DietBet - The company that will pay you to lose weight. The Pros and Cons

DietBet is an online American Company designed to increase your willpower...with money. In order to lose weight these days people seem to not have enough willpower to stay slim and away from the Krispy Kreme's on their own...but give them money for it...Yes! With the UK set to start doing the same I thought I would share my thoughts on the scheme.

DietBet involves a group of people setting up either a 4 week or 6 month challenge to see who can lose a certain percentage of body weight. In the 4 week challenge there is a 4% loss target and in the 6 months challenge a 10% loss in body weight is the target.

New bets start everyday, the more people who enter a challenge there's a higher chance of making more money. Every participant puts in a set amount then anyone who completes the challenge gets a split of the pot and anyone who doesn't...time to cough up.

First of all... The problems with this system.

1. This could potentially lead to dangerous weight loss methods, starvation and eating disorders.
2. Every persons biological makeup is different, some may naturally lose body fat quicker then others. People who are quite large can lose 4% body weight a lot easier then if your only carrying a couple of extra pounds.
3. This challenge is very short and doesn't aim for long term health (probably would want you to put on weight and join another challenge again).
4. Only digital scales allowed and they can be very inconsistent. 
5. Success is only measured with weight loss. If you are doing a range of different training methods including weight training, you weight is more then likely going to go up. Health and fitness success is not only measured with what the scales say.
6. A quick weight loss could potentially mean you have lost muscle mass not body fat.
7. Water fasting could replicate these results, boxers do this for weigh ins. 
8. Cheating would be easy! Just stick a weight in your pants and hey presto you've made your 4% weight loss in 1 minute. 

The only positive I can think of is that it may give you the initial willpower and motivation to lose weight. If your health, your expanding waist line, the fact you nearly keel over after walking up the stairs or you cannot play with the kids anymore isn't enough for you to take responsibility of your health and lose weight then when in doubt the Americans are here to save you... by gambling with your health.

Stace x