Aim: Study on weight loss strategies followed by women in fitness centres.

Methodology: A study was conducted on women who were going to fitness centres particularly for weight loss. The study was carried out with a total sample size of 100 participants in Mumbai city of which some were suffering from PCOD, diabetes, hypothyroidism, obesity, overweight and some were menopausal women. Women who were coming to these fitness centres to gain weight and suffering from chronic diseases were excluded. A self-administered questionnaire consisting of open and close ended questions was administered to women going to these fitness centres for weight loss. The questionnaire contained the client’s personal information, anthropometric measurements, medical history, personal habits, lifestyle pattern, physical activity and exercise pattern, nutrition and fitness goals& weight loss strategies. The strategies used by them in these fitness centres were nutritional supplements, weight loss pills, crash diets, meal replacers and fat burning techniques. Dietary recall of 3 days was taken. The data analysis was done using statistical package of social sciences (SPSS, version 16). (p<0.05) was considered to be statistically significant & Chi square test was used to analyse the representation of cases.

Results: It was observed that mostly these women going to fitness centres were of 30-50 years of age and smoked hookah and drank alcohol daily and on weekly basis respectively. These women suffered from obesity, PCOD, thyroid and were in menopause phase (p<0.05). It was also observed that these women went to fitness centres less than thrice a week (p<0.05) and consumed mostly junk and food from outside or skipped meal (p=0.45) or food item to lose weight rapidly (p<0.05). They also practiced different methods of weight loss like taking nutritional supplements, weight loss pills, crash diets, fat burning techniques and meal replacers (p<0.05) which were recommended by gym trainers mostly or by themselves, which lead them to several negative health effects (p<0.05) like, bowel and/or psychological disorders, insomnia, dehydration, etc. The mean energy was 1969.12kcals (p<0.05), mean Protein was 37.7g (p<0.05), the mean Carbohydrate intake was around 99.8g (p<0.05) for carbohydrate intake when compared with RDA.

Conclusion: It can be concluded from the study that calories, macronutrient and fibre consumption were found to be low. It was also observed that women in these fitness centres practiced wrong ways of losing weight, either by skipping meals or taking different nutritional supplements, weight loss pills, fat burning techniques, crash diets and meal replacers to decrease weight rapidly which may lead to several negative effects on their health. Nutrition and exercise along with good lifestyle habits and sufficient amount of additional nutrient intake according to their health status may be beneficial to lose weight.