Have real fun,
make real change.
Games that power the changes you
want to make in your life. It’s the better way
to lose weight—find out why.
Lost 96 lbs
Won $1,358
Is money an effective weight-loss incentive?
Apps and weight loss programs are offering cash for weight loss - and research suggests it's a good approach.
Read the full article.Help reach your goals by betting on yourself to lose weight
How many of you started the new year resolving to lose some weight? Many who did have already fallen back into old habits, but now there's a way to keep you on track by putting your money on the line.
Read the full article.Fitness apps to get you moving in the new year
Have a New Year's resolution to get in shape but abhor the gym? Fitness apps may be the solution.
Read the full article.Joy Fit Club member is walking down the aisle 152 pounds lighter!
TODAY contributor and nutritionist Joy Bauer introduces the two newest members of the Joy Fit Club: Kate Kehrel and Nina Gibson! Kate went from a size 28 to a size 8 after seeing how she looked in a bridesmaid dress. She talks about her use of the app DietBet in her journey.
Read the full article.Obese Starbucks fan who slurped FOUR 400-calorie mochas a day slims down to a size 2 after failing to fit into size XL leggings
A Starbucks fan who drank four massive mochas a day has lost 126lbs after being horrified to find she was large for leggings.
Read the full article.The 38 Best Health and Fitness Apps of 2016
We spend too much time staring at our phones—just ask the pedestrians we almost walk into on a daily basis. If scrolling through your Newsfeed or swiping right were Olympic sports, we’d definitely take home a medal. But in reality, the only things getting a workout in either case are our thumbs. That’s not to say your phone can’t help you lead a healthier, happier life. You just need to know the right apps to download. Before you fall down the rabbit hole that is the app store, check out our list of the best health and fitness apps. We tested out hundreds before whittling it down to the 39 that are really worth checking out.
Read the full article.Weight Loss Tricks to Keep You Motivated
Fitness director Jaclyn Emerick of Shape Magazine shares weight loss tricks designed to keep you motivated.
Watch the video.
25 Simple Weight Loss Secrets From Women Who Majorly Transformed Their Bods
News flash: There will never be just one way to lose weight. Which is why 25 women shared the different success secrets that all yielded the same result: A healthier, more confident version of themselves.
Read the full article.Get paid for losing weight
Want to fatten your wallet as you trim your waistline?
Companies that offer weight loss services raked in more than $6 billion last year.
So why not get some of that money back?
There are several programs that pay you to shed pounds. The catch, if you don’t make your goal you’re the one who has to pay up.
Dieting Website Allows Users To Bet Money On Losing Weight
Lose weight, win money: that’s the promise of a website thousands of people are using to shed those extra pounds.
But does it work? CBS 2’s Dana Kozlov takes a look in this Original Report.
I Lost 70 Pounds from Healthy Eating, Exercise, and Betting Money on My Success
Sara Bibee took a gamble on her weight loss—literally.
Read the full article.These gadgets will help you keep your New Year's resolutions
We’re well into the New Year and right on schedule our big resolution resolve is…gone. Abandoned. Dead. According to statistics, 36% of people who make resolutions give up before February and only 8% keep their resolutions for an entire year. Don’t worry, it happens to the best of us—not for lack of willpower—it’s just that old habits are hard to break and new ones tough to make stick. Here are a handful of tech tools to get you back on track with the most common resolutions of the year.
Read the full article.DietBet: When It Comes To Losing Weight, Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is
If you're struggling to lose weight, it might be because you're going at it alone. It might also be because you've tried before and saw yourself go up and down, so it's hard to find concrete motivation to make this the time that the weight actually comes off. If you want to give a real, valiant effort and motivate yourself to lose weight and get healthy, you might want to put your money where your mouth is and give DietBet a try.
Read the full article.Here’s How You Should Pay Yourself To Work Out
Cold, hard cash is a great way to convince yourself to hit the gym—that much we know. But as a new study shows, monetary motivation should be less carrot and more stick.
Read the full article.16 Best Health and Fitness Apps of 2016
Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Spotify—you likely know about the big-name apps that help you connect with loved ones, upload photos or listen to music.
But what about the apps that help you improve your health?
According to a recent study, participants who used fitness apps were much more active compared to nonusers. Current users also had a lower body mass index.
Vista woman cashes in on weight loss
VISTA, Calif. - As New Years Day approaches, thousands of San Diegans will make that resolution to lose weight.
And those who succeed can pick up some extra bucks.
Vista resident Stephanie Miko has lost 100 pounds in the last two years.
The Easy Steps That Helped Me Lose More Than 175 Pounds
Before: 373
After: 198
The Lifestyle
My family and I have always been overweight. I don't want to blame my parents, but they pretty much let my brother and me eat whatever we wanted when we were kids. There were times where I would eat an entire box of Pop-Tarts, and no one said anything. By the time I reached high school, I weighed about 260 pounds. But I never really saw the need to lose weight because I was funny, and that made me feel confident.
When I got to college, I weighed about 300 pounds and then put on the freshman 15—times two. I think the reason I gained so much is that I just kept up my unhealthy habits, didn't exercise, and ate like a college kid. I don't think I had one vegetable while I was there.
