Motivation and weight loss

One of the biggest struggles I see people have is losing weight. At the same time, success at losing weight is one of the most public successes you can have. Lose 50 pounds and everyone knows about it. When I was a little boy I was what my mother lovingly referred to as “husky.” Once I hit seventh grade and started wrestling, I quickly lost 35 pounds and was never overweight again. But, possibly because of my earlier condition, I have always been especially interested in how people lose weight, and invariably after complementing a person on how good they look, I will ask what their secret is.

This may sound like a commercial, but in over 50% of the answers Weight Watchers is mentioned. Why is Weight Watchers so successful? I believe it is because of its effective use of motivation, in particular the second and third elements of motivation, successability (your confidence in your competence) and environment, especially social environment.

Let’s look first at how Weight Watchers positively impacts your social environment. Your social environment is comprised of the people and organizations that surround you or are available to you. It can include peer partners, role models, mentors, and people and organizations that teach skills and knowledge. From your social environment you get support, encouragement, experience, models, access to skill acquisition, and information.

When you join Weight Watchers you join one of the biggest, if not the biggest, organizations of people just like you, people for whom being overweight is or was a major issue in their lives. The gatherings are led by meeting leaders. These people, all of whom have lost weight with Weight Watchers and maintained that weight loss, serve as teachers, but also serve as proof that the program works and that you, too, can be successful.

You get support and encouragement from your fellow members in a caring environment. Members are provided information on many issues, such as stress eating and nutrition. Skills are taught, such as how to prepare healthy meals for the family, meals that will be enjoyed by the family yet serve your needs.

Even after you lose the weight, you can stay in the organization, fee free, so long as you maintain your healthy weight, maintaining that healthy social environment.

Your successability is also enhanced by this skill training, giving you confidence that you can achieve your goal. Your confidence is further enhanced by Weight Watcher goal-setting. You are encouraged to set as your first weight-loss goal 5% of your current weight. This is a goal that is attainable without a major struggle, at the same time being one of which you can be rightly proud, and which will therefore motivate you to achieve further losses.

The point system you follow in Weight Watchers tells you exactly what you need to do, thus achieving clarity, one of the two major aspects of successability. All you need to do is stay within your points range.

Weight Watchers is text book motivation.

If you have adopted strategies that have helped you either take off weight or maintained a weight loss, why not share them with other readers by leaving a comment below. Be part of their social environment, and help them get motivated.