home . biography . tv shows . articles . press . contact                                                                                   All Rights Reserved, www.ericviskovicz.com

AN AUDIENCE FOR CHANGE: THE CASE FOR WEIGHT LOSS CAMPS

Eric Viskovicz B.S.

When considering most changes in life, for most people, it is not without some trepidation. Especially in the case of weight loss, most would agree that it is not looked upon favorably. In fact most people view weight loss as painful, restrictive, and full of deprivation. With this kind of sentiment in mind, it is no wonder that the success rate for weight loss in this country is what it is. However, it is not only this viewpoint that confounds the problem of weight loss. When we look at change in general, of any kind, there are several factors that must be considered. While the person must have awareness of a problem in order to change it, she must also have the sense of control and competency required to make the change, but she must also have an audience to support the change. To be sure, if a person were attempting to change into something that was not supported by those around her, the change would, most likely, not be possible. For example, if she were attempting to work full time, when her husband, children, friends, and extended family did not support this, it would be very difficult to do. As she may experience judgment, criticism, or even recrimination from these people, she would also find it difficult to maintain the necessary sense of control and competency to support this change. In this sense, the audience for change, represents an integral part of maintaining change. This is certainly the case with weight loss.

For those attempting weight loss, identifying an audience to support this change is something that is commonly missed. When it is, the person may unknowingly encounter resistance when working toward her weight loss goals. Obviously without becoming aware of this resistance, and making the necessary changes, the person’s weight loss goals will be hindered. This is where weight loss camps come in.

Because Eric Viskovicz, the founder of Live In Fitness Enterprise recognizes the importance of creating an audience to support the changes in any person’s life, but especially those struggling with weight loss, he has all of the clients live on site. Utilizing a residential approach allows Eric Viskovicz’s weight loss camp to create an environment that supports every person’s weight loss goals. In doing this, Eric Viskovicz’s weight loss camp create an audience for change that serves many purposes in maintaining each person’s weight loss goals.

Primarily an audience for change provides the person with a sense of awareness of herself. As those around her at the weight loss camp, will notice things about her that she may notice about herself, she will begin to develop an increased understanding of herself. For example, another camper may compliment her skill at a particular sport, and bring this to her attention. When this happens, she will begin not only to know herself more fully, but also begin to develop a sense of identity around the positive change. Essentially, she will begin to see herself as more athletic. Each time she receives feedback such as this, her sense of identity as a healthy, fit, athletic person will be strengthened. This is an obvious ingredient to weight loss success. Clearly, if the person does not see herself as a healthy, fit, athletic person, she is going to struggle with weight loss, as it does not align with her sense of identity. Eric Viskovicz’s weight loss camp approach then accounts for this, and utilizing a residential approach provides the integral audience for each person to begin to develop an increased understanding of herself, as well as a sense of identity as a healthy person.

Secondly, an audience for change becomes a constant source of positive regard for movement toward change. While at Eric Viskovicz’s weight loss camp, as each person makes forward progress toward her weight loss goals, those around her offer positive regard for this progress. When this happens, the person immediately experiences an increased sense of confidence, which leads to more forward progress. As people inherently move toward where they feel confident, the more positive regard each person experiences, the more likely she will move toward further weight loss goals. In this sense, the movement toward future weight loss, and the positive regard stimulates the person’s motivation. For example, a fellow weight loss camp participant at Eric Viskovicz’s camp might share with the person that she noticed how she was able to recover from a setback and how her strength motivated her to push herself past her own limitations as well. As this is positive regard for the person’s ability to be successful at her desired changes, the person will likely move in the direction of future changes as her motivation is now increased. In this sense, the audience that the weight loss camp provides helps to increase the person’s motivation through the constant positive regard for movement toward change.

Lastly, the audience that supports the person’s weight loss provides the client a sense of connection from which to begin to develop a sense of purpose in her weight loss pursuits. When the person is able to connect her efforts toward any change, but especially weight loss, to something greater than herself, the change itself begins to take on a sense of purpose. For this reason, it is not at all uncommon that those in recovery from drugs or alcohol become drug counselors, or those who achieve significant weight loss become personal trainers. As these people received positive support for their changes, they naturally were able to connect these changes to something larger than themselves, that is, helping others. In the case of weight loss, helping others to also lose weight provides a sense of purpose in one’s own weight loss. However, it is not without first experiencing the positive support through those around her, that the person feels as though her own weight loss achievements can represent a sense of purpose for others as well. It is the positive support of those at Eric Viskovicz’s weight loss camp that offers just that for the person attempting to lose weight.