WayBetter is Killing it on SeedInvest as it "Tests the Waters" with Reg A+
On Friday last week, Crowdfund Insider shared that SeedInvest, an equity crowdfunding platform in NYC, had launched a potential Regulation A+ issuer, WayBetter, as they “test the water” of investors. Part of the potential of Title IV of the JOBS Act, or Regulation A+, is the ability to gauge investor interest prior to filing with the SEC. This saves time, and of course money, for the issuing company. SeedInvest quickly leveraged the new exemption and posted what may have been the first (definitely one of the first) companies to ask investors if they would participate in a crowdfunding round. So how is WayBetter doing? They are pretty much killing it.
In just a few short days, WayBetter has registered over $4.9 million of investor interest. It took just 3 minutes for the first investor to add their name to the list. The current total is being updated in “real time”, according to SeedInvest, but if I had to guess – this one is a go.
Weight loss program offers cash to shed pounds
Weight loss can be a struggle for many people but an online company is using cash to motivate you to lose weight and keep it off.
The program is on the website DietBet.com. Users sign up, choose a challenge and decide how much money to bet for the game. If users lose the weight-loss goal, they get part of the winnings. Read the full article.
Fitness Apps that Pay You Back
DietBet (Android and iOS) DietBet serves up two games you play to lose weight for cash. The four-week Kickstarter challenges you to shed 4 percent of your body weight. The six-month Transformer dares you to drop 10 percent, with six rounds of body weight losses — 3 percent to 10 percent — in that time frame. Start with a pic of you on a scale, along with your scale’s preferably digital readout and a special weigh-in word. After the final day, you have 48 hours to submit your weigh-out. Winners divide the pot. Read the full article.
The 'Right Choices' I Made That Helped Me Drop 80 Pounds Get inspiration from Stephanie Hastings' weight-loss story.
The Lifestyle
I've been overweight most of my life. I basically ate whatever I wanted and didn't exercise at all. For breakfast, I'd have a bagel, and lunch was either a deli sandwich or pizza. Besides choosing foods that weren't exactly low in calories, my biggest problem was overeating. I didn't know anything about portion control—I just ate until I felt really full. Even though I was heavy, I wasn't concerned about what I looked like. I assumed that this was my body and there was nothing I could do about it. Plus, I was in a great relationship with my husband, so I saw no reason to change anything. I was happy.
How I Made a Bet on Myself, and Lost 145 Pounds
”For as long as I could remember, I\'d always been overweight,” Sara says.
”I used to eat a couple of bowls of cereal for breakfast, half a pizza for lunch and fast food for dinner.
When I was tired in the evenings, I\'d eat to stay awake.” She hit 342 pounds in March 2013 and realized
she needed to do something.
She tried multiple diets, but none worked. Then one of her college friends told Sara that she'd lost weight
using the website DietBet—now a free app—that turns weight loss into a betting game played with other competitors for money.
”I didn't want to be the fat friend. I didn't want to be left behind,” Sara says. ”I wanted to live my life without worrying every day about my weight.” Read the full article.
Rewards Lure Them In
Would a friendly bet help you lose weight? The answer is yes for WayBetter, which has paid out $11 million
to participants who lost a total of 3 million pounds while taking part in its weight-loss competition, dubbed DietBet.
For a small fee — usually $30 — people sign up to lose a predetermined percentage of their body weight in a set amount of time.
Those who succeed split the pot.
“I liked the idea that if you could make something fun, people would gravitate toward it,” said WayBetter CEO Jamie Rosen. Read the full article.
Knock Out Your Muffin Top with Tips from Pro Boxer Laila Ali
”Diet is the most important thing because a muffin top is basically excess fat,
which comes from overeating,” says the daughter of Muhammad Ali.
“So you definitely have to get your nutrition in order.”
Ali – who is hosting a DietBet online weight loss challenge starting June 1 – recommends sticking to a clean diet. Read the full article.
Win Money for Losing Weight With P90x Creator
The creator and founder of P90X and author of “The Big Picture” Tony Horton joined us live with summer slim down tips plus details on his new fitness challenge where you can win money for losing weight. You have til May 19th to sign up for Tony’s DietBet. Tony is also offering tons of incentives for those who join including books, autographed P90x program, and even one-on-one Skype sessions with those who recruit the most players! Read the full article.
How I Motivated Myself to Lose More Than 100 Pounds
Putting her money where her mouth is helped Sara Lugger drop over 100 pounds.
When I realized that I was almost 350 pounds, I knew I had to make a change.
There was just something about this number that made me realize I needed to try
to lose weight again. I was out of excuses not to do it. That's when one of my
friends from college told me she had some success losing weight using this
website called DietBet.com. Basically, it's website where you join a group of
people who bet a minimum of $5 that they will lose at least four percent of
their body weight in 28 days. If you lose the weight, you get your money back,
plus however much is left over from people who didn't lose the weight. What's
cool about these 28-day "games" is that you have a support system within the
group. When I was having a hard day, I wrote to people who were also trying to
lose weight and told them about it. They always responded with so much support. Read the full article.
