Josh Elledge - Chief Executive Angel
Forget about gambling your money away in Las Vegas or at your local casino and try betting on yourself. For what? For losing weight! You've set a goal to lose weight this year, and right out of the chute it's gone fairly well, but you can tell you're beginning to lose some steam. Well, here's two incentives that may be just the answer to keep you on track through some healthy monetary rewards.
The first one is Healthywage.com. With HealthyWage, you set the amount of time and amount of weight you want to lose and then you place a bet. . . on yourself. Each HealthyWage is different. Bigger prizes are given to people who statistically have a harder time losing weight. If you meet your goal you get the cash. In some cases, you can win up to $10,000.
They offer 3 different weight-loss challenges. You are allowed to participate in all three at the same time if you choose.
Make a HealthyWager ““ This is solely based on an individual wager that you make on yourself. You name your goal, the amount you want to wager, and the length of your wager. Goals start at 10 lbs. and go up to 150 lbs. The amount of your wager can be as little as $20 per month up to $500 per month. The length of time you have to meet your goal ranges from 6 to 18 months. You make your entries and their system determines the prize amount based on your entries. For example, let's say you want to lose 30 lbs. in 6 months and are willing to wager $30 per month. Your prize amount ranges from $200 – $529.41. Worst case scenario you win $20. Best case, close to $350!
Team challenge ““ Teams of 5 people maximum can win up to $10,000 for 1st place, $5,000 for 2nd place, and $3,000 for 3rd place. Your team will also have opportunities to win mini-challenges for gift cards and other prizes. This is a 12 week challenge and the entry is $25 a month per player. If you don't know other people to help you make up a team, HealthyWage will match you up with others to form a team.
Company team challenge ““ Many companies are using HealthyWage as an incentive for employees to lose weight and become healthier. The company team challenges are made up of individuals all within the same company. The rules and incentives are the same as the individual team challenges with the exception that thecompany may want to offer additional prizes and/or contribute to the entry fee for their teams.
Verifying Weight Loss:
Your weight is verified in one of two ways: privately at home through the use of video (specific instructions are given for the use of video verifications) or by a fitness or medical professional, at a weight-loss center, health club, pharmacy, or a number of other places across the country that has partnered with HealthyWage.
Payouts:
Winnings are paid out about a month after the end of your challenge by check or through Paypal, your choice. HealthyWage does not cut into anyone's winnings. They are supported through sponsors that believe in contributing to the health and welfare of those who participate.
Once you win a HealthyWager Challenge, you are not allowed to participate in another one. This is one significant difference between HealthyWage and DietBet.
Let's take a look at DietBetter.com
A dietbet is a contest (or game) to lose a set percentage of your starting weight in a set amount of time. Players all put money into a pot at the outset of the game. Winners split the pot.
You participate in DietBet by creating your own game or participating in a game already created. Game times and bet amounts are established before the game begins. The size of the pot is determined by the number of players monies collected. One of the games going, as of this writing, has 402 players and $53, 800 pledged over a 6 month time period. All I can say is, “WOW”!
Each game must have a minimum of 2 players but no maximum amount of people can play.Some games are open to anyone and some are by invitation only.
Games follow one of two formats:
DietBet4 (also called The Kickstarter) ““ Lose 4% of your starting weight in 4 weeks. Whoever reaches their goal after the 4 weeks, splits the pot, minus DietBet's cut.
DietBet10 (known as The Transformer) ““ Lose 10% of your starting weight in 6 months. Whoever reaches their goal after the 6 months, spits the pot, again, minus DietBet's cut.
Verifying Weight Loss:
Weigh-ins and Weigh-outs are done by submitting two digital photos on a scale for review and approval by DietBetter's Referees. Dress and other rules apply for weight verification. Some players may be required to submit extra proof of their weight lossvia video.
Payouts:
At the end of a game, winnings are deposited into your Account Credits. You may request a payout via PayPal at any time. However, if you'd like to continue to play again, you can roll your winnings into another game, regardless of the amount.
The question that no doubt comes up is, how are participants kept from cheating? No worries. Each of these incentive sites have ways of preventing cheaters from winning and will promptly eliminate them from competing.
So, if you're on a weight-loss journey and need some extra incentive to keep moving forward”¦.let the games begin!
