Editor’s note: This article was first published in February 2017. The challenge terms it describes, including DietBet’s 4% in 28 days and 10% in 6 months goals, HealthyWage winners making over $500 and team challenge fees and prizes of up to $10,000, are from that year.
Whether your goal is to lose weight or to get fitter, you will often have seen yourself break that promise. But what if you had a financial incentive and could make money along the way?
These days it is possible to make extra money from our effort, from our own body… so let’s look at some of the ways we can earn money.
1. DietBet
On this website, users can place bets to lose weight. Participants are grouped into teams according to their goals, which, as a first stage, can be losing 4% of your weight in 28 days, or losing 10% of your weight in 6 months. There are more challenges.
Bets are placed and the winners share the pot. The good thing about this platform is that losing weight becomes a game in which your effort is rewarded financially and your slacking is punished financially. That is the incentive to stay in better shape.
2. HealthyWage
Very similar to the previous one: if you have a specific number of kilos you want to lose and you are confident enough that you can do it, HealthyWage lets you place a bet to force yourself to stick to that plan.
If at the end of the period the scales show a result in your favour, you will be able to celebrate two things: your new body or weight loss, and the cheque from HealthyWage.
Some people have made more than 500 dollars from their weight loss, although of course it all depends on the bet and the amount.
They have also run team challenges, which sound interesting. You pay 25 euros a month for three months to take part, and you can win up to 10,000 dollars.
3. Document the process in some way
You could say there is no stronger way to commit to improving your body and losing weight than going public with your goal on an Instagram account, a blog or a YouTube channel.
We often see those before-and-after videos and photos, but very few people start making it public from scratch. Will you be able to win people’s sympathy during the process?
Whether we are talking about a blog or a YouTube channel, the financial reward will depend on many factors, above all the number of views. On Instagram we can’t make money directly, but we can indirectly. That applies to any platform.
As you gain subscribers and visitors, you can use affiliate links from Amazon and other companies to recommend the products you are taking, which will bring you some extra earnings. You can do the same with sportswear and other accessories.
That said, this approach also has its risks: if you say publicly that you are going to change your body or improve your habits, you have no choice but to follow through. For many people, this could be their greatest motivation. For others, it could be their greatest source of pressure and emotional strain.
See also: 11 apps to make money with your phone
Featured image: Frank C. Müller, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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