Dallas County Living Well Magazine Spring 2015 | Page 43
goals and deadlines. In other words, financial incentives
help prevent procrastination by establishing a firm start
date, and help prevent quitting by establishing a firm goal
date. Financial incentives also make weight loss a lot more
fun and exciting by transforming the process into a game.
tion, you should consider taking the social element even
farther. Try writing a blog about your progress. Not only
will your readers help keep you seriously accountable,
but you may discover that being a great teacher is one
of the best ways to learn and improve your own success.
There are fantastic tools and resources available online for
setting up financial incentives. For its part, HealthyWage
allows participants to make a personal weight loss “bet”
with a payout of up to $10,000. You plug your weight loss
goal and timeframe into the HealthyWager bet calculator
to see the amount of the prize you can get (based on your
inputs) -- up to $10,000. If you achieve your goal, you win
the prize. If you don’t, HealthyWage keeps your bet. Fleming explains, “The double financial incentive is an incredible motivator and source of structure that most HealthyWager winners say is indispensable. Although HealthyWage
is most widely used by employees at big companies, the
HealthyWager betting program is available to everyone.”
5. Seek fellowship. When you tell people about your
diet resolution, be on the look-out for a dieting partner (or
group of partners). When you work on your diet resolution
with a buddy or group of friends or family members, you are
even more likely to accomplish your goals. You get all the
benefits of accountability plus the comfort and fun of knowing there’s someone waiting for you to exercise, compare
food and restaurant experiences, and share the ups and
downs of dieting. According to the American Psychiatric
Association, “Enlisting family and friends in the effort may
help.” One study shows that participants who do a weight
loss program with friends are more than twice as likely to
keep their weight off than those that try to do it on their own.
3. Do one thing at a time. Trying to stick to more than
one resolution creates a willpower diffusion that is almost
always a recipe for failure. Your weight loss resolution requires time, planning and lots of action items. The winding
road from plump to sexy is made of many cobblestones
that you have to lay down one at a time with lots of small,
frequent decisions (e.g., “this morning, I am going to skip
that second donut”). With all the good judgment and will
power those little decisions require, you simply won’t have
the time and energy for your other resolutions, too. You’re
booked solid! If you think your weight loss resolution isn’t
that big of a deal, you might be off track.
HealthyWage program statistics confirm the results of the
study. For example, HealthyWage tracks the extent to
which participants communicate with friends and teammates on their HealthyWage dashboards. There is a direct correlation between the extent of a participant’s social
messaging and the participant’s success. The company’s
metrics have proven that weight loss that is social is much
more likely to be successful. So, get a team together!
4. Tell everyone. Or, at least tell a few friends or family members about your endeavor. If you’re not willing to
tell someone about your diet resolution, you might not be
committed enough to succeed. When you tell other people
about your plans, a magical thing happens. You know that
your supporters are waiting to hear news of your success,
and you don’t want to let them down. Some researchers
believe that the social element is one of the most powerful
tools in your arsenal.
Plus, it’s important to have support -- i.e., people to brag
to when you succeed; people to talk to when you feel
like overeating. Talking is a great antidote to a desire to
binge or eat things that could get in the way of your success. If you’re really determined to achieve your resolu-
The Money Motivation Paradigm
HealthyWage.com has executed its popular $10,000 Team
Weight Loss Challenge and/or other of its novel “money motivation” diet and fitness programs for over 800 client organizations throughout the U.S. that collectively employ more
than three million employees. Large and small companies
are utilizing the company’s cash-fueled competitions, which
is understandable given multiple highly credible studies underscore the value of employing financial incentives and
peer support to motivate weight loss. The programs pro