Most of us are familiar with the concept of yo-yo dieting — that roller coaster of losing and gaining weight repeatedly over time. The assumption is that you never really lose the weight, and you always end up in the same place, maybe higher.
However, there are definitely people who do lose weight, even significant amounts, and keep it off. There are plenty of studies that show this, and more importantly, there are a number of things that these successful dieters have in common. So if you are planning to offer a weight loss program to your membership, you would be wise to include the following:
• Provide a method for participants to track their food intake. Most commercial programs have a way to do this because research has proven that people who track their intake are most successful at taking weight off and keeping it off. Offer diaries or journals for members to keep.
• It may seem obvious and something everybody should know, but ensure that your program requires participants to eat breakfast every day. It has been well established in theory and practice that people who eat breakfast daily manage their diet and their weight better.
• Require everyone in the program to exercise and record what they do everyday or to accumulate enough equivalent activity in their day. So if someone isn’t able to do a workout specifically in the gym, they could possibly wear a pedometer or other device to track how many calories they could be burning in their daily activity. Pedometers are relatively inexpensive such that everybody could afford one. It would also be a nice gift from your club!
• “Weigh-ins” work for a lot of commercial programs. Decide how that could work in your environment. I like to suggest that weight loss candidates have their own scale and weigh themselves once a week at the same time and under the same conditions. Some people require the accountability of being weighed by someone else. It keeps them honest and motivated. (Others are too shy, so be flexible on this one.)
• Be sure that the diet you recommend does not restrict calories too much. It’s important to establish what the individual’s daily metabolic requirement is and not prescribe a diet that is too far below their minimum. Depending on one’s activity level, their total calorie consumption per day should not be greater than a 300 to 500 calorie deficit. It’s not really necessary to go below that and to leave any higher deficit than that to a physician supervised program.
Utilizing these methods and behaviors in your program is reasonable and practical. It will encourage participation, and as members experience success, it will provide hope and inspiration to others.
Judith Samuels, M.A. is a certified nutrition and wellness consultant and master personal trainer at Sport&Health Clubs in the Washington D.C. Metro Area. She can be reached via e-mail at judi@judisamuels.com.
