At Home with Dr Christian Jessen - 180

| DIET SUCCESS|

WINNING FORMULA
How much body fat did the competitors lose?

EPISODE ONE: HARRIET VERSUS JO
Harriet, 36, self-confessed shopaholic
Jo, 36, vegan and environmentalist
BODY FAT WEIGHT AT START (st and lb)
Harriet: 9st 5lb Jo: 10st 1lb
WEIGHT-LOSS METHOD
Harriet: Gym exercise/walking, calorie counting
Jo: Walking and low protein diet
TOTAL BODY FAT LOST (st and lb)
Harriet: 1st 6lb Jo: 3lb
PERCENTAGE OF BODY FAT LOST
Harriet: 15.5% Jo: 2%
Winner Harriet

Achieving goals

It applies the lessons learned from
behavioural economics - the
science of rewards and punishment.
He introduces the concept of
'commitment contracts': a strategy
for setting and achieving goals
which is already in use by successful
companies and individuals across
America and now in the UK too.
Following this principle, Ian Ayres
co-founded www.stickk.com - a
website where people enter into
their own 'commitment contracts'
and have collectively put more than
180 | MARCH 2015

$3million on the line so
far. Contracts include
exercising more, stopping
drinking and quitting smoking.
But most of them are to lose weight
- Ian Ayres put his own money
on the line by pledging to lose more
than 20lb in one year. Thousands of
people have achieved their goals by
using this website, and their success
is due to the financial element.

Keeping it up

Mark says it was this premise that
was put into practice on the programme
and for all four couples pitched
against each other, the fact that they
could lose money, particularly to a
cause they hated, was a big motivator.
'We didn't tell people how they
should lose the weight - we all know
that you need to exercise more and
eat less; so, with Dr Christian on
hand to give health advice, we left
it up to them how they'd do it.'
All eight people lost substantial
amounts of weight, but what
surprised Mark was that once they
got into that way of thinking, they
carried on achieving. 'They came
to enjoy their new regime and kept
it up afterwards. It really worked.'
So when it comes to diet, maybe
it isn't the faddy diets, missing meals
or doing extreme exercise. It is simply
a question of cutting calories, upping
exercise but, more importantly, finding
the motivation that will keep you going.

EPISODE THREE: DEBS VERSUS WENDY
Debs, 46, minibus driver
Wendy, 38, carer who claims benefits
BODY FAT WEIGHT AT START (st and lb)
Debs: 12st 12lb Wendy: 11st
WEIGHT-LOSS METHOD
Debs: Calorie controlled, healthy food and
exercise including aqua aerobics, walking
Wendy: Cutting back on portion size and
snacks. Going to the gym
TOTAL BODY FAT LOST (st and lb)
Debs: 13lb Wendy: 11lb
PERCENTAGE OF BODY FAT LOST
Debs: 7.5% Wendy: 7.2%
Winner Draw
EPISODE FOUR: KEVIN VERSUS KEVIN
Kevin, 60, psychic
Kevin, 32, sceptic
BODY FAT WEIGHT AT START (st and lb)
Kevin (psychic): 9st 8lb
Kevin (sceptic): 9st 2lb
WEIGHT-LOSS METHOD
Kevin (psychic): Eating super strict caloriecontrolled healthy food and taking more exercise
Kevin (sceptic): Cutting back on portions of
what he normally eats. Gradually adds more
'green' foods and increases exercise
TOTAL BODY FAT LOST (st and lb)
Kevin (psychic): 1st 5lb
Kevin (sceptic): 8lb
PERCENTAGE OF BODY FAT LOST
Kevin (psychic): 15% Kevin (sceptic): 6.5%
Winner Kevin (psychic)

WORDS: GEORGINA MARIC | PHOTOGRAPHS: COURTESY OF CHANNEL 4

officer of Maverick Television, which
produced the show. What they found
out in studies was that people were
more likely to stick to something
if they were going to be penalised
financially for failing, rather than
being rewarded for succeeding.
'We decided to use this principle
but go one further and find people
who were ideologically opposed
to each other,' Mark explained. 'So
if you lost, donating your money to
a cause you hated would really hurt.
Competitors would think, "There's
no way my money is going to that
cause," and go on to lose more weight.'
The book, which outlines the
principle adopted by the Weighing Up
The Enemy programme makers, is
called Carrot and Sticks (£22.50,
Bantam) and is written by Yale
Professor Ian Ayres.

EPISODE TWO: KARL VERSUS ANDREW
Karl, 35, vegan dog groomer
Andrew, 46, carnivore and hunter
BODY FAT WEIGHT AT START (st and lb)
Karl: 5st 5lb Andrew: 8st 5lb
WEIGHT-LOSS METHOD
Karl: Healthy eating (not calorie counting)/fruit
snacking and walking
Andrew: Strict calorie counting, walking, exercise
TOTAL BODY FAT LOST (st and lb)
Karl: 1st.3lb Andrew: 2st.6lb
PERCENTAGE OF BODY FAT LOST
Karl: 23% Andrew: 30%
Winner Andrew
http://www.stickk.com
At Home with Dr Christian Jessen

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