I decided I needed the extra motivation and signed up for one of them. I'm not going to describe which one it was because I don't want to drive people to their site or drive their disciples to mine. Instead I'll just describe my experience and why, even though I successfully completed my challenge, I wouldn't suggest signing up.
In February of 2019, I hit my heaviest weight ever, including pregnancy. I was miserable and I knew something had to give. So, I did research on a diet I thought I could keep up and I found a site that would pay me to lose weight. The premise was that I had to bet a certain amount of money on myself, determine how many months I thought it would take me to lose the weight, and then the site's algorithms came up with a prize amount. The prize amount was basically what I had paid in (the bet was based on a monthly payment that you could either pay monthly or up front) plus an amount the site determined I should win based on the percentage of weight loss, my bet amount, and the length of time I was planning to use.
I bet $50 I could lose 30 pounds in a year, which came out to a $600 bet that I paid on monthly. It seemed doable when I made the bet, but the closer I got to February 2020, the more concerned I became. While I had lost just over 20 pounds by the time I was supposed to meet my goal, I was still about 8 pounds shy. The site doesn't give you a refund, even if you have an injury (which I did back in September of 2019) because it's supposed to make it so you can't just quit. However, they do allow you to buy more time. I was supposed to win $900 on top of what I had put in for my bet, but I decided to buy more time, which was an additional $300. So, now if I met my goal by August of 2020, I would win $600 on top of the $900 I had paid in. Still not a bad deal, right?
By June, I was about 5 pounds lighter than February, but I was still struggling to lose that last 5 pounds to get me to the 30 pound goal. I had tried different things and nothing seemed to be helping me to reach my goal any faster. I was barely losing a pound or two a month at this point and I was frustrated. If I had to extend another 6 months, my prize would dwindle even more. Honestly, at that point, I was bound and determined to meet the goal I had set and never, ever, sign up for another one.
At the end of June, I joined Noom. By following their plan, I lost the last 5 pounds, weighed out this past Tuesday and received my winnings of $1540 (which was really just under $600 when you factor in the $900 I paid in and the fee Paypal charged to get my money sooner). My Noom subscription lasts until January, and I'm hoping to edge towards my ultimate goal (which is another 50 pounds).
Getting paid to lose weight sounds great in theory, but in practice, it was rather stressful because I didn't want to lose $900 on essentially nothing. Was it motivating? I guess, but not in a good way. Perhaps if I had joined Noom earlier in my journey, I would have had better luck and lost more quickly, maybe even meeting my goal at the year mark like I planned.
Contests like the one I did or the Biggest Loser really make you consider some questionable health tactics to meet your goal. I did not give into the temptation (especially because it was forbidden as part of the contest), but it was there. I actually lost a significant portion of my weight in March when I got a colonoscopy done, and I joked with my husband that I should do the colonoscopy diet more often to meet the goal. Obviously, I didn't, but it's amazing how much weight you lose doing the prep for that!
So, while I successfully met my weight loss goal and earned my prize, if I could go back in time, I would not do it again. I'm happy to have lost 30 pounds and I'm looking forward to losing more, but now I don't have the added financial stress on the line. My Noom subscription was paid for up front and I plan to cancel it when the 7 months run out, regardless of whether I meet my ultimate goal or not.
