For many, losing weight is a trying task filled with disappointment. After a while, you start tuning out the latest diet trends and fads. Instead of lofty claims, sometimes the most effective way to lose weight is to make it a competition.
That’s what HealthyWage aims to achieve. Founded in New York City in 2009, this fitness company makes losing weight fun through cash prizes. Users thus have added motivation to achieve their dream body and beat their closest friends and family members at different challenges.
Finding a Team: How Does HealthyWage Work?
After registering, either online or through the app, members must join a team. There are three available options as far as team formation. Members can form their own team based on people they already know, sign up with one or two friends, or register with complete strangers. That’s right; knowing people in advance is not a requirement. An officer will match members to a team that fits their particular weight loss goals. This increases their chances of finding a team that effectively communicates and keeps everyone inspired.
There are plenty of open teams available today, or for those who already know each other, an invitation can be sent through email or the app. Now all that’s required is to find a suitable challenge, which a support officer can also assist with.
Corporate Challenges
After working 9-5 on a consistent basis, morale and overall productivity tends to drop. In the corporate world, this is detrimental to a company’s bottom line and warrants some necessary changes. One way to get employees excited and boost their overall health is with corporate weight loss challenges.
First, a collective goal is established so that everyone in the office is on the same page and competes on an equal playing field. Weight loss goals vary from company to company, but a winner is chosen based on the mean (average) number of pounds the team loses. What keeps everyone motivated each week is the cash prize. Amazingly, this award can soar into the thousands, making these challenges alluring to almost anyone who has a pulse.
The money is a nice incentive, but what may be more rewarding is the fact that employees get to bond during this time. In a time where the nation is divided, a collective team effort is paramount for the success of any corporation. Each employee can motivate their peers during this time, thus building up team morale and enhancing interpersonal skills.
Many Fortune 500 companies have jumped on the bandwagon, and for good reason. They see the tangible and long-term results of their employees taking a proactive approach to losing weight. While shedding pounds, their staff greatly improves their overall health. This means fewer sick days and greater productivity as a whole.
Additionally, employees will feel better about themselves both emotionally and physically. This added confidence then trickles down into other work-related areas, such as better customer service, effective internal collaboration, and reduced employee turnover.
Team Challenges
If you’ve tried losing weight on your own, getting inspired and keeping that inspiration is often an insurmountable task. A more effective and fun approach is to tackle weight loss with a group. HealthyWage allows you to do just that, as long as you have at least five members in a group.
A team challenge that’s currently active is the $10,000 cash prize, which is a tremendous amount of money that keeps each member focused. The team with the highest percentage of weight loss is declared the winner. This is verified trough an initial weigh-in and an end date weigh-in. If false weigh-ins are reported, HealthyWage reserves the right to step in and remove the weigh-in results.
Teams are also disqualified if they try to game the system, meaning the use of unethical behavior that’s designed to cheat the system and the purpose of the challenge.
App Connectivity
Keeping track of weight loss results is rather easy, as HealthyWage offers their own mobile app that’s compatible with both iOS and Android software. From the comforts of home, users can see where they stand in the rankings amongst their peers and friends. If adjustments need to be made, they’ll receive in-depth details that show them exactly what they need to do for the upcoming week.
In this app, users have access to a lot of accommodating features. Pre-weight loss and post-weight loss photos can be taken, for example. Seeing these images helps inspire others who may be skeptical at first. If, however, users are not comfortable with submitting pre-weight loss photos as they feel vulnerable, they can always hold onto them and just show their final results.
Finding and entering new challenges via the app is also effortless. Each challenge is organized in a navigation bar, which users have access to 24-7. Customer support is available any time if users have trouble with navigation.
If at any point members start losing motivation, even with a hefty cash price at stake, there are plenty of communities available on the app. People who’ve completed the same challenges can provide words of encouragement and share insider tips that make complex challenges much more feasible.
Lastly, the app gives members access to three different challenges:
- The HealthyWager
- Jackpot Challenges
- $10,000 Team Challenge
Additional Resources
As if working with others and financial compensation weren’t enough to lose weight, HealthyWage also provides users with additional resources that help them get through the weight loss period. A weight loss coach, for example, is provided to every member. This professional has industry knowledge that is sometimes needed for those who’ve reached a plateau in their results.
Access to workout routines are available, as well as diet tips. After all, it’s a combination of both diet and exercise that ultimately determine how much weight a person loses. Best of all, theses HW coaches are available 24-7. Even if it’s the middle of the night, they will respond to questions and give insights that prove helpful.
To keep goals organized, a 12-week support calendar is accessible. It shows upcoming target goals and delivers tips to keep users focused. Some tips are meant to be humorous, while others carry a more serious tone intended to recharge energy levels.
Success Stories
It’s only natural to get wrapped up in fitness trends, as they are promoted through various outlets multiple times each day. But just how effective is HealthyWage and will it work for your weight loss goals? The answer to both questions is a resounding yes. There are many participants who swear by these weight loss competitions backed by life-changing cash prizes.
Those thinking about trying these challenges actually get to see real people, with real results. Some have been so successful sticking to a regimented diet and exercise plan that they’ve lost hundreds of pounds. There’s something about seeing these drastic body transformations that make it almost impossible not to try HealthyWage.
Every success story features a profile that can be clicked on, for those who want to learn more insider secrets and get added motivation to continue their weight loss journey.
Backed by Research
Testimonials are a great resource to use when analyzing the validity of a fitness program’s claims, but research results take validity to another level. HealthyWage uses research methods to their advantage, and have found some conclusive results.
According to studies, those who are incentivized to lose weight with money lose more weight compared to those who aren’t (the control group). Faced with the negative incentive of losing out on a cash prize, the incentivized group seemingly wills itself to lose more weight. Like these studies, HealthyWage offers a dual reward system: weight loss and money.
Where weight loss systems often fail is sustainability. Participants are initially enthusiastic about changing their lifestyle in hopes of a fresh start, but after weeks pass by, their motivation ceases to exist. Motivation in these weight loss competitions, however, is prolonged because of the dual-incentive design.
A Mayo Clinic study backs up the claims that money improves weight loss sustainability. In the study, completion rates in similar weight loss programs were significantly higher when a financial reward was up for grabs, compared to participates who had no form of incentive.
Now let’s transition to social media. It’s used by millions of people daily, each hoping to connect and participate in some sort of online dialogue. Social media interaction is key for HealthyWage because it allows individual users to boast about their weight loss goals and achievements. Users can share their personal journey on their favorite social network, possibly getting other people interested.
Also at play is a phenomenon known as social dieting. Interacting with others about weight loss makes people feel more connected and more willing to stick to goals for the collective. When one team member fails in these challenges, everyone fails. As such, working as a team is highly beneficial. Even long after these competitions are over, users of HealthyWage can maintain the friendships and connections they made in their team. They’ll have a constant network of support, even if they’ve never met their team members in person.
The dream for many in America today is to lose weight and have a better body. Although these goals aren’t achievable in one day, they are possible with a little assistance from the right weight loss program. HealthyWage is aimed to take over this market with their social dieting and financial incentive schemes. Combining these elements together creates a winning recipe for people who’ve previously tried and failed at losing weight.
Sources:
- Financial Incentive – Based Approaches for Weight Loss, jamanetwork.com (https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/183047)
- Mayo Clinic Study: Financial Incentives Further Weight Loss, shrm.org (https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/benefits/pages/weight-loss-incentives.aspx)
