This is the time of year when you cannot avoid seeing a bunch of advertisements for “weight loss” products, programs, diets and other potential interventions to help people lose weight. Some of these are well known and have been around for years including:
- Meal replacement programs such as Nutrisystems and Jenny Craig
- Online coaching programs such as Noom
- Telemedicine prescribing programs such as Calibrate
- Group meeting programs such as Weight Watchers
The reason why “weight loss” companies spend a ton of advertising bucks this time of year is because they understand that after the holiday season and accompanying weight gain, many people have their “New Year Resolution” to shed weight. The number of Google searches for “weight loss” skyrocket this time of year.
When seeking “help” for weight control, I, of course, cannot be unbiased as we offer what I believe is a great program here. However, I will try to step outside my personal bias and offer some insights as to how best to evaluate potential offerings for help in weight control. Please ask yourself these questions:
- Is the “program” sustainable, i.e. is this something that can be continued for a long period of time?
- Is the program/product promising “easy” weight loss, i.e. no work is required in terms of a dietary and exercise approach?
- Is there a support element to the program/product?
- How long has the program/product been around?
There are many more due diligence points that should be considered as you opt for help in your own weight control efforts.
Marketing hype goes a long way in swaying consumer behaviors. Having well-known movie stars or famous athletes detail their great successes with “before and after” pictures can be quite compelling. We are all vulnerable to wanting to believe in stories that make a difficult task become easy. Try to not allow yourself to be swayed into spending money on something that is ultimately doomed to fail.
