Money for Weight Loss?
Studies have shown that (surprise!), people are motivated by money to start losing weight, and they will actually lose the weight if they are offered a money award for losing the weight. Heck, I’d lose five pounds if someone offered me a thousand bucks or something. Don’t know about if it were only $100, but for a grand, sure!
The study focused on companies that have offered their employees money for weight loss. The groups that were offered monetary compensation for reaching weight loss goals lost significantly more weight than groups who were not offered any sort of monetary gain at the end of the weight loss goal. They were offered things like increments of money for losing so many percentage points of body fat, or for every pound they lost, they would earn a certain amount.
The amounts of money were not really too significant in the piece about this interesting weight loss incentive from employers to overweight employees, so maybe it’s just the competitive side of people, that they want to out-earn their fellow dieters, that spurs on the larger weight loss in those that are promised financial gain from losing the weight and the body fat. There was no mention if diet aids like herbal weight loss pills would be allowed, although I am very curious whether that would deem any financial reward null and void or not.
Funny things act as incentives for all of us to lose weight. For one person, it may be strictly a health issue, while for others, it’s more of a cosmetic issue and they just want to look really good and impress their friends, or fit into those ittie bittie clothes. For me, it’s a combination. I’ll admit that I’m kind of vain, and I want to look good in the mirror when I’m standing there in my underwear and bra, but the bigger part of eating right for me now that I’m getting older is to feel my best, at my peak energy levels, and have my skin glowing and feel excited to be alive and tackle each day as it comes. That’s what’s important!
