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Bank on Weight Loss

A little incentive can go a long way.

Having trouble deducting pounds from your personal “savings?” Ask your spouse to offer you a cash prize when you succeed.

In a recent study of weight loss in the workplace, researchers at RTI International and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill looked at how cash incentives from employers affected the success of employees’ weight loss efforts.

One group of participants received no financial reward for their successes, another group got $7 per 1% of body weight lost, and the last group gained $14 per percentage-point reduction in weight. After three months, those in the no-cash group had shed only 2 pounds, while the $7 team dropped 3 pounds, and the $14 group lost an average of 4.7 pounds. (To avoid excessive and unhealthy weight loss, the rewards stopped when participants shed 10% of their baseline weight.)

You may be able to enjoy similar results at home by having your sweetheart act as your weight loss boss. First, multiply your current weight by .01 (that’s 1%), and have your significant other give you $14 every time you shed that much weight. (For a 150-pound woman, that’s $14 for each 1 1/2 pounds lost or $28 for every 3-pound drop—enough for a pampering pedicure or a hot new hardcover novel.)