How much does it cost?
$20 per month. You may cancel anytime.
What do I get?
You will get access to a professional weight loss counselor who is the moderator of the group and has a daily presence. You may post your questions in the group or send the counselor a private message. The counselor will post discussion threads each day to prompt the group to set goals, discuss barriers, report progress, and celebrate victories.
You will also get an evidence-based weight loss program designed by a clinical psychologist with 25 years of experience in weight management. All you need to do is follow along each day in the group. Each week the group will receive diet and exercise goals (see below for more on the goals!), nutrition education, physical activity education, behavioral strategies for developing habits that stick for life, weigh ins, opportunities for solving common diet problems (e.g., emotional eating) and common exercise problems (e.g., hard to find the time), and some fun challenges! We will recommend popular free mobile apps to help you track your diet and exercise, and participate in challenges, bootcamps, and contests!
You will get access to a group of peers who are on the same healthy lifestyle journey. Health is Social is about the power of community. We achieve success by lifting each other up. Family and friends are a wonderful source of support in life, but they may or may not understand your weight loss journey and the struggles you experience along the way, especially if they are not on the same journey. Our research shows that people who join online groups get more weight loss-related support from their fellow group members than they do from family and friends—and that support is a key ingredient for success. People who are on the same journey have a lived experience that makes their support, knowledge, and stories a powerful force.
You will also get the opportunity to participate in some friendly competition and challenges. For example, each year we will have four 4-week bootcamps where participants will receive higher intensity goals. We will also have diet tracking contests, weigh in contests, and step contests. Some competitions will be in teams, so get ready to join forces with fellow members and vie for some fun prizes while getting healthy!
What are the diet and exercise goals?
The diet goals were designed to be the building blocks for the American Heart Association diet. By following these goals each week you will slowly transform your diet into a heart healthy diet that studies show will result in weight loss and reduce your risk for cardiovascular disease and diabetes.
The exercise goals are the building blocks for the National Guidelines for Physical Activity for Americans. The guidelines recommend 150-300 minutes of moderate intensity or 75-150 minutes of vigorous intensity physical activity per week as well as strength training on 2 days per week. That may seem like a lot (and it is!) so we designed the weekly goals to slowly assist you in building up to these goals over time. Even if you don’t reach these goals, increasing your physical activity as much as possible will have extraordinary health benefits.
What if I’m following another diet plan or weight loss program? Can I still participate?
Absolutely! Many commercial programs promote diets that are consistent with the American Heart Association diet in which case the diet goals will still be a match. Here is the American Heart Association’s assessment of 10 popular diets which will help you decide if the diet plan you are following is consistent with a heart healthy diet. Even if your diet plan is different (e.g., vegan) you can modify the diet goals accordingly. Our counselor can also come up with tailored goals for that diet plan. The exercise goals will still apply as well the behavioral strategies you learn for developing lifelong habits. The key to successful weight management is in the development of habits that you can stick to for the rest of your life. That’s why we call this a lifestyle not a diet. Everybody has different dietary preferences so we designed the nutrition curriculum to be very flexible.
Do I need to have a Facebook account to participate?
Yes. The program is conducted in a private Facebook group and we recommend that participants log in daily to participate for best results. If you are not currently a Facebook user, that’s ok--it is free to sign up! Once you enroll in our program, you will receive an invitation to the Facebook group.