While there are many factors that can deter a person’s weight loss efforts, certainly, those around her should not. Maintaining an audience for change that supports the person’s movement toward change is certainly not a difficult task, and one made incredibly easier through the use of Eric Viskovicz’s weight loss camp. So whether the audience is helping the person to become more aware of herself, providing constant positive regard that fosters motivation, or representing a sense of connection and purpose for the client, the effects are profound. In the field of weight loss, profound effects are in short supply, and for the person losing the weight are certainly not unappreciated.

The Power of a Stutter

Eric Viskovicz B.S.

Growing up can be hard, especially with a stutter. Kids often struggle enough to fit in, but in the case of this obvious disability, this struggle can, at times seem insurmountable. Eric Viskovicz is one perfect example. Eric had to deal with the fact that he had a terrible stutter and could barely speak at all when growing up This meant that he had to find a way to deflect from this obvious disability and that the fact he had to hunt and pick his words to sound smart and to also not be picked on by fellow classmates. For Eric this experience resulted in the philosophy that he must work harder than everyone else so that he would find peace in a kids world.

The first part of this was for a sad young boy with freckles and a stutter to learn to stand up for himself. A challenge for any young kid, as standing up for oneself can often draw even more attention to himself, and cause him to question himself even more. However, for Eric the fact that he was different created an intense devotion to the power of hard work. Luckily, Eric had incredible support in his family. He recalls his mother telling him that he could be anything he just had to work at things with an unrelenting pursuit of his goals. That didn’t mean putting up your dukes, and fighting, as Eric quickly found that this only made him feel worse, and less liked by those around him. What he was really fighting for is a way to feel more intelligent, and Eric would sometimes cry himself to sleep because intelligence is so commonly judged intelligence through language. However, Eric had another big support in his older brother Ron who seemed to know what to say when Eric Viskovicz was down and coached him in a way to work harder than everyone else. Eric Viskovicz recalls him saying “I cant fight your battles for you at some point you just have to be you and be proud of who that is”. Strong words from a 10 year old! So Eric took to sports and to being mentally tough and always priding himself on being the best or at least the hardest worker.

One of the best complements Eric ever received was from his father when he said that Eric had a lot of flaws but was one of the hardest workers. Eric still uses this as motivation. Being the hardest worker, along with using the time honored technique of visualizing what your going to do before your going to do it, learned from his mother Katherine, create the philosophy that Eric lives by every day. At age 36, Eric uses visualization to create a map of the world that will encompass his goals, desires, and future successes, and send them out into the world. Sending out this positive energy is a powerful way to counteract negativity, and one Eric found to be incredibly useful in dealing with the struggles of his childhood. This mental discipline also proved effective with the self-consciousness that comes with stuttering, as Eric Viskovicz was always surprised when people found him attractive. To help overcome the chronic suspicion that he was not accepted, Eric believed that he had to have the most fit body and work harder in sports to get the sense of pride about himself that his brother had reminded him about as a child.

But it was not always easy, and even after appearing as a model in fitness magazines, Eric continued to feel as something was missing from his life. He found himself turning to food as a crutch, trying to mitigate the emptiness he felt. This was the beginning of an eating disorder that continued even as he worked as a fitness trainer. For years he would go up and down 50 pounds and he recalls friend’s girlfriend calling him a “fat fatty trainer.” This comment dug into his self esteem, and triggered the same response as when he struggled with stuttering as a child. Without his fitness, who would he be? Eric soon realized that this was the wrong way to deal with things as no physical appearance can make him god or complete him. Digging his heels into the teachings of his mother, Eric made a commitment to himself to stop being negative stop beating him self up, and to stop doing fad diets. This meant getting back to basics, and using the right way to fuel himself with eating and more importantly using the right mental approach. Eric then designed and fine tuned these methods to help his eating disorder and started teaching those ways to other people who had similar disorders. Eric has kept the weight off within 5-7 pounds of 9% body fat and teaches others everyday how to do this.

