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Home » Lose Weight » Would You Lose Weight If Money Were at Stake?

By Elizabeth Landau, CNN

You might want to lose weight, but the noticeable benefits seem so far off in the future that you continually procrastinate. You need a reason to get more fit right now how about money?

A new study in the journal Archives of Internal Medicine reinforces this idea that if money were on the line, you might start on a healthier path. Web and mobile tools are cropping up to help you do this yourself but first, a word about the study.

The study offered as much as $175 for people who met their goals during the intervention to which they were assigned. Researchers also offered a 20-week followup period, during which time participants could earn $30 to $80 if they kept on recording and sending their information. Money may have been a motivator, although the study did not examine this directly.

Researchers looked at 204 people who had several indicators of a need to change habits: They had low physical activity and a lot of sedentary leisure time. Their intake of saturated fat was elevated, and they had a low intake of fruits and vegetables.

Each person was randomly assigned a treatment: (1) increase fruits and vegetables, (2) decrease fat and leisure time thats not active, (3) lower fat and sedentary leisure, (4) eat more fruits and veggies and lower nonactive leisure time. Digital assistant devices helped participants monitor their activities. The study made use of mobile technologies and remote coaching for all participants.

Researchers found that the intervention resulting in the best healthy lifestyle benefits was the simultaneous increasing of fruits and vegetables and lowering of leisure time spent sedentary.

All participants got the same offer of money, so the central research question wasnt to see whether money would help people lose weight. But after the interventions ended, many participants continued improving during the five-month follow-up period, even though they were not asked or encourage to stay healthy during that time. About 87% of the 185 people who gave exit interviews said they definitely or somewhat tried to maintain their goals, the study said.

In fact, theres other evidence to suggest that money does matter. A 2008 study in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that financial incentives did get people to lose weight.

So how can you get money for losing weight if youre not part of a study like this?

Read this article:
Would You Lose Weight If Money Were at Stake?

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Home » Lose Weight » Would You Lose Weight If Money Were at Stake?