Weight-Loss Win: Sara Lost 147 Pounds And Feels Better Than Ever
I was turning 34 and closing in on being 350 pounds. At that time, I didn’t
want to go out with friends, or to any events and outings, because I wasn’t
sure if I could even fit in the seats.
One of my best friends was losing weight while being a part of a community
weight-loss challenge site called DietBet.com, and after seeing her positivity
and the support she was receiving from others in this group, I decided to join
as well. In addition, I started working out and trying to incorporate physical
activity into my daily schedule. In the mornings, I would exercise on the
elliptical for 30 to 45 minutes. I made sure to walk around outside my building
at work in the afternoons. And in the evenings, I would either take walks with
friends or do dance workouts on my Wii. Read the full article.
DietBet weight-loss website banks on competitive spirit, money reward
Losing weight is going competitive as a new website uses people’s urge to make
money as an incentive to shed pounds. DietBet is a New York City-based website
that launched in 2013. It allows users to put money on the line that they can
win back if they lose a certain percentage of their body weight in a set amount
of time.
Ottawa mother Laureen Krumshyn said she bet $200 she’d lose 10 per cent of her
body weight in six months and it’s working so far.
“It’s a competitive thing for me,” she said. “I don't like to lose. It's fun
knowing that you've made this commitment and you're motivated to do it.” Read the full article.
How to win money for losing weight
After having her first baby in 2009, Brandi Laughlin weighed more than 200 pounds. One year later, she shredded 60 pounds, but gained back the majority of it after she had her second child.
“I was just sick with myself and I didn’t want to be a mom that had let herself go,” the mother of two said.
Laughlin said she got serious, started working out with a trainer and even competed in her first bikini competition.
During her weight loss journey, she regularly updated her blog called, “Mama Laughlin.”
"It just kind of stuck. After I had my first child, I was like, ‘I’m a mom now. Mama Laughlin,’” she said.
Laughlin did not know it, but hundreds of women across the country were inspired by her blog, including San Antonio resident Jenica Muse.
“She’s such an inspiration,” Muse said. “It really helped me to realize that there’s a lot of people that go through the same trials and tribulations and have their own weight loss story.”
Since Laughlin has a strong following, a weight loss website called DietBet asked her to host a challenge. Anyone can sign up. All you have to do is place a bet that you’ll lose four percent of your body weight in four weeks. The winners then split the money.
More than 4000 people signed up for Laughlin’s DietBet competition, putting down more than $158,000.
“You’re putting it out there for a chance to lose it all, so that helped give me that motivation to where I don’t want to lose that money. I actually want to win some money and I did,” Muse said.
Muse won $46.31 for losing a total of 12.5 pounds over four weeks.
Betting on weight loss can help people meet goals
For most of her adult life, Alfena Rascoe battled obesity. At 238 pounds, the
Laurel resident said, the extra weight slowed her down, affecting her stamina
at work as a child psychiatric specialist. It also led to high blood pressure,
putting her at risk of heart disease and stroke.
"I've done Atkins [diet], protein powder, the lemonade diet," says the
47-year-old. "Everything you can think of, I've tried it. They all work, but my
issue is being able to maintain it."
So in March 2013, after a new blood pressure medication caused swollen ankles
and shortness of breath, she decided to give dieting one more try. This time,
she found a new motivation: money. Rascoe joined DietBet, a website that turns
losing weight into a money-making — or money-losing — game. Read the full article.
It's been a Godsend for Houstonian Nick Alvarado.
Millions of Americans promise to lose weight every January, but by February, that couch and those cheeseburgers are starting to look good.
If you need a little extra motivation this time around, how about a cash incentive? There's an online game that pays players to shed pounds.
Trying to lose weight? Latest diet fad offers cash reward
One of the latest diet trends has people logging on and betting money to drop pounds. Dawn Hyatt had tried a number of diets before but nothing seemed to stick. Her co-worker told her about DietBet, a website that lets people gamble on their weight loss. If they meet their goals, they could get their money back and then some. "I've kind of gotten a little addicted to it," she said. Dawn has lost 42 pounds since June. It turns out the money was a huge motivator. Read the full article.
Shed the pounds with Shaun T
The fitness guru stopped by Weekend Express to tell us about some new projects he has in the works, including a weight loss challenge that could have you winning big bucks and a fun new workout that makes it possible to shed pounds in only 30 minutes a day!
Read the full article.Social media driver behind weight loss
Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition contestant Bruce Pitcher from Salt Lake City, lost over 200 pounds on the show and is now an expert on nutrition and fitness and said social media has played a huge role in his success, so much so that he developed his own weight loss game on DietBet, an application for smartphones. Pitcher believes when people post before and after photos it inspires those people to get up and do something about their weight because they see others who are in the same situation. He gets the most feedback when he posts photos on social media of where he used to be and where he is now. Read the full article.
DietBet Encourages Weight Loss By Having You Put Your Money Where Your Scale Is
The Morning Blend: Have Fun Lose Weight
DietBet brings people together as a community to support and motivate each other to lose weight. They call it Social Dieting, and it works! 96% of their users lose weight during their games, about 5.5 pounds in a month on average. Winners lose over 9 pounds and make money. Read the full article.