In his fitness camp, Eric even has a therapist on staff who also teaches his philosophy to the clients in private and group sessions. Eric also teaches group motivation sessions and teaches the trainers the mental components as well as the physical components of training. Eric is considered the trainer to trainers in many circles, and has been recognized by the city of Marina Del Rey as the best trainer in 2008. To attain this level of success, Eric realized that the biggest task was to overcome his naturally negative thinking. For Eric, this meant that he had to make a habit out of surrounding himself with enough positive experiences to drown out the negative. One friend said about Eric that if there were twenty people going to beat up one of his friends Eric would jump in and say, “Now it is two.” Realizing that compliments like this, led to a sense of pride in everything he does, but also, a healthy appreciation for spirituality. This was one of the best complements Eric Viskovicz ever received because he felt that he needed to be that spiritually to find self pride and better self esteem. Putting this to practice in daily life, Eric never misses an opportunity to wish on the things he is working on is something he shares with his son and daughter on a regular basis. Eric Viskovicz is quoted saying America is great because it allows the person to dream, dream, dream and the rest is up to you. The you part is having the highest drive and passion toward that dream. After that, Eric believes, anything is possible. This is lesson number one for all those who come into contact with Eric Viskovicz. This positive energy is one of the reasons that Eric is sought after a motivational speaker. His contagious energy attracts and energizes his audiences, as it is obvious that he has lived a life of dreaming and recognizing that to achieve it, will require everything he has. To this day, his mom will call and they will talk about being positive and ask if he is talking to the universe or angels. Eric admits that this is silly but gives it credit for his success.

At age 23 and no money in his pocket, Eric started a company and has built into a multi-million dollar empire that it is today. At one point a fire burnt down his business, only to realize that the losses were not covered by the insurance For Eric this meant quitting or starting over. Eric recalls an email from a friend, reminding him that he is one of the hardest working people he knows This was one of the best compliments a friend had ever given him, and Eric quickly realized what he had to do. As he did, someone asked him, “Where are you going?’, and he responded “to work”, “but your place is burnt down”, they replied, and his only response was “How can something be burnt down when it is still in my heart and the universe is telling me this is only the beginning?” So Eric spent all of his savings and signed three people up from the Starbucks across the street. He put it all on the line and was up and running in three weeks. Three people or thirty people, for Eric Viskovicz the sentiment is the same “ I have a responsibility to change their lives, I will do what I say and say what I do or I am no man at all.” He decided to change his business format and go for broke, changing it many times to achieve the perfection that it is today, he attributes his success to his work ethic and that beautiful stutter that pushed him so hard to never quit and be the person his brother told him to be . So when looking at the stars you might be able to feel Eric sending out signals and discussing dreams with the universe. “No matter what the circumstance is people must make them selves happy and getting happy is to know what makes you happy. Being your best and striving for greatness is the key to success and this trait is what I call being sexy. Understanding what your purpose in life is the most important and once you know, nothing I mean nothing can stand in your way to fulfilling your dreams. Without dreams there is nothing and we will be hollow on the inside and treating yourself well is the key to happiness. Grab what you want from life and go for it I mean really go for it let nothing come between you and your ultimate happiness. Be healthy have a purpose work your ass off and always remain positive. Happiness will no doubt come.”

THE MOST IMPORTANT INGREDIENT IN WEIGHT LOSS

Eric Viskovicz B.S.

One look at Eric Viskovicz, and you would think he spends hours in the gym. With an 8% bodyfat, he looks shredded from every angle. It is no surprise he has been a fitness model, and guest appearance on over fifty television shows. Yet many of you would be surprised to learn that he was, at one point, 50 pounds overweight. Struggling with an eating disorder for three years, Eric’s weight would go up and down, even as he was working as a personal trainer. During this time, he did spend hours in the gym, and taught all of the right information to his clients about food and exercise. He just didn’t apply any of it to himself. So when you ask Eric what is the most important ingredient in weight loss, he won’t tell anything about nutrition and exercise. Instead, he will tell you that the key to weight loss, is understanding yourself. The first, and most important, piece of this is acceptance.

According to Eric, acceptance is about acknowledging that you have a problem with food. Whether you have a clinical eating disorder, disordered eating, or even just eating issues, healing starts when you can admit it. When you do, Eric continues, you become willing to accept help for your problem. Essentially you are willing to look at all the ways in which your eating has affected your life, and caused you to lose sight of your goals. This, according to Eric, is the part where you really begin to understand yourself. You begin with a look at your attitude. Are you positive or negative most days? Do you tend to go through life angry? Do you look at situations and predict the worst possible outcome? Answering questions like this will cause you to really look at your overall attitude honestly.

