The Skinny on Weight Loss Challenges

The Biggest Loser

Shows like the "The Biggest Loser" have successfully launched a new fitness trend, the weight-loss/fitness challenge. Look around. They're everywhere, and their popularity is growing despite the controversy surrounding the original show and its subsequent demise. 

The basic concept is simple. Individuals compete over a finite period of time to see who has the most dramatic body transformation as assessed via weight, body composition measurements, or both. It's pretty simple. You might even know someone who has participated in a local challenge.  

While many of these programs possess a number of positive attributes, they can also have negative aspects that get overlooked and that may be detrimental to successfully keeping off the weight if overlooked.

The Positives

• Challenges generally provide a basic level of structure and accountability, as well as a distinct beginning and end. As anyone who has ever tried to lose weight or get into shape knows, these are all good things.
• The very nature of challenges emphasizes a specific goal, which could be to lose X amount of pounds and maybe even win the challenge. Having specific and clearly defined goals is not only helpful but also essential when making change.
•  A challenge can also provide a source of ongoing motivation, or at least the good ones do. 
• They can be fun especially if you have a competitive streak and relish the idea of winning. This competitive environment can push you beyond your normal boundaries, catapulting you out of your comfort zone, which is often a necessary but difficult step in fostering meaningful change.
• Most provide a sense of community which can serve as an ongoing source of support, accountability, and motivation. After all, you're not alone. You are just one of many working toward a similar goal, facing similar struggles, and overcoming similar obstacles.
• Many challenges provide their participants with varying amounts of guidance when it comes to nutrition and fitness behaviors associated with weight loss. They may provide meal plans or specific workouts giving participants a well-defined road map to follow, increasing your chance of successfully arriving at your desired destination aka Body Transformation Drive.
• Though some can be as short as 21 days (or less), many have adopted a 12-week approach. This is significant for a number of reasons. One, it allows for a more gradual weight loss, which is generally healthier and safer. Two, a longer challenge makes it more likely that the "healthier" behaviors will persist once the challenge is over. Finally, while longer than a 30-day challenge (also popular), 3 months still feels relatively manageable, a time frame most people can commit to.
• A challenge can also offer participants a starting point, a path into making better choices in a way that successfully engages the average person. And we all have to start somewhere because like the saying goes, it really is half the battle.

The Negatives

• The intensity and style of the workouts are generally more of a one-size-fits-most approach. Unfortunately, this type of programming does not work for everyone including older participants, extremely unfit individuals (who are often drawn to such programs and arguably have the most to gain), and those with underlying health problems. This can result in some participants feeling overwhelmed or defeated from the get-go.
• While challenges may provide the necessary support and motivation some participants need, it may fall short for those who are struggling with significant barriers to change. Some people just need more.
• Because the programs have a distinct beginning and a distinct end,  participants may be under the illusion that they can effortlessly maintain their new bodies once the challenge is over. For example, some "losers" may not realize that keeping the pounds off is as hard as if not harder than losing them in the first place. Bottom line, many participants do not have a feasible maintenance plan.
• Once the challenge is over, the support, the accountability, the structure, and the motivation may suddenly all go away, leaving participants high and dry.
• At the end of the day, like many of the contestants on the "Biggest Loser," challenge participants may find that the weight creeps back on despite their best efforts. In that sense, these challenges may be no better than other weight-loss programs such as Weight Watchers, Nutrisystem, or Jenny Craig. This is not to say that these programs don't have value, just that alone, they may not be the long-term solution most of us are looking for.

Conclusion

Weight-loss challenges are not inherently good or bad, and their current popularity is most certainly a sign of the times. That said, a well-designed challenge can provide participants with support, motivation, and accountability. These are all good things when you're trying to make a lifestyle change. Their biggest weakness seems to be that like other weight-loss strategies they are finite, and probably too short to facilitate real and lasting lifestyle change. That is unless you continue to sign up for new challenges, which is certainly an option.

As a health and wellness coach, I see these fitness challenges as a tool that can be one part of multi-faceted strategy. The design is great for marketing as it appeals to the masses, but 12 weeks is just that, 12 weeks, and unless participants have a realistic after plan, it is likely they will eventually find whatever weight they lose.