Is Betting on Weight Loss a Good Idea? Wagering your money may help you shed the pounds.
Have you ever tried to lose weight, only to fall off your diet? If staying on your diet could net you some extra cash, would you be more likely to stick to your goal? Thanks to websites like DietBet, FatBet and HealthyWage, you can bet on yourself to lose weight – hit your target and you win cash, or miss it and pay up. The sites all differ in terms of payouts and goals, but they generally work the same. Pony up money, send the website a photo of you on the scale and then try to hit your target weight. “On our site, there’s a community of people who are coming together to try and hit a specific goal,” says Jamie Rosen, founder and CEO of DietBet. “Our most popular competition is to lose 4 percent of your body weight in four weeks.” Read the full article.
WTVG on ABC: Health and Fitness Segment
Transcript: Anchor: Doug from Perrysburg says - "My friends are doing a DietBet. Is this a scam? how does it work?" Health Expert: No, it is not a scam. It's a reputable website and a way to lose weight as a competition. You've seen how the biggest loser offers major cash prizes and how it does serve to motivate people. Offices have long done weight loss pools or competitions. DietBet formalizes it and lets you connect with your fellow dieters online. Everyone puts in a certain amount of money and the people in the group who reach a 4-percent weight loss goal split the pot. Huge pots can mean nice payouts if you win. If you're looking for a cash incentive or online support maybe check it out. Visit DietBet.com for the details on how it works. Read the full article.
Woman bets she'll lose big -- and wins
Sara Lugger was skeptical as she placed her first $5 bet. But she realized that
all she had to lose was weight -- and a few bucks if the money didn't motivate
her to get in shape.
A friend's success had inspired Lugger to join DietBet, a website that hosts
private and public games where people can bet on their own weight loss. Each
game sets a goal, such as losing 4% of your body weight, and users who reach
that goal split the pot.
Lugger was 34 and weighed 342 pounds. Read the full article.
Wagering away weight can work, R.I. researcher says
Dietbet, a social online weight reduction program that involves financial incentives and gaming, works, according to a study at Miriam Hospital. Read the full article.
Weight Watchers meets Tough Mudder at startup DietBet
It took being quoted in the New York Times in 2009 to convince serial entrepreneur Jamie Rosen to turn his diet blog into a business. Inspired by seeing several friends join a dieting group at work, Rosen started a blog about weight loss. The Times’ item inundated the blog with responses and led to follow-up interviews for in-flight magazines and international publications. A business was born. Read the full article.
Trying to lose weight? Jamie Rosen and his investors bet you can. Wanna play?
It took being quoted in the New York Times in 2009 to convince serial
entrepreneur Jamie Rosen to turn his diet blog into a business. Inspired by
seeing several friends join a dieting group at work, Rosen started a blog about
weight loss. The Times’ item inundated the blog with responses and led to
follow-up interviews for in-flight magazines and international publications. A
business was born.
Rosen had a proven track record. He sold his browser business Comet for $33
million in 2004. Read the full article.
More People Betting on Weight Loss
Sue Johnston’s weight loss journey started in late 2013. First she shed 7 pounds on her own, then another 45 using Weight Watchers. She still had pounds to go, though. Read the full article.
How Weight Watchers lost touch with changes in social dieting
A few companies, however, do compete on this level and they’re gaining traction. MyFitnessPal, for example, makes a free calorie counting app that features social connectivity among its users. Founded in 2005 with 50 million downloads and counting, it recently raised $18 million in venture capital. SparkPeople is a free weight loss community with over 10 million users, many of which are former customers of Weight Watchers. And my company, DietBetter, has received traction setting up online weight loss communities structured as social games that we call dietbets. “What we’re seeing here is classic disruptive innovation,” says John R. Kimberly, professor of management at Wharton. “Old-line companies are being deeply challenged by new technology and new competition.” Read the full article.
IHRSA 2014 Exhibitor Video: DietBetter
Trade show is the place to be for equipment, and more
The IHRSA Trade Show is the biggest and best in the health and fitness industry. For two days in the San Diego Convention Center, Halls A-F, mega-companies like Technogym, Matrix, Cybex and Life Fitness will share the attention from more than 7,000 attendees (7,450 in 2013) with newbies DIetBetter, Da Vinci BodyBoard, Paofit Technology and StrongBoard as well as those somewhere in the middle, like Woodway USA, ABC Financial, Iron Grip and Spri. Read the full article.
DietBet: How social media can lead to weight loss
This week on Take Care, Dr. Tricia Leahey discusses DietBet, a social
networking website that challenges users to lose weight. Leahey is an assistant
professor in research at Brown Medical School and the Miriam Hospital’s Weight
Control and Diabetes Research Center, and is also part of the DietBetter.com’s
advisory team.
“We are finding that perhaps these financial incentives, by putting your money
where your mouth is, plus having these social interactions and this ongoing
support and friendly competition, which can actually be quite fun, does yield
some pretty impressive weight losses,” says Leahey. Read the full article.