From this point, Eric asserts you are ready to then explore internal dialogue. This, Eric states, is what you say to yourself, that you do not say out loud. It is what you will say to yourself when you look in the mirror, and also what you say to yourself when you look at that fudge brownie sitting in front of you. Are you using negative words to evaluate yourself in the mirror? Are you criticizing yourself? Calling yourself names? What you say to yourself becomes your identify, coloring the way you feel about yourself. This often has a profound impact on what you are going to say to yourself when the fudge brownie is staring back at you. If you feel bad about yourself, you may tell yourself you CAN NEVER have the fudge brownie. Or, just may tell yourself that you’ve already failed at weight loss, so you might as well have the fudge brownie anyway. You may even promise yourself that you will start your diet tomorrow. Whatever the case may be, what you say to yourself when you are looking at a food you want with characterize your relationship with food. Exploring this, and understanding how what you say to yourself affects what you ultimately end up doing is an absolute necessity in weight loss. When you are willing to do this, Eric says, again, you are ready to accept help.

Now, for Eric, comes the next step, you have to have a goal. In accepting help, and being fully willing, you have to be ready to look at your goal. Do you have a goal? What does it look like? What are you doing? Who is around you? When do you want to accomplish this? What steps are necessary to get there? You may not have a goal, and according to Eric, that is ok, you just have to be willing to find one. The willingness is the key, Eric reminds us.

The last step, Eric says is understanding your personality. Everybody has a unique personality, and Eric defines this as “The characteristic pattern in which a person approaches the world.” This pattern, Eric continues, describes how the person handles their life, responsibilities and expectations, relationships, and especially their relationship with food. Do you tend to be more concerned with others than yourself? Do you tend to take things on with an all or nothing approach? Do things have to be perfect for you to feel ok? Does your life feel kind of empty? Are you looking for a goal in life? Again, answering these questions is a way to understanding your own unique personality. For Eric, understanding your personality will help you to understand the reasons behind the patterns in your life. Then, according to Eric, you must be ready to accept help for this. Whether in the form of clinical therapy, a support group, or a counselor, the key, again, is the willingness to accept help.
Once you have gone through all of these steps, Eric asserts, you are on your way to weight loss. And it is not until you have achieved this understanding that the weight loss will last either. To be sure, Eric has seen his share of weight loss ups and downs, and as a personal trainer to many celebrity clients, such as Jessica Biel, Matt Grant, Bette Midler, and Ben Moody, he will tell you that the first, and most important part of weight loss, is understanding yourself. And in order to do this, Eric contends, you must be willing to accept help.

THREE PILLARS OF WEIGHT LOSS

Eric Viskovicz B.S.

When you think about weight loss, my guess is that you think of hard workouts, burning muscles, and a lot of sweat. But is weight loss all physical? Sure, to lose weight, you have to be able to tolerate repeated physical intensity, but what about emotional and relational intensity? Do intense emotions and intensity in our relationships affect weight loss? Even a rudimentary understanding of weight loss will answer this one. What do most of us do when we feel bad, or have an argument with someone, or get dumped? We eat, plain and simple. Each one of these situations represents some form of either emotional or relational intensity, and clearly, if we do not have a plan for managing intense emotions or relationship friction, guess what we will continue to do. But having a plan is only the first step. Just like with physical intensity, we can have a plan for our exercise program, but the likelihood that the plan will have meaning to us depends directly on our ability to understand it. So, in the case of emotional and relational intensity, we not only have to have a plan to manage them, but we have to understand why they are happening. What this essentially means is understanding what situations can cause you to experience intense emotions, and similarly, what circumstances in relationships can cause you to experience intensity.

