Weight Management

Faculty and Staff wellness offers a variety of weight management options to help you pursue a healthier lifestyle.

Eat for Life

What is Eat for Life?
Eat for Life is a 10-week program that helps participants learn to have a healthy relationship with their food and their bodies.  It is taught in group classes and is offered online over Blackboard. This is not your regular weight loss program. In fact, the first thing you will be asked to do is throw out your diets and begin to learn how to use the wisdom of your body to guide how you eat, what you eat and how you relate and use your body. By using mindfulness and mind-body practices such as meditation and yoga you begin to be able to distinguish between physical and emotional feelings and gain a sense of body wisdom. If you have a history of chronic dieting, have rigid “healthy” rules about eating, or find yourself eating when you're stressed, bored, or unhappy, then this may be the program for you. This program is based on the principles of mindfulness (learned through meditation exercises and practicing mindfulness in everyday life), the principles of intuitive eating as outlined in the book "Intuitive Eating" by Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch and other educational information related to how, what and why we eat the way we do. 

Who enrolls in Eat for Life?
If you have a history of chronic dieting, have rigid “healthy” rules about eating, or find yourself eating when you're stressed, bored, or unhappy, then this may be the program for you.

“Since I started mindfully eating in June, I have lost ~45 pounds. I have gone from a size 14-16 to a very comfortable size 8!  I take the stairs (to the 5^th floor) two to four times a day.

I work out 5-6 times a week for 30-45 min. I feel great.

--Darcy D.

“Eat for Life has been a transformational experience…my relationship to food has changed dramatically. I actually think about food much less than before—now it’s rarely on my mind until I begin to experience hunger. And I am savoring my food infinitely more.  Eat for Life embodies an intuitive, gracious approach to living, and I am captivated by the gentleness and kindness inherent in the process.”  

--Linda Dyer

“It is amazing that 10 weeks have gone past. I will use the ‘make peace with food’ for a long time to come. That has been the most successful tip. I don’t have forbidden food, or food that is ‘bad.’ I can have it just in the quantity that will satisfy. You have made this a successful experience that has changed my life.”  

 --Amy Hampton

When is it offered?
In person programs are offered every semester on the MU campus and once a year in St. Louis and Kansas City.  There is an online version of the program that is available every semester for people on all four campuses. For specific dates, visit your campus: MU, UMKC, Missouri S&T or UMSL.

Who teaches Eat for Life?
Lynn Rossy, Ph.D., health psychologist for Healthy for Life, teaches most of the classes and other teachers participate as needed.

What fees are involved?
There is a $50 materials fee (includes CDs and books), $25 to be refunded to faculty and staff with full participation . To enroll or for more information, please contact Lynn Rossy, Ph.D.

For Community Members the cost is $180 with no refund.

Weight Watchers

Faculty and staff who attend 11 of 12 classes (or record their weight online) can return a completed booklet to Healthy for Life at 205 Heinkel Building or by fax at (573) 884-3123, Attention: Melissa Willett, for a 25 percent reimbursement. The enrollment fee is also reimbursable through the Flexible Spending Account.

How do I enroll?
Visit http://wellness.weightwatchers.com to enroll or find a campus location: MU, UMKC, Missouri S&T or UMSL.

Flexible Spending Account Refund for Weight Watchers Classes
This is the most important part to getting a reimbursement through the Flexible Spending Account. You must be attending for an existing medical condition, which obesity is an approved condition. You need your physician to write a note saying it is his/her recommendation to attend Weight Watchers specifically to improve your condition, then sign and date it. The letter is good for one year from that date. You also need to attach a copy of your Weight Watcher booklet with your weigh-in amount and the dates to the Claim Form Letter below. The last part is you will need a letter from your instructor saying how much you paid and when you joined.

• Information about FSA
• Claim Form Letter (This is the letter to mail in your claim and there is an address where to send it at the bottom).

Nutrition Resources

There’s lots of great information available on the web regarding nutrition, here are a few of our suggestions:

• American Dietetic Association
• Calorie King
• Nutrition Data
• Show Me Nutrition (MU Extension)
• Tips for Mindful Eating Blog (Healthy for Life)
• US Dept of Agriculture  
• Weight Watchers