Weight loss social gaming sites effectively encourage users to win by losing: study
People who join programs like DietBet place bets on themselves, and the ones
who lose a certain amount of weight after a month all divvy up the pool.
Researchers said these participants are more motivated to stick to their diets,
and it shows — the big losers dropped 4.9% of their body weight and won an
average of $59.
Researchers from The Miriam Hospital in Providence, Rhode Island made an
interesting discovery regarding a social gaming site's link to weight loss.
DietBet is an online commercial weight loss program that combines social
influence with financial incentive, resulting in "significant" user weight
loss. Read the full article.
Saving May be Tough but Here’s How to Get a Handle on It
Much like when you’re dieting, being specific leads to progress. Saying you’ll start saving Jan. 1 will likely get you nowhere, says Jamie Rosen, founder and CEO of dietbetter. Saying you’ll save $2.00 a week over the next month is likely to get results. Read the full article.
I Lost It: ‘Set small goals’ featuring Kate Fierce
I never had to worry too much about my weight until 2010. I went through a very difficult breakup and began to have health issues. Eventually I was diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome, but not before I’d packed on nearly 40 pounds in about a year. Read the full article.
Apps That Motivate
Make a fitness gamble. Users put up a bet ($10 or more) to join a team. If they drop 4 percent of their weight in four weeks, they split the pot with the other "losers". Read the full article.
2014 Top Five Business and Technology Trends in Health and Wellness
Commercial weight loss companies like Weight Watchers and Jenny Craig continue to lose market share to do-it-yourself diets and free apps. When it comes to weight loss, people want flexibility, value and convenience. In a year in which the stock market has surged, Weight Watchers has lost nearly half its market value. Why? Commercial weight loss programs like Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, and Nutrisystem are being leapfrogged by free apps that let people customize their approach to their needs. In our annual survey of DietBet players, MyFitnessPal, Lose It! and Fooducate have been among the most popular food-tracking apps. Our players also use exercise apps such as Runkeeper, MapMyRun and Couch to 5k as tools to motivate them to exercise. It remains to be seen, however, whether calorie-counting apps are sustainable as our players tell us that they fatigue from logging everything they eat. Read the full article.
In for a penny, in for a pound
It's really nice when you see women working toward a common goal and sharing. We all come together, which is really nice. Nobody leaves anyone hanging, everybody really goes out of their way to help someone else. I feel like I really have someone -- no matter what time of day or night -- who will say, `We're there to support you. Read the full article.
Nutrition tip of the week: Resolutions — In one year, out the next
If money is a motivator for you, consider joining a weight loss group online like DietBet or HealthyWage where you pay a fee to join but get money back if you meet your goals. Or, set up your own group weight loss challenge. Read the full article.
Want to lose weight? These apps will keep you on track
If nothing else is working for you, how about a losing weight with friends? An
app called Diet Bet turns weight loss into a group competition. You and your
friends can put money in a pot and whoever loses the most, wins.
Some pots have reached hundreds of thousands of dollars. How's that for an
incentive? The app only works if you're part of a game, but you can find a
competition to join on the website dietbet.com. The free Diet Bet app is
available for iOS devices only. Read the full article.
Can You Really Learn a Skill in A Week? The Secrets Inside Tim Ferriss' Insanely Fast Learning Strategy
Why do people quit diets or play the guitar for two sessions, put it down, and never pick it back up? Because there's no penalty, there's no cost. You don't get fired from your job if you quit the guitar. But if you use something like stickK or DietBet.com, you can actually put your money on the line, where if you don't follow your program, and you have a referee to keep you honest, you have money that will go to an anti-charity, your least favorite charity on the planet. Read the full article.
3 Ways You Can Get Paid to Lose Weight
I found that the idea of losing $20 was more motivating than actually losing the weight. The Oreos calling my name weren't nearly as loud as my wallet wailing over its missing $20. And lo and behold, when the four weeks were up, I'd miraculously lost the 4 percent. When the pot was split, I got back $39. The $20 I'd put in had almost doubled in just four weeks! How's that for a lucrative ROI? Read the full article.
Lose Weight With Dieting For Dollars
If this seems too good to be true just ask Sugar House Mom Samantha Stults. In June of this year she decided to bet against her own weight. So far shes lost 35 pounds and made $137 dollars after a total wager of $35. Read the full article.
Double the Payoff
In the weight-loss race, cash may be the perfect carrot. When participants in a Mayo Clinic study were offered a change to win—or lose—$20 a month, 62 percent completed the program, dropping an average of nine pounds. Without monetary motivation, only 26 percent followed through, losing just two pounds on average. Visit sites such as DietBet.com to set up a challenge for yourself or make a wager with friends.
This App Helps You Lose Weight by Betting Money
The appeal of DietBet lies not only in the financial incentive — winners split the collected money among themselves — but also in the fact that it provides a social and motivational platform that aims to combat the dreariness and often unsustainable nature of conventional dieting. Read the full article.
