Would you lose weight for money?

People will lose weight for money, even a little money, suggests a study that offers another option for employers looking for ways to cut health care costs.

The research published in the September issue of the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine found that cash incentives can be a success even when the payout is as little as $7 for dropping just a few pounds in three months.

Unlike providing onsite fitness centers or improving offerings in the company cafeteria, cash rewards provide a company with a guaranteed return, the researchers said.

"They really can't be a bad investment because you don't pay people unless they lose weight," said Eric A. Finkelstein, the study's lead author and a health economist at RTI International, a research institute based in nearby Research Triangle Park.

The study involved about 200 overweight employees at several colleges in North Carolina, divided into three groups. One group received no incentives while the other two groups received $7 or $14 for each percentage point of weight lost.

For example, someone in the middle group weighing 200 pounds who lost 10 pounds, or 5 percent, would get $35.

Participants didn't get any help on how to lose weight. In the end, employees who received the most incentives lost the most weight, an average of nearly 5 pounds after three months. Those offered no incentives lost 2 pounds; those in the $7 group lost about 3 pounds.

Those in the $14 group were more than five times as likely to lose 5 percent of their weight - the amount research has shown to be clinically significant, according to the study.

Finkelstein and co-authors Laura Linnan and Deborah Tate, professors at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's School of Public Health, are currently analyzing data from a follow-up study that observed about 1,000 participants for a year. In that study, financial incentives were tested against a Web-based weight-loss program and changes in the office environment, such as healthier cafeteria food.

Linnan said more research is needed to determine the ideal dollar amount and whether incentives work in the long term.

"It's clear that one of the biggest challenges is to help people who lose weight keep the weight off," she said.

Plant worker Vonderahe Rivera said the financial incentives offered by her employer have helped her lose a total of 50 pounds and keep it off. Over the past five years, the O'Fallon, Mo.-based VSM Abrasives, which makes sandpaper, has been rewarding its 125 employees with cash for trimming their weight and an extra day off each year if they don't gain it back.

"The money is great and the day off is great," said the 51-year-old Rivera.

This year, she lost 25 pounds and got $125 when her employee team reached their weight-loss goal. She used the money for some new outdoor furniture. Being part of a group also keeps her motivated, Rivera said.

While there are some federal guidelines on offering cash incentives, the idea is relatively new and will likely require further study before many employers are willing to try such a program, said Dr. Jeffrey Dobro, a consultant with the human resources consulting firm Towers Perrin.

"To actually pay people for results is a little bit problematic ... if you don't give people an equal opportunity," he said.

To compensate, employers could offer similar incentives to staff who maintain a healthy weight, he said.

So far, the trend among larger companies has been to provide incentives for employees who do things like complete a health risk assessment or attend coaching sessions for weight management, said LuAnn Heinen, director of an institute that studies the costs and effects of obesity for the National Business Group on Health, which represents mainly Fortune 500 companies.

But Heinen said the study will be welcomed by employers who realize participation in other health programs remains low, or that they're paying for people to lose the same 10 pounds over and over again.

"I think over time companies will start looking for something with a little more teeth," she said.

Via www.wtopnews.com

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Weight loss success of a teacher

After Stacy Walker was told by her doctor she was a heart attack waiting to happen, the first thing she did was go to Starbuck's and order lemon pound cake and a hot chocolate.

"I just cried," Walker said. "I told my husband I had to do something."


Walker's doctor had prescribed pills to help aide the diet process, but she wanted to try Weight Watchers where she had previously had success.

"I was more than 200 pounds and five foot tall," Walker said.

Now, after about 40 weeks, the Stockwell Place Elementary School guidance counselor is a svelte size 6.

She said she gives a lot of the credit to the Weight Watchers program.

But even before she started the program, she tried a few things on her own.

"I gave up my habit of six cans of Coke per day and substituted them with 64 ounces of water daily, which I still do," Walker said.

"She's a Weight Watchers success story," said Stockwell Principal Tim Thompson, who works with Walker. "She looks great."

Walker followed the program and recorded her meals, drank the water and exercised 40 minutes, four days a week with a home cross trainer.

Now, she buys the Weight Watchers brand snacks and shares them with office members.

"I like the chocolate mint snacks," she said.

Besides losing her depression, Walker also found another health benefit.

She was diagnosed with plantar fasciitis and had to have surgery on her ankle, which made it hard to walk.

With the weight loss, she has been able to walk without pain.

"Don't get me wrong," Walker said. "I still get the occasional peanut butter dessert from Shane's, but now I do it in moderation."

It's also not an uphill process, she said.

"There were times when I gained a few pounds during the weight loss process," Walker said.

But, she said, it's now a way of life for me.

"I'm not the person I used to be."

How does her husband feel about her stunning weight loss?

"You know how men are," Walker said smiling.

Via www.shreveporttimes.com

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Weight loss success of Maggie Sorrells

No longer able to fit into a booth at a restaurant and too embarrassed to ask for seatbelt extensions on an airplane, Maggie Sorrells was desperate to lose weight.

The day she stepped on a hospital scale and realized she weighed 440 pounds she knew she had to do something.


Name: Maggie Sorrells
Age: 32
Hometown: Franklin, Tennessee
Occupation: Receptionist in doctor's office
Height: 5 feet 6 inches
Heaviest weight: 440 pounds
Current weight: 140 pounds
Pounds lost: 300 pounds

Defining moment

The moment I saw that I weighed as much as I did, it scared me, and I knew I had to do something about it.

How did you finally lose the weight?

Diet: Weigh Down Workshop, a faith-based weight loss program. I ate whatever I craved, but only when I was truly hungry, and then I ate a lot slower, so I could tell when to stop.

Exercise: Nothing out of the ordinary, occasionally I'd go for a walk, but never because I felt like I had to.

How long did it take you to lose weight?

Four years with two pregnancies within the same time period. One month after I lost 300 pounds, I became pregnant for the third time with my son.
How has this changed your life?

Drastically, the way I eat, the way I live my life. I am able to move better. I feel better emotionally and physically. I'm just a much happier person.

I love to hike and I could never go when I was big. I almost killed myself going a half-mile. My chest would hurt and I would think I was having a heart attack. Just after we had our daughter, we went hiking all day and climbed rocks.

I also love the beach. I'm no longer ashamed to go to the beach or wear a bathing suit.

Do you have any tips for other people who want to lose weight?

Yes, don't think about how much weight you have to lose because you'll get overwhelmed and discouraged. Set small goals, like 15 pounds. There were times I wanted to give up and there were days I felt like I couldn't do this. Food was my drug. Take [weight loss] in small increments because when you lose 15 pounds you'll be excited and before you know it you'll lose 50.

Perseverance is most important. If you mess up, especially in the beginning you're going to slip. Don't say, "I'll start over Monday." Start over right now. The worst enemy is if you give up. What got me to the end, to losing 300 pounds, was persevering. On days I wanted to eat the whole bowl of something -- I had to talk myself through it. The truth was, I really wasn't hungry. Food is so much better when you're hungry. Andy, my husband, eats what he wants to eat. But instead of eating an entire gallon of ice cream, he'll just have a scoop of ice cream.

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