Bet on Weight Loss

It’s easy to find motivation for weight loss when a national audience is watching and a $250,000 prize is on the line like on The Biggest Loser. But can having even a little bit of money hanging over your head provoke you to drop some pounds?

It turns out you don’t need to bring home a bunch of Benjamins to stick to your goals, reports recent research from the Mayo Clinic. Over the course of a year, researchers studied the weight loss of 100 obese adult employees assigned to one of four groups: two with financial incentives and two without. All participants had a goal of losing 4 pounds a month, but those with monetary rewards earned $20 for reaching their mark. Overall, participants who pocketed cash lost an average of 7 pounds more than those with no financial stakes in the game.  

Sure, their transformations might not have been anything close to The Biggest Loser, but that's probably for the best. "If someone is obese, 2 pounds per week is realistic for the initial stage,” says Alan Aragon, M.S., Men's Health nutrition advisor. “But as they get closer to their goal about a pound a week loss is a rate that most people can sustain without things backfiring on them."

If you want to place a wager on your weight loss, you could try sites such as Stickk, DietBet, and HealthyWage. Aragon suggests starting out small and only betting on a goal you feel comfortable with and—more importantly—is realistic. Because if you fail to hit your first target and lose money right out of the gate, you’re more likely to give up. Plus, if the financial stakes are too high, you might pull some potentially dangerous moves to make weight, he says.

But you don’t have to part with your precious pennies to be a successful digital dieter. Using online weight loss programs like SparkPeople or WeightWatchers that don’t focus on money can be just as beneficial, according to a research review published by the Cochrane Library.

How? Web programs like those provide strong support systems for dieters, which can be key for those who thrive off connecting with others and having some accountability, says review coauthor Suzanne Brodney, Ph.D.

If you’re the type who prefers competition to companionship, Aragon recommends trying something a little more unconventional. Whether it’s going head-to-head with a roommate to see who gets stuck doing dishes or treating yourself to a vacation once you drop the last 10 pounds, working toward any goal that isn’t just a number on the scale is worth its weight in gold.

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