DietBet Is Betting That Losing Weight Is About To Get More Social
On June 15th, 2008 I got married. Five years and 30+ pounds later I am always on the lookout for a way to get back into my pre-marriage shape. I’ve picked up Soulcycle (which I highly recommend), joined soccer, basketball and softball leagues and a variety of other methods. Although I feel I am on the right track, I needed a little more public incentive to get the process going. And that’s when I discovered a startup called DietBet, an internet-based social dieting company. Read the full article.
Get healthy and make some dough
According to Tamara Grand, BCRPA-certified personal training, advanced group fitness leader and the author offitknitchick.com, people are simply searching for the support they need, and these challenges provide it. The challenges motivate and keep people accountable to their goals,” says Grand, who just hosted her second DietBet challenge. Read the full article.
Trying to lose weight? DietBet puts your money where your cake-hole is
I haven't tried DietBet myself -- but I'm about to...I'm only looking to lose about 10 pounds, but I'm really fired up about this. And I think the more people who join, the more fun it will be. For what it's worth, I'm donating 50 percent of whatever money I win (and I will be among the winners, thank you) to Mothers Against Drunk Driving. If you want to support a charity as well, you can update your DietBet profile accordingly. Read the full article.
Dieting for dollars: Financial incentive helps people lose weight, study shows
A study from the Mayo Clinic found that dieters offered a financial incentive were more likely to lose weight...TODAY contributor Dr. Roshini Raj was impressed with the results. 'As human beings, our brains really respond to rewards,' she said. 'Unfortunately, you would think being healthier, having a reduced risk of heart disease and cancer is the reward itself, but that's a long term thing. Money, you feel it in your pocket and you like it.' Read the full article.
Dieting for Dollars: A Win for Both Trainers and Clients
I've not only gained new clients, especially since people invite their friends to join them in my DietBets, I'm also maintaining my current client base, which is what any personal trainer wants'—that she's now contemplating running a DietBet to coincide with each 'diet season,' roughly five a year. Another benefit? 'Doing these bets expands your ability to create an international or global brand,' she says. Read the full article.
Putting Cash on the Line to Lose Weight
DietBet users can go on the website and join a public group, or create their own private game among family members or friends. The amount of money needed to wager is set by the person who starts the game. There are many public games that charge as little as $25. The goal is to lose 4 percent of your body weight in four weeks. Read the full article.
Office Weight-Loss Contests Rise, Saboteurs and All
Four-week games organized by New York-based DietBet, have been run at more than 500 companies, allotting cash prizes to any participant who sheds 4% of body weight. Chief executive Jamie Rosen says 90% of players slim down, averaging a 5.4-pound loss. Other employers run ad hoc contests, usually modeled after NBC-TV's winner-take-all 'Biggest Loser' series. Read the full article.
Wagers help motivate weight-loss goals
It's a great accountability system,' says personal trainer Tony Pino, who work at Platinum Gym in Sanford. Now that he knows about DietBet, he says he's going to encourage his clients to use it. When you have something to shoot for and then you have a group of other people shooting for the same goal or heading in the same direction, that gets momentum,' Pino said. Read the full article.
New apps offer smartphone support on losing weight and sticking to exercise programs
This social dieting game puts your money where your mouth is. Create a game with friends, set the bet amount, and the first person to lose 4% of their starting weight wins the pot. The more people who play, the bigger the pay. You can also join in existing games. Read the full article.
Gamble your way to weight loss with new apps
New websites and apps known as weight loss wager programs are encouraging dieters to gamble their way to a leaner figure, betting on whether they can shed unwanted pounds. TODAY's Erica Hill reports and Jamie Rosen of DietBet.com shows how the program changed the lives of five employees. Read the full article.
Free Apps for New Year's Resolutions
DietBet.com wants to help you make money while dieting. You can set up a challenge of your own or join another group. The competition lasts four weeks and the person who loses 4% of their bodyweight during that time wins. Celebrity trainers, gyms, HR managers, charities and others already have challenges set up on the site. DietBet is available for iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. Read the full article.
9 Apps to Fast-Track Your New Year's Resolutions
We've compiled a list of apps that can help you accomplish all sorts of goals this year. Check it out and let us know if we missed any that you plan on using in 2013. Read the full article.
Tim Ferriss attempts to do what hundreds of years of psychological research couldn't
Ahead of his latest book launch "The 4-Hour Chef," Ferris is hoping to get to the bottom of why people fall off the wagon with their diets, and figure out how to keep them on track. His first step was to put all participants on the same low carb diet and exercise program. [T]wo groups are using online tools that claim to help people create goals and stick with them in different ways that hold them more accountable and then offer them rewards for their success. Read the full article.
Need some financial incentive to motivate your weight loss?
DietBet is a four-week weight-loss game with major perks! Join an existing game or start your own. Then place your wager, big or small -- the more people involved, the bigger the prize! And everyone who loses 4 percent of their body weight gets a share of the pot at the end. Read the full article.
How to Use Money As Running Motivation
Having a financial incentive to lose weight could make you five times more likely to succeed, according to a study published in The Journal of the American Medical Association in 2008, which may explain the recent success of 'social dieting' Web sites that let you bet on yourself. When you lose the weight, you win the money–a classic win/win. 'Nobody likes dieting, but everyone likes games,' says Jamie Rosen, the New York City marathoner who founded dietbet.com, where you win a share of the "pot" when you achieve a weight-loss goal in an online competition. Read the full article.
