NEW YORK, Sept 19 — Angela Dunn, 33, is a personal coach and receptionist for Weight Watchers International in College Station, Texas.

Q: What role do you play in coaching Weight Watchers members?

A: My main objective is to listen to and support them. Sometimes it’s by phone, sometimes in person, sometimes through our chat function in real time. I discuss with them how to plan ahead, like bringing grapes to snack on during the day. I also encourage people to stay active and moving.

Q: Can you give an example of how you coached someone?

A: One member scheduled coaching sessions with me throughout her vacation to hold herself accountable. It was hard for her being around family and friends and eating out. We talked about different restaurants she wanted to eat at and who would be with her. I helped her decide to share meals, or portion it and ask for a take-home container.

Q: What is the hardest part of your job?

A: Helping people tune out the negative feedback, sometimes even inadvertent, that they get. They hear people say, “You don’t need to lose weight.” Or they encounter what I call the food pushers, people you’ll meet in the workplace kitchen, for example, who say, “Oh, you can eat that.” Or others who tell them diets don’t work.

Q: What can you offer people as motivation?

A: My own example. By the time I was 27, when I first joined Weight Watchers as a member, I weighed 224. At 5 feet 6 inches tall, I was dangerously overweight. Then, with much more attention to what and how much I ate, I was — and am — able to control my weight. It took a little more than a year to reach my goal weight of 150.

Q: What turned you around?

A: My children. I wanted to be a better role model for them. As they got older, and much more active, I felt I didn’t have as much energy to keep up with them. And I’m a single mom so it was all on me.

Q: What’s a typical before-and-after diet for you?

A: Before: Fries, burgers, chicken nuggets, pasta — mostly store-bought food or fast food. For myself, lunch was often ham and cheese and mayonnaise on white bread. Now it’s turkey with mustard, romaine lettuce, spinach or alfalfa sprouts with bell peppers on whole wheat or multigrain. Dinner varies but usually salad is the main entree. I’ve learned to prepare healthier meals that don’t break my budget. — The New York Times