"Weigh to Go" Program Returns to Bastyr Center

Nine-week program can help you reach and maintain a healthy weight

Program registration closes December 16, 2009. Registration information

"Weigh to Go" is a nine-week weight management and lifestyle program developed by Bastyr University’s nutrition and clinical health psychology faculty. Faculty supervisor Christy Hofsess, PhD, stresses that the program is designed for weight management, not simply weight loss. “As opposed to the typical weight-loss program, we help participants set long-term lifestyle goals that will enable them to reach and maintain their most healthful weight,” she says.

Past participant Tavona Givens enjoyed this approach. “For me, the single most valuable aspect of the program was the ‘healthy at every size’ concept,” she says. “It was a great reminder that everyone is not designed to be a size 0 and that I can be healthy and make healthy choices no matter what size I am.”

The innovative program is designed to meet the specific needs of each participant by helping them recognize their food-related behaviors. The weekly sessions are led by Bastyr University master's students in the nutrition and clinical health psychology program, under the supervision of Bastyr clinical faculty. Givens describes the program instructors as “very loving, caring, professional and top-notch,” and says that she “felt safe with their education, knowledge, motivation, and teaching capability. All of them!”

Each week, participants attend both a group class and an individual counseling session. The group classes center on whole-food nutrition, as well as personal dietary plans and exercise habits. Instructors guide the participants through meal planning, label reading and cooking for others.

Dr. Hofsess explains that the group interactions are integral to the program’s success. “The value of the group setting is that it helps to normalize the struggles people have and provides support," she notes. "Participants encourage each other and learn from each other.” Givens can testify to that. “The group classes were a tremendous support!” she says. “They brought up the real life human ups and downs, failures and successes in a secure and safe environment.”

In the individual counseling sessions, instructors tailor the strategies to each participant. Participants work through barriers to lifestyle changes and identify triggers for unhealthy behaviors. Givens notes, “The individualized counseling contributed to my success by allowing personal one-on-one time for my specific questions and a chance to tailor a plan for my own personal situation.”

Instructors work hard to ensure each participant emerges from the program with a personalized set of tools and a sense of renewed control over their lifestyle choices. “Our underlying goal is to help participants develop a sense of self-efficacy,” said Dr. Hofsess.

Givens reports that even now, months after completing the program, she still uses the tools she acquired. She urges others to consider enrolling. Says Givens, “I would recommend the program to individuals who are looking for a different, realistic approach to leading a healthy and mindful lifestyle.”

Program registration closes December 16, 2009. Registration information