The 4-Hour Body Million-Pound March (and $1,000,000 Pot)
When you diet alone, nobody's holding your feet to the fire. There's nothing stopping you from saying, "I'll do it next month." But when you compete with others, especially with money on the line, it focuses you on a goal like nothing else. It's strict accountability wrapped in a game. Read the full article.
BET YOUR BOTTOM
Starting a diet can feel about as enjoyable as enduring a root canal. But now there's a service that seeks to turn the process into a good-natured game, replete with rules, winners and cash prizes. Essentially a tech-savvy version of the age-old weight-loss competition (or, you know, The Biggest Loser), the new website DietBet facilitates one-month "games" between friends to see who can drop the most excess baggage. It's up to the organizer of each competition to invite participants and determine how much money is at stake; you can bet nothing, though recent studies show that money might be the most persuasive motivator. Once everybody is ready to go, contestants enter a starting weight (don't worry, the actual number is hidden from your pals) along with a telling "before" picture. At the end of the four-week period, dieters submit their final "after" shots and weigh-in numbers (to be reviewed by DietBet employees to weed out cheaters), and anyone who has lost at least 4 percent of their body weight wins or splits the pot. DietBet discourages dangerous behavior by disqualifying people who lose more than triple their goal, and of course a general air of sportsmanship is expected. After all, nobody likes a sore loser. Read the full article.
Fit Fight: Challenge Friends to Lose Weight with DietBet
The idea is called The Fun Theory and it's what inspired the creation of DietBet, a site that turns losing weight into a game amongst friends. Participants ante up via PayPal or credit card. After the initial weigh-in, competitors have 28 days to reach their target weight. The winner gets the pot; if multiple players succeed, the pot is split amongst them. The official rules keep players honest and safe (you can be disqualified for losing too much weight). And while the game is afoot, you can talk smack, devise a strategy, and add photographic evidence to prove your dominance. At the end, you'll have lost weight and had fun doing it — not just in theory. Read the full article.
Wagering on Weight Loss: Diet Bet Websites
Blogger Amy Oztan decided it was time to kick her diet into higher gear. She turned to dietbet.com, a new website that lets you wager on future weight loss. Although she'd previously managed to shed 18 lbs. on her own, Oztan figured that she'd be spurred on by the combined threat of online humiliation if she failed, plus the thrill of prize money if she succeeded. Read the full article.
Would you lose weight if money were at stake?
You might want to lose weight, but the noticeable benefits seem so far off in the future that you continually procrastinate. You need a reason to get more fit right now - how about money? A new study in the journal Archives of Internal Medicine reinforces this idea that if money were on the line, you might start on a healthier path. In fact, there's other evidence to suggest that money does matter. A 2008 study in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that financial incentives did get people to lose weight. You can find websites that offer rewards for healthy behaviors. Others offer you the opportunity to punish yourself financially if you don't meet your goals (that may sound harsh, but it's a motivator): DietBet.com: This website lets you join with other people in betting on weight loss. You sign up with at least one other person and get 28 days to lose weight. If there's only one winner, he or she wins the entire prize pot. Multiple winners get equal shares of the pot. Read the full article.
Scale Wages: Taking Bets and Dropping Pounds
Testing the outer limits of your willpower is DietBet, a website that combines healthy old-fashioned weight loss with a healthy old-fashioned gambling competition… the Kentucky Derby of dieting. Read the full article.
Website Places Healthy Wager On Weight Loss
"This website gives people accountability", Glassman says. "It gives them support and also there's the real hard-core goal of it all, the competition aspect. And the goal is actually pretty reasonable." In all, the pro-eaters competing on dietbet.com lost 79 pounds and walked away with about $200 in winnings each. They plan to keep the challenge going by upping the ante instead of their waistlines. Read the full article.
The Verdict On... Dieting For Dollars
We know from watching The Biggest Loser that winning $250,000 can be a huge motivator. But can the fear of losing money have the same effect? New sites like DietBet.com... are, well, betting on it. Though the rules vary by site, the basic idea is the same: You wager money – say; $50 or $100 – that you'll reach your goal weight. If you do, you get back your dollars and potentially win more money. If you don't, you kiss your bucks good-bye. Experts say the premise has merit: In a recent study, people with a financial incentive to slim down lost about seven times more weight than those who had no money on the line. And if a diet betting site "motivates you to make healthy eating changes you can maintain after the competitions ends, even better," says Elisa Zied, R.D., author of Nutrition at Your Fingertips.
OUR RULING: Play your cards right and this gamble can pay off !
FAT CHANCE! Now you can win money by dropping a few pounds
Want to fatten your wallet and lose weight? New websites let you bet that you'll meet your goals – and earn money when you succeed. DietBet.com lets you bet against your pals: Those who reach their target weights by the last weigh-in win money... In general, people lose more weight when there is money on the line, a recent analysis of research from Cornell University found. Take Nat Walker, 50, who recently competed with a group on DietBet.com. He lost more than 10 pounds and won his challenge. "The financial incentive was there," says the project manager from Burlington, Connecticut. "It gave me an absolute goal of where I needed to be in28 days, and it was extremely motivating.
