the word and raise funds.

If you want to find out more about Lose-A-Palooza and Lose for Good, you can also visit loseapalooza.com or weightwatchers.com/loseforgood to get the details and encourage others to get healthy and give back.

It?s still crazy to me that we have these two extremes in such big numbers ? hunger and obesity. There are countries where almost no one has enough to eat on a daily basis, and yet, we are given the choice to ?supersize? just about any meal we order here. We are averaging the highest average weight in this country?s history, but we still have people that are homeless and may not have a meal for another week. This situation needs to be balanced, and I?m going to do anything I can to help.

So spread the word!

Do something good yourself, whether it?s tweeting about this or finding your own way to pay it forward.

If you have a local food bank, donate! Food banks are suffering, thanks to the economy, so every little bit helps.

Challenge for the day:

Pay it forward in some way today. Smile as you?re passing someone in the hallway, hold the door open even if someone is still 20 steps away, pay an extra $5 at Starbucks for the next person in line.

The little things matter. Don?t ever believe that they don?t.