So let’s talk first about a plan for weight loss that includes managing emotional and relational intensity. When we think of managing intensity, it is important to clarify the meaning of this. Managing intensity is not about diverting from it, it is about tolerating it. When we divert from something, we make an attempt to avoid it, disguise it, or in some way, disengage from it. On the other hand, when we tolerate something, we control our response to it. Tolerating something allows us to experience the effects of something without the effects causing us to change our behavior. Essentially, we will not do anything different as a result of the intensity. Instead, we will continue with all of our daily activities, relationships, interests, hobbies, etc. When our emotions hit the boiling point, we will not look for the solution in the bottom of the ice cream container. Emotions boiling or not, tolerance allows us to continue on with our lives, and our weight loss plans, uninterrupted. Putting things succinctly then, diverting from intensity causes us to interrupt our lives, and weight loss efforts, whereas, tolerating intensity causes us to continue on, without interruption. What provides the necessary foundation for tolerance, is a firm conviction for the things in your life that matter to you. Whether this is a passion, goal, hobby, your sense of honor and morals, or your desire for weight loss, you will not waiver from these things when they have significant importance to you. The more importance they have to you, the more protection against emotional intensity they provide. To be sure, focusing on what matters in your life, puts things back in control, and supports tolerance. A large component of this foundation for tolerance then, is the feeling that things are in your control. As you will see when we explore understanding the causes of emotional and relational intensity, often, it is the feeling that things are out of control, and therefore, focusing on what is in your control provides a powerful antidote for emotional and relational intensity.

So what does cause emotional intensity? To answer this, it is first necessary to define emotional intensity. Emotional intensity is the experience of our emotions rising to the point that they affect our thoughts and behavior. Emotions can come and go, and frequently, we do not notice them until they have risen to the point that they change the way we are thinking and acting. We may not notice if we are a bit blue on Monday, but we will notice if we can’t get out of bed on Monday. So when our emotions have risen to this point, and they jeopardize our behavior, and weight loss attempts, the second part of learning to tolerate them, is understanding why they are happening. We must know what things in our lives are causing us to feel the way we do. Perhaps we are feeling abandoned, rejected, invalidated, futile, useless, or worthless. Whatever the case may be, we will only understand it, when we can ask, what is happening that I am feeling this way? As past experiences always create emotional imprints that can then be reactivated, the answer is almost always in your history. Maybe you felt this way from early on, and this particular experience is simply pouring salt on an old wound. According to Eric Viskovicz, the founder of Live In Fitness Enterprise, a residential bootcamp in Marina Del Rey, CA, the key to managing intense emotions, and consequently, weight loss, lies in a thorough understanding of yourself, your experiences, and your tendencies. When you understand these things about yourself, you will also understand the events and situations that can cause you to experience emotional intensity. Eric Viskovicz, further emphasizes This understanding will automatically reduce emotional intensity as it will provide an answer to the question of what is causing me to feel this way. Clearly, when you understand what is causing you to feel the way you do, it is much easier to tolerate this feeling, as you can change either what is causing you to feel as you do, or at least, change your response to the things that are causing these feelings. When it comes to weight loss, this is of pivotal importance.

Also of prescient importance in the world of weight loss, is the understanding of relational intensity. Understanding relational intensity is much the same as understanding emotional intensity in the sense that early relationship experiences cause relationship imprints that can then be reactivated in later relationships. When this happens, we experience relationship intensity. However, relationship intensity differs from emotional intensity in the sense that emotional intensity portends to emotions that cause us to feel out of control, whereas, relationship intensity portends more to the feeling that we are not getting our needs met. As we are social creatures, we enter relationships because we have social needs. However, Eric Viskovicz continues within the context of social needs, we are all unique in the sense that everyone has slightly different needs. Some people have a higher need for control, some for recognition, some for compliance and acceptance. Whatever the case may be, we can have early relationship experiences that contribute to, and perpetuate, these needs. When this happens, essentially, relationship imprints will be created, causing us to react to any relationship that approximates this imprint. Simply stated, if we have always felt rejected, and thus, have a high need for acceptance, we will react strongly whenever we again, feel rejected. Again, the key to relationship tolerance, and weight loss lies in understanding your relationship history, needs, and tendencies. Once you understand these things, it is much easier to change them, or change the way you react to them, thereby reducing the relational intensity. So just as with emotional intensity, the ability to tolerate relational intensity is directly related to the understanding of it.

But before any of this understanding can have any benefit for you, you have to first get your head out of the refrigerator, and into understanding yourself. As long as you are nursing your emotions or relationship distress in a bucket of ice cream, you are going to continue to feel out of control and at the mercy of your emotions. The cornerstone of Eric Viskovicz approach is that if you want to change this, you have to start looking for the answers in your understanding of yourself. When you do this, you will not take back control of your emotions, but you will also take back control of your weight loss.

The Biggest Loser: Reality or Fiction?

Eric Viskovicz B.S.

