Weight Loss Programs for Men

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Weight Loss Programs for Men

Are Men Overweight?

The short answer is a definite yes. A total of 66% of adult Americans are overweight or obese, and about half of them are men. An estimated 38% of the 71 million dieters in this country are men--or 27 million people. Just take a look at some of the recent contestants on The Biggest Loser TV show, or take a look at some of the people walking around your local shopping mall.

Obesity in men is often regarded as the overlooked, acceptable result of living a life centered around the stress and responsibilities of balancing a career, family, and lack of time to dedicate to a healthy diet and proper exercise. Consequently, the challenges of weight loss in men are often a confusing and unattainable goal that comes second to the more important role men feel they're required to play in today's society.

However, most men don't take the same actions to lose weight as women do. Most try to lose weight themselves and they tend to start dieting at a later age than women. Men are much less likely to join structured commercial weight loss programs such as Weight Watchers, LA Weight Loss or Jenny Craig--probably because, until recently, there was no special program geared to their needs.

Men are more likely to do the following to lose weight:
Use retail meal replacement shakes and nutrition bars (Slim-Fast)
Join a gym or health club chain and sweat the weight off
Join an anonymous program such as a diet food home delivery service (NutriSystem, other companies).
Buy a celebrity diet book and use a do-it-yourself approach.
Consume diet sodas or skill a meal (most likely breakfast).

International Demographics, publishers of The Media Audit service, estimates that 38% of dieters are men. That means there are about 27 million male dieters. Another research firm, Simmons Market Research, found that about 34% of dieters are male. Men do, in fact diet.

The Choices For Male Dieters

Traditionally, most commercial weight loss companies have not paid much attention to male dieters. But, as competition increases in the weight loss field, this attitude is changing and companies are starting to create special diet plans for mean and create commercials targeting them. A prime example is NutriSystem with its recent ads with NFL star Dan Marino as a male spokesperson. Don Shula, another NFL coaching star, is touting the "seniors" plan as well.

Weight Watchers says that 10% of its customers are male, and the company will be rolling out new tools geared to male dieters soon on its WeightWatchers.com website. The same 10% ratio probably applies to Jenny Craig and LA Weight Loss as well.

Slim-Fast has for decades had a significantly higher share of male customers than many other weight loss companies-around 25-30%. That's because this anonymous, do-it-yourself plan fits in well with what overweight men want. They don't want to attend an embarrassing group meeting with weigh-ins and be the only man there, nor do they want to talk to a counselor about "emotional overeating" and other "feminine" issues. Men are much more likely to "tough it out" and join a health club to work off the weight themselves. They don't require the same degree of psychological support services as women do.

Medifast is another company that's going after the male dieter with its meal replacements sold direct to consumers or via its Take Shape For Life health advisors.

Medifast is no longer primarily a medical weight loss program. The company claims that only 10% of its current customers use the medically supervised diet plan option. One can access the Medifast programs via: 1) High Energy weight loss centers, 2) at home by phone or the website, (Take Shape for Life), 3) via hospitals and clinics, and 4) via a healthcare professional's office (MD, RD etc.). Most customers now buy Medifast meal replacement products directly from the company, with no medical supervision required.

Men usually are not big users of retail diet pills or appetite suppressants, which are much more popular among women (especially young women). However, they are big consumers of diet soft drinks.

With the obesity epidemic in this country, we will no doubt be seeing more diet programs being rolled out for men in the near future. This is too big a market for the weight loss providers to ignore. Like the seniors market, it's an untapped niche.

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The information on this web site is intended for information purposes only and is not intended as a substitute for medical advice. Before starting any weight loss program, it is recommended that you consult your physician or other health care professional.