skip to nav skip to content

4 Your Health: Bet to Lose

  • Print
Be the biggest loser on the block, or at work, or in your family! Some folks are 'betting to lose'--and it's paying off by the pound. Exercise and healthy eating: They're noble goals, that are tough to achieve and maintain. But now, more people are using money as a motivator to lose weight! Elisa Zied is a nutritionist. "Diet betting is basically making a wager that you will lose a certain amount of weight in a specified amount of time and lots of people are doing this," Zied says. Co-workers and friends have made small weight loss wagers for years, but now there are websites to keep you on track! Mary Lou Wehrli and her brother Grant are using fatbet.net to try to lose about 20 pounds. "The loser will buy the victor dinner or lunch for six at a sushi house that we like, and the loser will then write and perform---sing--- at this meal. Ode to the victor," Mary Lou explains. They post their weight at least once a week on the website, and can taunt each other on the site's Dietetic "That motivation has had me get off the couch when I really didn't want to work out because I was thinking, I have to report in 3 days," Grant admits. The teasing and tempting is all part of the fun. May Lou says, "This motivation of this younger brother that's going to lose a bet to me, it's just so cool." Grant adds, "You just keep telling yourself that!" On another site stickk.com, when you place a wager, you sign a commitment contract. You hand over your credit card number. Each week that you don't meet your goal, you have to pay. Jordan Goldberg works for the website. "A user says, 'You know, I want to lose a pound a week for the next 10 weeks. I'm putting 10 dollars on the line each week. Each week I don't lose that pound, I lose the 10 dollars,'" Goldberg says. When you lose a bet, you choose where your money goes: A competitor, a charity, or what they call an anti-charity. Goldberg explains, "That's where we take your money and we donate it to an organization that you oppose. So let's say you're pro-gun control, we send your money to the NRA!" Diet betting may not be a fit for everyone, though. The American Dietitec Association has its doubts. "The concerns I have is that if you're not winning the bet, this can lead to unhealthy behaviors, whether it's over exercising or dramatically cutting your calories," Zied warns. Her advice is to keep goals realistic. Diet betting sites are free to use. The average bet is a couple hundred dollars.

Next Article in 4 Your Health: Junk in Schools

0 COMMENTS

ADD A COMMENT

Storm Team 4

    advertisement

    advertisement

    TODAY'S TMJ4