Build a Weight Loss Support Network
For
many of us the weight loss journey is a hard and lonely one.
While some of us can achieve successful weight loss
alone, many more need a support network to help us lose
weight and
keep it off.
This article describes what a weight loss support network
is, how it can help, which people make valuable members of one and how
to develop one of our own to help us stay motivated and achieve a healthier
body weight.
What is a weight loss support network?
Basically, a weight loss support network is a group of people
we can share our weight loss goals, challenges, triumphs, thoughts, feelings
and journey with, and who will provide support to us when we need it and
help us in some way to achieve our goal.
Support networks can be formal, informal, expert, non-expert, online, offline,
large or small, or any mix of these depending upon our individual circumstances
and needs.
Formal groups, as the name suggests, is a network specifically
designed to help us (and perhaps others) to lose weight and meets formally
at regular times and places. Examples of a formal group include things like
diet clubs or weight watchers meetings, jogging or exercise clubs
and classes.
An informal group on the other hand, often just gets together whenever and
wherever possible and may just be made up of a group of friends who occasionally
chat over lunch or work colleagues who sometimes walk together at lunchtime.
Expert groups may be made up purely of weight loss and fitness
experts such as weight loss specialists,
dietitians, personal
trainers, gym instructors, psychologists,
etc.
Non-expert groups simply include people for general support and motivation
such as that which can be sourced from close family and friends, colleagues,
neighbours, etc.
Online networks can be a great help to those of us with weight loss or fitness
goals because for many of us losing weight is a daily battle and online support
networks are available to us 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Online support networks via the internet can provide us
with many things like healthy recipes,
diet and exercise
tips, weight loss tools, support
groups and forums and
a wealth of useful information, including where to get more help if we need
it (like the directory and
resources pages on
this website).
Some of us may benefit from large weight loss support networks that include
support across a range of areas (such as diet, exercise, psychological and
emotional needs), or may provide support in only one area but provide it
from many sources.
Smaller groups may provide similar support but will do so from a limited
number of sources.
The most effective weight loss support systems combine formal and informal
elements, expert and non-expert members, are both online and offline, and
provide support across as many areas as needed from the largest number of
sources available.
How does a weight loss support network help people lose weight?
Weight loss support groups can help those of us with weight loss goals in
many ways including:
- Providing motivation
- Providing encouragement
- Helping us to stay accountable and on course
- Providing us with guidance, advice and information
- Listening to us when we're feeling down and doubtful
- Providing friendship when we most need it
- Helping us feel that we are part of a team and that we are not alone
- Helping us to overcome our fears
- Sharing and enjoying our experiences and successes
Which people should we have in our weight loss network?
As mentioned earlier, the best weight loss support networks
combine formal and informal elements, have both expert and non-expert members,
are both online and offline and are large or small depending upon our individual
circumstances and needs.
Generally speaking, when we are putting together our own
weight loss support network, we should be looking to recruit the help of
people who:
- Are trustworthy
- Are reliable and dependable
- Have expertise gained from experience
- Are non-judgmental
- Are, or have been, in a similar situation to us
- Are positive, fun and enjoyable to be around
- Don't give up easily
- Will be honest with us
- Will get tough with us if we need it
- Will forgive our failures and encourage us to stick to it despite them
- We feel comfortable sharing our feelings and thoughts with
- We are confident can help us
- Are as committed to a healthy lifestyle as we are
- Genuinely care about our health and happiness and are happy to help
How to develop a weight loss network of our own
If we think we need or would like a network larger than just a few people,
it may be a good idea to sit down and make a list of the areas in which we
would like support. Then we can simply list under each area who we would
like to recruit to our support team.
The areas of help we might consider listing may include things like:
- Diet
- Exercise
- Motivation
- Goal Setting
- Progress Tracking
- Cooking
- Weight loss information
- Healthy Recipes
- Role Models
- Emotional Support
- Sharing the journey
Under each of the headings chosen, we can then list people who can help
us including both professionals and non-professionals.
Among the professional help available to us are doctors,
dietitians, personal trainers, life coaches, weight loss specialists, gym
instructors, psychologists, etc, and gaining help from these professionals
is as simple as calling their office and making an appointment to
see them.
Non-professional help can come from friends, family, neighbours,
colleagues and acquaintances, internet support groups and forums (such as
the weight loss forum on
this website), etc, and help can be gained from them usually just by talking
to them about your goal, gauging their reaction (whether they seem supportive
or not) and if necessary asking them if they would like to help or get involved
in some way on our journey.
Generally, the most useful non-professional network members
will be other people who share our weight loss or fitness related goals or
have already successfully achieved similar goals.
It is these people who are more likely to form walking or exercise groups
with us, share recipe ideas and cooking tips with us and listen to and encourage
us when we are finding the going a little tough. They are also the most likely
people to really enjoy sharing our experiences and successes.
Conclusion
For many of us the weight loss journey is often a hard and lonely one. Keeping
motivated and sticking to our course are critical if we are to achieve our
ideal weight and maintain it for the rest of our lives.
While a small number of us can achieve successful weight loss alone, many
more of us need a support network to help us lose weight and keep it off.
This article described what a weight loss support group is, how it can help,
which people make valuable members of one and how to develop one of our own
to help us stay motivated and achieve a healthier body weight.
Good luck with your weight loss goal, we sincerely hope that by providing
free access to this website that we will be a valuable member of your weight
loss support network and we thank you for visiting weightloss.com.au.
© Copyright Ultimate Weightloss.
This article was written by Scott Haywood.
Scott is the editor of weightloss.com.au. Scott has developed an expertise in fitness and nutrition, and their roles in weight loss, which led him to launch weightloss.com.au in 2005. Today, weightloss.com.au provides weight loss and fitness information, including hundreds of healthy recipes, weight loss tools and tips, articles, and more, to millions of people around the world, helping them to lead happier, healthier, lives.
You can follow Scott on Google+ for more interesting articles.