While most of us probably don’t here a drum roll when we step on the scale, our hearts are probably pounding. As the numbers seem to dictate the way we feel about ourselves, in the case of The Biggest loser, they literally dictate the lives of the contestants. When the contestant doesn’t make the required weight, she could be sent home, only to confront the weight loss battle once again, alone. While for the rest of us, we won’t be sent anywhere, yet we may find many ways to imprison ourselves for our shortcomings on the scale. Is either one of these approaches successful? Certainly not for those who don’t make the weight. But what about the weight loss camp approach that the Biggest Loser uses? Are weight loss camps in general effective? Let’s explore this question a little further.

In the field of weight loss camps, there are many similarities to The Biggest Loser. All of these programs employ a residential setting, requiring the client to relinquish control of their lives, allowing their schedule, diet, and in many ways, their way of thinking to be entirely controlled by the camp. The client’s daily lives are at the mercy of the trainers, nutritionists, and coaches at the camp. Certainly, many of the clients recognize that in many ways their lives were already out of control, and something very drastic needs to happen in order for the weight to be lost. For many of those at The Biggest Loser this harsh reality can either be relieving, or incredibly frightening. While the admonition that things need to change is not the issue, the technique employed to facilitate this change is. All weight loss camps do, to some extent, remove control from the client. Clearly in doing this, the client has to surrender to this approach and accept that her previous approaches to weight loss have not been successful.

This acceptance can be very helpful in fostering the client’s willingness to accept help. Watching The Biggest Loser, it is painfully obvious that the contestants have to accept the direction of the trainers, without objection. According to the trainers, in order for the client to change, she must do exactly what the trainer says. If she does, she will be successful. Clearly, the contestant must trust the trainer implicitly, and in many ways is told not to listen to her own voice. To be sure we have all heard the contestant on The Biggest Loser objecting to the exercise, and are frequently critisicized, demoralized, or indoctrinated. While this approach may increase ratings, is this really the way to encourage someone to change her life?

Let’s look at another approach. Eric Viskovicz, founder of Live-In-Fitness, in Marina Del Rey, California a weight loss camp, that in many ways, is similar to The Biggest Loser, emphasizes there are some very clear distinctions. Eric Viskovicz uses a residential approach where the client’s schedules are dictated by the program, their meals are prepared for them, and they are, for all intents and purposes, relinquishing control of their lives to the program. However, Eric Viskovicz has taken a different approach. Recognizing that it is a lifestyle change that the client needs to make, the program does two things: it encourages the clients to find the real reasons for their weight gain in the first place, and it utilizes a program that is designed to be incorporated into the client’s life. These real reasons for the client’s weight gain are the underlying emotional reasons for the weight.

To this end, all of the trainers are highly educated in the psychological underpinnings of weight gain. Weekly meetings with a clinical therapist help the clients themselves uncover the mentality behind their weight gain. Staff meetings consist of in-depth discussions about what are the real reasons the client may not be making the weight. In the case that the client doesn’t make the weight, she is not thrown out of the program, instead, she is called on the carpet. What this means is that Eric Viskovicz’s staff, consisting of the client’s coach, nutritionist, and clinical therapist meet with the client to get to the root of the problem. These meetings are anything but recriminating. They are supportive and encouraging, but do not accept anything but the client’s best effort. Eric Viskovicz staff simply will not allow the client to cheat, and will continue working with the client until success is attained. It is this approach that encourages the never to give up on herself, and never to offer anything but her best effort.

From that point, Eric Viskovicz’s staff helps the client incorporate the program into her life. This may mean learning to shop in a healthy way, learning to order healthy choices from a restaurant, and healthy cooking classes. The program also involves the incorporation of sports, outside exercises such as hiking, biking, kayacking, running sand dunes, and beach boot camps. This approach represents a cornerstone of the Eric Viskovicz’s approach. That is: that exercise can be fun. The fact that the clients are not just encouraged to have fun, but taught how to make exercise fun, may be one of the most striking differences between the approach of Eric Viskovicz and that of The Biggest Loser. To promote the incorporation of this into their home life, the clients are also instructed to go back home, try out what they have learned, and return back to the program for additional support. In fact, many clients return simply because they enjoy the experience so much. While this may be the measure of success, enjoying the experience might also be one of the biggest differences between the approach of Eric Viskovicz and that of the Biggest Loser.