Many people would like to lose weight. In fact, nearly 50% of Americans attempt to lose weight each year.1 However, very few of these attempts at weight loss result in long-term success. There are several reasons why these weight loss attempts are often unsuccessful, including the cost, a lack of support, and an impersonal approach to weight loss planning. As a behavioral health doctor and health coach at Massachusetts General Hospital, I recognized that my patients would run into these barriers time and gain and set out to create a weight loss approach that would be affordable and that would provide a personalized roadmap to sustainable weight loss results.
After years of working with hundreds of patients and clients and after publishing several research studies, I curated my findings into the Weight Lost Approach, which helps people lose significant amounts of weight and keep it off.2 In partnership with one of my most successful clients, I’ve begun to share the methods behind the Weight Lost Approach in our book, Weight Lost: 5 Steps to Achieving Your Ideal Weight and Gaining the Life You’ve Always Wanted and in this blog.
In this article, you’ll learn about the barriers that most often stop people from achieving their weight loss goals and about how the Weight Lost Academy blog will offer ways to overcome these challenges. The barriers that regularly interfere with weight loss success include the expense of attempting to lose weight, a lack of support, and an impersonal approach to weight loss. Let’s explore these barriers by beginning with examining the expense associated with attempting to lose weight.
Barriers To Weight Loss
Expense
Attempting to lose weight by enrolling in a commercial weight loss program can be very expensive. In fact, a 2011 review found that the average cost of losing one pound of weight by using a commercial program was $79.3 This equates to $93 per one pound of weight loss in 2021 dollar amounts, which means you’re looking at spending nearly $2,000 to lose 20lbs. Now, you could justify this weight loss as being worth the money if you were guaranteed to keep it off, but unfortunately, the odds of sustaining the weight loss you achieved through the use of a commercial weight loss program are very low.
Commercial weight-loss programs may be expensive, but they can certainly help you lose weight in the short-term. However, these weight loss programs haven’t been shown to produce significant long-term results.4 As a result, the money you spend attempting to lose weight using a commercial weight loss program is nearly always wasted. In order to not waste your money chasing short-term results, I recommend creating your own weight loss plan that includes the proper amount of support.
Lack of Support
Attempting to lose weight on your own can be a challenge for many people. This approach requires that you keep yourself motivated, educate yourself on what habit changes will lead to weight loss, and hold yourself accountable. It’s not to say that this isn’t possible, you can certainly do all of these things on their own, but it is asking a lot of yourself.
Gaining outside support in the form of evidence-based recommendations and sharing your plans with others are both techniques that have been shown to help with goal achievement. Several commercial weight loss programs and clinics offer this type of support, but it comes at a price, and it is often impersonal. Additionally, expert advice that is prescriptive and delivered in a “one-size fits most” format isn’t very effective at helping people lose weight. Unfortunately, this impersonal approach is commonly used in an attempt to help people lose weight, but it is, in fact, a barrier to long-term success.
Impersonal Approach
Weight loss programs are designed for mass appeal. Due to this fact, these types of programs are forced to take a “one-size fits most” approach in an attempt to attract the greatest number of customers. Unfortunately, this leads to subpar results since the less specific a weight loss plan is, the less effective it will be.
Each person looking to lose weight has their own set of motivators, past experiences, and habits that need to be addressed individually in order to ensure long-term weight loss success. Additionally, people enter their weight loss journey with a wide array of knowledge regarding habit change, nutrition, and exercise. Providing people with the same educational experience and behavior change plan to follow often leads to wasted resources and boredom. However, personalizing your weight loss plan and deciding what you would like to learn more about can lead to significant and sustainable weight loss results.
How the Weight Lost Academy Blog Can Help You
It’s Free!
Access to weight loss support can be very expensive. However, the information shared through the Weight Lost Academy weekly email and blog posts is completely free. All you need is an email address and an internet connection to access evidence-based recommendations and personalized support.
In addition to receiving weekly blog posts and emails chalked full of helpful tips from the Weight Lost Academy team, you can also reach out to me with your questions and suggestions for future blog posts. I am happy to help address your concerns and make sure you are on the right track to achieve your weight loss goals.
Gain Access to Medically-Based Weight Loss Techniques
The Weight Lost Approach is guided by behavioral health principles that have been proven to help people lose and keep off significant amounts of weight.2 Access to these types of weight-loss approaches was previously limited to medical settings and weight loss clinics. However, as a Weight Lost Academy blog reader, you will be provided with weekly insights into these types of strategies so that you can use them yourself, without having to leave the comfort of your home.
Individuals who have used the Weight Lost Approach strategies have been shown to lose 150% more weight compared to people who received weight-loss advice from their primary care physician.2
Furthermore, when weighed nearly two years after initiating their weight loss plan, individuals who adopted the Weight Lost approach have maintained almost all of their weight loss.2 Part of the key to their success was creating a weight loss plan that was personalized to their needs and desires.
Provides Personal Support
When you enroll in a commercial weight program, your starting point is presumed to be the same as everyone else. However, the reality is that each person needs to identify their own road to weight loss success. For instance, some people may already be eating very well but need help creating an effective exercise routine, while others could be in search of figuring out the best ways for them to stay motivated to lose weight.
Since each person’s entry point is different, it is crucial that they gain access to personalized support. The Weight Lost Academy Blog does this by providing each of its readers with a free self-assessment Weight Lost Self Assessment. After completing the self-assessment, you will understand what weight-loss promoting habits you are already practicing and which new habits you could incorporate to reach your weight loss goals. Having this personalized information will allow you to read the blog posts that provide you with the most meaningful information and prompt you to reach out to me with specific questions.
Summary
Most people would like to lose weight; however, many barriers stand in the way of achieving weight loss success, including; cost, a lack of support, and the impersonal nature of weight loss programs. The good news is that the Weight Lost Academy blog can help you overcome these challenges. This blog is free to subscribers, provides a forum for ongoing support, and can help you create a personalized weight loss plan that allows you to achieve and sustain your goals. To subscribe to the Weight Lost Academy blog, please sign-up below.
References
1. Martin CB, Herrick KA, Sarafrazi N, Ogden CL. Attempts to lose weight among adults in the United States, 2013–2016. NCHS Data Brief, no 313. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. 2018. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db313.pdf
2. Sherman, R. P., Petersen, R., Guarino, A. J., & Crocker, J. B. (2019). Primary Care–Based Health Coaching Intervention for Weight Loss in Overweight/Obese Adults: A 2-Year Experience. American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine, 13(4), 405-413.
3. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/diet-plan-review-best-ways-to-lose-weight/
4. Gudzune, K. A., Doshi, R. S., Mehta, A. K., Chaudhry, Z. W., Jacobs, D. K., Vakil, R. M., … & Clark, J. M. (2015). Efficacy of commercial weight-loss programs: an updated systematic review. Annals of internal medicine, 162(7), 501-512.