Sandra and Laura Moffett have lost a combined 230+ pounds.
When it comes to losing weight, getting fit or just about anything that requires loads of commitment and willpower, it helps to have a buddy do it with you. Laura and Sandra Moffett can attest to the benefits of partnership. Together, they lost more than 230 pounds during the past five years under the Weight Watchers program. Laura talked her mother, Sandra, into going to that first Weight Watchers meeting in 2001. She's glad she did.
"It's so nice to be able to know that someone else is in the same position as you are, having the same struggles," the younger Moffett told me last week. Mother lost about 130 pounds; daughter lost just more than 100. Mother is now looking to maintain her weight of under 150 pounds; daughter would like to lose an additional 30 pounds or so to get down closer to her mother's weight.
Weight Watchers is based on the principle that group support and weekly accountability make it easier to achieve weight-loss goals. Frankly, I think that combination can help people achieve a wide spectrum of goals.
Look at the nonrunners who sign up for a marathon training team in Richmond and end up completing the 26.2-mile course that once seemed impossible. Studies show that people are three times more likely to stick with a fitness regimen if they do it with a partner or support group, according to Web sites that offer match-up services for exercisers and workout "pen pals."
I'm sure the same is true with diet plans. That's why people set up group motivation programs all the time.
I frequently get calls and e-mails from these folks. For instance, I know the Henrico Doctors' Hospital postpartum unit held a "biggest losers" weight-loss contest from January through April this year. In Hopewell, coach Frank Cancino led a group of school teachers and administrators in a similar weight-loss and fitness contest earlier this year.
Laura and Sandra Moffett still meet every Monday night for the Weight Watchers meeting at the Hungary Brook Shopping Center off Parham Road. "That will probably always be part of our lives," Laura Moffett said. Outside of the meetings, when the temptations are high at family gatherings, they help each other make good choices.
It's no fun being the only one ordering a salad when the family is dining out in celebration of a birthday or another occasion, Laura Moffett said. But if they both skip the cheeseburger and order a salad, it's a bit easier.
"We both keep each other in check," Laura said.
Madge Zacharias Cerreto, president of the Easterling-Zacharias Health Institute in Richmond, which leads children and adults through weight-loss and fitness programs, said group motivation is huge.
"It makes it fun," Cerreto said. "It keeps it interesting."
She knows her programs are informative, motivating and helpful, but she acknowledges that the friendships that form within the groups and the accountability that people place on each other are big reasons so many of the participants achieve weight-loss and fitness goals.
"The real key is the bonding in the group," she said.
Maria Howard who wrote this article is a group exercise instructor for the YMCA of Greater Richmond. Her column runs every other week in Balance. Contact her at balance@timesdispatch.com
No comments:
Post a Comment