"I don't have extra time outside the house to make another meeting," she says, "so online was very tempting for me and it's been very effective."
Lara is in one of the first online cohorts that launched in September and have been ongoing through the fall. The Web-based version is structured the same as the in-person classes that have been offered publicly at the university since 2004 and includes, in fact, a scheduled, participatory weekly meeting, but it can be logged into from nearly anywhere. The text is archived, but few want to miss it. According to research by Beth Gold, now director of Vtrim's corporate programming, the camaraderie and interactive support is as strong within online groups as they are in person.
"It's really fun to be part of that class," Lara concurs. "It's a motivational factor in the program. There's a constant flow of information and support."
Lurking in on a live class one evening (with permission from the group), the appeal was clear. First, on logging in, you get an encouraging update — at that point they had collectively lost 79 pounds and exercised the equivalent of walking 1640.1 miles. The exchange between participants and the facilitator was caring and humorous; tips were offered, confessions and frustrations shared, encouragement key.
Mind matters
But it's more than a feel-good session. Vtrim is based on behavior modification, considered by academics to be the gold standard for weight-loss for roughly four decades. It just has been out of reach until now for those who don't happen to live near a research university with such a program. But in 2005 the National Institutes of Health provided $3.5 million to help UVM researchers develop the Internet program and test its effectiveness, while also comparing it to commercial Web-based weight loss programs.
A study published in the journal Obesity in January 2007 demonstrated that the program was effective on the Web. It now achieves results identical to the in-person version. Vtrim participants lose an average of 23 pounds over the course of the six-month program, achieving double and triple the results of commercial programs like Weight Watchers and eDiets.
Each weekly meeting is built around behavioral lessons that build on each other as the 24-week program progresses. Topics include subjects like food label reading and savvy shopping, stress management and relapse prevention.
"It's about understanding what cues you to eat," says program founder Jean Harvey-Berino, professor and chair of nutrition and food sciences. "It's about self monitoring, controlling your environment, problem solving. But you're practicing with a crutch (in the facilitator), someone who can help you figure out where you went wrong."
A factor that differentiates Vtrim from other online weight loss-programs is that it is not self-paced where good intentions — like going to the gym — are all too easy to let slip. There are expectations and accountability; a daily journal tracking eating and exercise is evaluated weekly, with helpful comments, by the facilitator (who must be a dietitian or related expert and complete 45 hours of rigorous training).
And yet it's not a diet, no menus or special foods. Think calories in-calories out, with goals for each that are set with help when you enroll. There is privacy and also flexibility — Lara likes that she can either do her online journaling late at night, or, if she's not sure how many calories and fat grams she's had before dinner, she can put in her day's intake and find out what she can still eat without going over her goal.
"I'm completely empowered by choosing my own food," Lara says. "It's helping me look at my behaviors that don't enrich my healthy lifestyle and giving me options on how to change it. I did it to find more discipline. It's about becoming more intentional."
One of the often mentioned benefits of this program, though participants tend to be, but aren't always, women, is that as new food shopping, cooking, and exercise habits become established it's often a shared family experience. Rather than mom forlornly drinking her diet shake while the ice cream is dished up, everyone is eating better; partners are losing weight too and joining in on walks. The healthful also becomes communal.
Taking off
UVM is offering a $50 discount to anyone who enrolls in any class before the end of 2008. Register now and enter discount code: FRIEND1108. The next online Vtrim class starts January 6.