Weight Loss Challenege Ideas

We did this in our neighborhood and had so much fun (I came in 2nd place!). What we did was set up a facebook page where we could offer encouragement and tips and announce weekly winners. We picked one person to email our weekly weigh-in numbers to (rather than meet weekly to weigh-in, too tough to get everyone together).

Everyone paid (I think) $20 to enter and then weekly prizes to the "Biggest Loser" were given out. Then at the 6-month mark the winner got the pot. There were weekly challenges for mostly exercise type things, but I think if you incorporated diet type challenges (more water, more veggies/fruit) that would be fun too.

It's a great way to lose weight! It holds you accountable not only to yourself, but to a group. Also, it really got my competitive spirit going.

Also, when people dropped out (and they inevitably do) it just increased the pot for those who stuck with it!

So fun and a great idea!

I'll just offer a quick idea...my daughter is homeschooled through an online school, so for phys ed they all have to participate in the President's Challenge.

www.presidentschallenge.org

It's a great way to track activity, and you get points for the activity you do each day, how long you did it for, and the intensity level you did it at. There are literally hundreds of activities to choose from, so almost anything you do is one the list somewhere.

Anyhow, you can all sign up as part of the same group...there are instructions on the site as to how to do it. Then you can see how you all compare with each other as far as how much exercise you are getting, and be competitive with points, etc.

It's a lot of fun, and you can win presidential fitness awards for completing different challenges and levels. Granted, maybe the adults don't want a medal or t-shirt...but maybe they do! :)

I'm thinking start with 3-6 months maybe, so there is time for more change. If you set up a free website, or a blog maybe where everyone could post what they did that day or every couple of days for eating healthy, exercising, etc. Rewards could also be a gift card to a store even Whole foods, or Trader Joe's or something so they can get something healthy or else for a meal out to spurge.

For weights, you could just let everyone give their percentages if they don't want to post their weights. Also maybe who exercises the most days in a row or something along those lines

Good luck and have fun!

Teachers did this at the last school I worked at. They started by each person who wanted to participate contribute $20 into the pool. They were all weighed by the school nurse (descreet - she was the only one who knew the numbers) in the nurse's office that day. They had periodic check-ins, and at the end of the semester or quarter, they calculated who lost the most percent of their weight and that person got the whole pool ($100 bucks if 5 teachers participated, $200 if ten teachers participated, etc).

I say, if it was your family, what are the chances that there could be a neutral person/place where y'all (most of you) might meet every now and again for a social time/ family time/ weigh-in time ?? Maybe you could meet at a park or at someone's house.

Maybe the organizer (you?) could email a weekly 'challenge' or 'tip' or 'easy workout' or 'recipe' that you find online or in a Shape Magazine article.

I think you have a great idea in mind. YOu may have to do a lot of communicating or 'check in' with weights over email, since you may be too far from eachother to gettogether. Another idea: have people measure waist size or the dr could check their body fat percentage. If you all do weight, waist, and fat percentage, then there could be 3 categories of 'winners.'