How much would you pay to lose 10 pounds (about 4.5 kilograms)?
This question has come to my mind, as I am trying get in better shape. I’m noticing that what was once easy – getting back in shape and losing weight quickly while keeping it off – is a bit harder as I knock on the doorstep of 40 years old.
We all know that there aren’t any shortcuts to getting in shape. You need to eat well, and you need to exercise. It doesn’t require extreme behavior, such as eating zero restaurant meals for 12 months, or exercising 2 hours a day, 7 days a week for months on end. It does, however, require a certain level of persistent effort and discipline over a given period of time to make a lasting impact. Losing 10 pounds
That persistent effort and discipline I just mentioned would probably mean behavioral changes, if someone is trying to get in shape. After all, it’s likely that some less than optimal behaviors contributed to getting out of shape in the first place, right?
Those behavior changes aren’t always simple to undertake. There can be inertia and resistance to change. We may like our existing behaviors, even though we know we could make better choices.
That’s where my question comes in. Taking all of this into consideration: How much would you pay to lose 10 pounds?
I’m not talking about losing it over time. Rather, I’m talking about purely hypothetical scenario where you could – presto! – instantly get into get into better shape.Lose the 10 pounds, and get all the associated positive effects that the exercise would have provided to you: more energy, improved cardiovascular endurance, improved muscle strength, etc.
This type of deal doesn’t exist. But if it did, how much would you pay right now to make that happen? Keep in mind: once you pay, you get the benefits instantly.
Once you have answered that question, please consider this follow-up question: If you found out that you were going to instantly gain 10 pounds – the reverse of the previous example – how much would you pay to avoid that? In this case, keep in mind that if you didn’t pay, you would instantly and unavoidably gain weight and get out of shape.
Do your answers to the two questions differ?
It’s interesting to think about this in the context of how important our health is to us, and how we would trade money for better health. To me, it’s a way of demonstrating how ultimately, no matter how much money we accumulate, it loses some value if we don’t have the other important things in life – such as our health.
@Squirrelers What an interesting post. I would be very ticked if I instantly gained 10 lbs. That would frustrate me to no end. However, I would not (have not) paid hardly anything to lose it. For example, jump rope, running shoes, etc. are pretty cheap. I once loss 40 lbs in 10 weeks. That did require extreme behavior. Fortunately, I have kept it off (i.e. over 14 years).
Regards, Shawn
Interesting idea. I’m actually only 5 pounds or so where I’d want to be in terms of target weight. But I’d love to lose 10 pounds of fat and gain it back in lean muscle. Asking the reverse of your first question is interesting. For me I think it’d pay $100? $200?
It’s interesting because it seems as though loss aversion would apply this this concept as well. Meaning, that people would be more likely to pay to avoid losing something (gaining weight in this case) than they would be willing to gain something (lose weight).
On a somewhat related topic. I’ve seen in the past, some sort of study done where people invest money upfront associated with a target goal for weight. If they didn’t meet their target then they would lose their money. If they did then they would get their money back. The idea being that people would be more motivated if they had something to lose.
I love this what if type of posts!
My first career was as a Dietician, I did a lot of weightloss clients. I think the figure would astound you. I think if you could instantly remove 10 pounds you could probably charge above $100,000 and you would have no shortage of clients.
The worst part of weightloss is everyone wants the weight off instantly even though they put it on over 20 years. The average over weight person puts on about 2.5 pounds a year. Noone however would be satisfied by loosing weight that slowly, so they make drastic changes to their diet which sets themselves up for failure. What they really should be doing is taking the equivalent of 2 tsp of fat or 4tsp of sugar out of their diet daily on average and they would loose weight without feelings of deprivation.
I’d pay $250 to instantly lose 10 pounds and gain the benefits. I’d also pay $250 to avoid gaining an instant 10 pounds…although I’d probably punch whoever took my money…feels like blackmail, lol.
I would pay $122.22 🙂 .
I thought of this actually the other day when I watched Jason Alexander advertising for Nutrisystem or something like that. I am sure most of their profit is from the food.
Interesting post!