Weight Watchers questioned 1,000 UK adults who have previously tried to adopt or are currently adopting healthy eating habits. 52 per cent said the support of a community was crucial when it came to forming healthy habits because it increases the probability of staying on track and contributes to successful weight loss.
Tpo receive positive feedback
One in five Brits said they have had more success with weight loss when they consciously shared a social ‘diary’ of their daily lives with friends, family and followers via an online community.
35 per cent of people questioned said they regularly post imagery of their food, while over a fifth (23 per cent) of 25-34-year olds admitted to sharing physical activity (gym workout, run, fitness class, etc.) online at least once a week with their social media communities. Surprisingly, men were more inclined to share photos of meals (29 per cent) online than women (24 per cent), a trend that was similarly reflected in sharing photos of cooking (31 per cent of men vs 26 per cent of women).
Top 5 Reasons To Share Your Weight Loss Journey Online
To receive positive feedback
Motivation from positive feedback such as photo ‘likes’ was named the top reason for sharing online as over half of Brits (57 per cent) revealed that online comments and support from their friends and family helps them to maintain momentum and stay enthused to continue their Weight Loss journey.
There’s a whole network of people out there with similar goals that you can help too
The idea of communal support resonated strongly with respondents as just under half (49 per cent) revealed they enjoyed having a network of people with “like-minded goals”.
And you can help others too - a fifth (20 per cent) felt they were “giving back” to the community by inspiring others on the same journey through sharing their own everyday success.
Knowing you are not alone
48 per cent of people asked, said “knowing they were not alone” motivated them to stick to a healthy plan. Sometimes realising that “it’s not just me” can instantly give you a boost to be positive and make a difference.
Helps to create a positive and lasting change
Over a third of respondents (38 per cent) said that following someone else’s online journey was “inspiring” and that sharing their own journey helped them identify the “triggers” of their unhealthy habits more easily (21 per cent). One in five (21 per cent) believe they benefited from a more “positive experience” by sharing their journey online and that it will have a “lasting, positive effect” on their health.
It can inspire you to adopt healthy habits
The concept of an online community was found to encourage more awareness from those who used it, with a quarter (25 per cent) agreeing that sharing what they did, ate and felt in real-time helped them to form new habits, which became second nature. Learning something new provided an incentive to join these online communities as 53 per cent sourced “tips and tricks” from other users and 40 per cent discovered new healthy recipes to try.
Claudia Nicholls, Marketing Director at Weight Watchers, comments: “Weight Watchers own social community for members, Connect, which sees over 14,000 daily posts in the UK alone, provides our members with instant access to a community of people who are on similar journeys to them. Bringing little rituals like posting pictures into our lives quickly creates habits that are hard to give up, which can have a life-changing impact, by helping to shape how we live, how we feel and, ultimately, who we become.”
https://www.weightwatchers.com/uk/my-ww-flex-diary
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