Get Paid to Lose Weight

One of the most watched television programs about weight loss is The Biggest Loser. The premise of the program is that contestants are rewarded monetarily for losing the most Body Mass Index (BMI), the percentage of body fat proportionate to weight/height of a person.

There are many programs on-line which are offering payment if the most weight is lost according to your starting BMI. When looking at the different sites, one stood out with great reviews and the less criticism, HealthyWage.

“HealthyWage designs and organizes weight loss challenges and contests in which participants can win money for losing weight.”

The challenge seems to be consistent in its goals and prizes. “HealthyWage, which makes money through advertising and sponsorships, claims it can save the health care system $1,150 in obesity-related costs for each person who slims down to a healthy BMI."

There are different challenges the client can sign up for:

“The Ten Percent Challenge allows you to put some pressure on yourself and double-down on your weight loss! It's simple way to make losing weight more fun and effective. You pay a $100 fee to participate. If you lose 10% of your body weight over six months, you win $200.

The BMI Challenge pays up to $1000 to users who move from an obese BMI (greater than 30) to a normal BMI (less than 25) over six months.

In the Matchup, teams of five lose weight and try to win the $10,000 first prize. Most contests are open to anyone, but employees of corporate clients get reduced rates, motivation and lots of special attention.”

Join a team of 5, pay an entry fee of $60 (less if your employer sponsors you), with $10,000, second place is $5,000 and third place is $3,000. This seems to be the most effective because “The Matchup is based on team support and motivation, which provides accountability and success. To make it lots of fun, each week, we provide you with tips and tricks to help you and your team stay on track. We also have a weekly challenge with prizes for the winning teams!”

“So now in HealthyWage’s most effective program, people form groups of five. Each person pays $60 to enter the team in a three-month weight loss contest. Any loss greater than 1.5 percent of body weight per week isn’t counted, to discourage rapid weight loss that is so often not sustained."

In 2010 HealthyWage concluded its first year “with program participants collectively losing more than 880,000 pounds, for their weight-loss achievements, HealthyWage collectively paid dieters over $450,000 cash."

There are many cites starting up to take money from people. So the public needs to be careful and check out and make sure it is legitimate business and not a scam. Some of the rules are set so that the client will fail to get any payback. When trying to do a contrast with another site, Cash4Goals, its rules were very complicated and convoluted, with a similarity with the stock market and pyramid schemes. (http://www.cash4goals.com) In order to succeed with this program, the participant needs to be almost a lawyer to understand all the restrictions and rules, with time limits and goals preset.

Be careful which program you decide to join.

For more information on obesity in America, check out http://www.downtoearth.org/health/nutrition/obesity-america.