As the summer season approaches, many Americans’ minds turn to the beach and… how they’ll look in their two-piece. Which, of course, is a boon to the booming $60 billion weight loss industry. Whether it’s gym memberships, personal trainers, weight loss programs, multivitamin supplements, surgeries, or fitness apparel, there are myriad opportunities for us to spend our money in an effort to be healthier and look fitter.

Here’s a look at how much we spend on getting buff and healthy and strategies to save.

Gym and health clubs:

The gym and health club industry brings in $21.8 billion in annual revenue. Around  58 million Americans have gym memberships, but 67% of those people never actually use them. The average cost of a gym membership in the U.S. is $53 a month, of which $39 goes to waste due to underutilization. That cost can add up quickly with the extra cost of personal trainers. Among gym goers, 13% use trainers, dishing out an additional $65 per hourly session. According to a study conducted by Scarborough, millennials are 19% more likely to go to the gym.

With new fitness fads popping up all the time now, the 5 cities that spend the most on monthly health club dues were as follows: Savannah, GA: $144.35; Naples, FL: $143.91; New York, NY: $134.50; Sarasota, FL: $116.08; Astoria, NY $112.20.

A cheaper alternative to spending top dollar for a gym and health club membership:

• Watch free online personal training tutorials for inspiration and techniques like BeFit and Blogilates.

• Take your fitness outdoors and enjoy the free scenery as you get fit.

 

Weight loss programs:

Dieting has always been the No. 1 go-to approach for people trying to lose weight. An estimated 45 million Americans diet each year, with the typical dieter making four weight-loss attempts a year. Weight-loss programs are a costly tool to keeping fit, yet people are still willing to pay top dollar. Some of the most popular commercial diet programs include Jenny Craig with an annual cost of $2,500, Vtrim, which costs $682 a year, and one of the more cost-effective programs: Weight Watchers, at $377.

A cheaper alternative to weight-loss programs:

• Use free weight loss apps to track your regime, such as Lose It! and My Fitness Plan.

 

Multivitamins and nutritional supplements:

The nutritional supplement category includes multivitamins (B12 or calcium pills, for instance), supplements like pre-workout protein powders, and weight-loss multivitamin pills.

Americans will spend $21 billion on supplements (which includes multivitamins) this year alone, making up 5% of overall grocery sales in the U.S. Millennials are 33% more likely to purchase weight-loss pills than the average American. But those pills can get pretty expensive; the average yearly cost of some popular diet pills, including Lorcaserin and Orlistat, is more than $1,500. Even being a member at GNC, the world’s largest retailer of nutritional products won’t save you much. There are 5 million GNC gold card members, and to become one you need to pay one-time $15 fee. You may think you’re saving in the long run, but keep in mind that the discounts and promotions that come with membership can compel you to just buy more stuff -- members tend to spend twice as much as non-members. Half of GNC retail sales come from card members alone, according to the company.