Is Weight Loss Contagious?
Diet bets have become a hot trend online, in gyms, and as informal wagers between friends—and they work. One study found that dieters who stood to lose money if they didn't shed weight were five times more likely to reach their weight-loss goal than those with no financial stake. Half of the bettors shed 16 pounds in 16 weeks, versus only 10.5 percent of the non-bettors. Read the full article.
DietBet Contestants Eat 32-inch Pizza for Weight Loss
32-inch pizza, 3 minutes to spare, and a lot of beverages, the "Last Supper" was a definite eating contest. These eaters are the most competitive people out there -- you give them a competition, even if it's dieting, they'll do it!" Jamie Rosen, DietBet founder said. "Our business is about having fun while losing weight. These guys were totally up for it. Read the full article.
Got Goals But Lack Discipline? Now You Can Buy It Online
Quitters and daydreamers, take heart! New web services don't just help keep you focused on your goals. They pay you to stick to them, and they pick your pocket if you don't. Result: You feel more committed to your ambitions, users say, and the odds that you'll achieve them rise. Other sites have a more narrow focus. Dietbet and HealthyWage, for example, are specific to people wanting to lose weight. Read the full article.
Diet Bet: All Pro Eaters Enter Pizza-Eating, Weight-Loss Competitions
"It's the ultimate challenge for competitive eaters everywhere: don't eat." Six "All Pro Eaters" vowed to go on a one-month diet on Friday, in an unusual competition that pits once-weighty gorgers against their own fat for a chance at $1,000. Whoever loses four percent of their weight over that month splits the pot. Read the full article.
Think You Can't Lose Weight? Wanna Bet?
DietBet is the newest site to allow users to bet on their weight loss. The goal is to make dieting a game, according to founder Jamie Rosen. Mom blogger Amy Oztan started a DietBet with a few other bloggers earlier this month, and has lost almost 9 pounds. "There were so many times when I wanted to just say screw it, but I didn't want to be the loser," she says. Read the full article.
Losin' It: Taking It Off For Charity
The DietBet website turns dieting into a fun competition. And by "fun" I mean "lets you risk losing a pile of money to ensure that you lose weight." DietBet put up $5,000 dollars that I, the Dilettantes, and five other bloggers were all competing to win. And if we were successful at losing 4% of our body weight in one month, the winners (losers) would share the pot and a percentage of the winnings with a charity of our choice. We all selected DC Central Kitchen because we love what they do, and it somehow seemed perfect we were eating less so others could eat more. Anyway, after all of this, it all came down to our weigh-in last night. And true to our freakishly competitive form, we were all successful at losing at least 4% of our body weight. And because I'm on a roll, I'm going to continue with my healthy habits to get back to my fighting weight. Read the full article.
Gaining by losing weight: the best ways to lose weight
Dieting for dollars
That social accountability is the basis for DietBet, a weight-loss-wager website that launched Dec. 19…DietBet founder Jamie Rosen says users can send messages encouraging one another and track progress through an online scoreboard. "It becomes this fun social experience that's the opposite of what people think of dieting," he says. "It's not lonely or solitary." Read the full article.
Diet betting websites help losers win
DietBet.com is the latest site on the scene with the motto of "Lose weight with friends while taking their money." It launched in December and already has hundreds of people signed up in various contests. "Ours is not winner-take-all like 'The Biggest Loser' show," said founder Jamie Rosen. "Anyone who reaches their goal at the end of a four-week challenge splits the pot. It doesn't matter who crosses the finish line first. We're not making this like a gambling pool, but actually trying to help people lose weight." Read the full article.
DietBet allows you and friends to wager on your weight loss
Enter DietBet, a new social media game and website where people compete to see who can lose a given amount of weight in a four-week period with a cash prize as their reward. "We think it's a tool for dieters to get motivated and have fun," said Tina Basle, vice president of strategic alliances at DietBet. "People are keen to get fit and lose weight and keen to engage socially with one another." "No one is going to put their kid through college using DietBet, the main focus is on dieting," Basle said. "If you're a gambler, go to Vegas." Read the full article.
Money: The Root Of All Resolve
While it seems extreme and a little faddish, a popular way of dieting sweeping the internet is by registering on a betting site such as DietBet and FatBet and competing against your friends over who will get to the target weight first in a set amount of time. Money is involved, which is always a good motivator. In fact, a 2008 study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that those in a weight-loss incentive group (where a cash deposit was added) were not only more likely to lose weight they were also more likely to keep the weight off - after seven months those in the incentive groups weighed substantially less than they did at the start of the study, while the control group did not. Read the full article.
Free help available with New Year's fitness resolutions
For anyone who has made a New Year's resolution to lose weight or simply wants to improve their health in 2012 free help is available… But weight loss doesn't have to be all work. According to Jaime Rosen, founder of the website Dietbet.com, it can be fun when turned into a friendly competition. Read the full article.