Have real fun,

make real change.

Apps and weight loss programs are offering cash for weight loss - and research suggests it's a good approach.

How many of you started the new year resolving to lose some weight? Many who did have already fallen back into old habits, but now there's a way to keep you on track by putting your money on the line.

Have a New Year's resolution to get in shape but abhor the gym? Fitness apps may be the solution.

TODAY contributor and nutritionist Joy Bauer introduces the two newest members of the Joy Fit Club: Kate Kehrel and Nina Gibson! Kate went from a size 28 to a size 8 after seeing how she looked in a bridesmaid dress. She talks about her use of the app DietBet in her journey. 

A Starbucks fan who drank four massive mochas a day has lost 126lbs after being horrified to find she was large for leggings.

We spend too much time staring at our phones—just ask the pedestrians we almost walk into on a daily basis. If scrolling through your Newsfeed or swiping right were Olympic sports, we’d definitely take home a medal. But in reality, the only things getting a workout in either case are our thumbs. That’s not to say your phone can’t help you lead a healthier, happier life. You just need to know the right apps to download. Before you fall down the rabbit hole that is the app store, check out our list of the best health and fitness apps. We tested out hundreds before whittling it down to the 39 that are really worth checking out.

Fitness director Jaclyn Emerick of Shape Magazine shares weight loss tricks designed to keep you motivated.
Watch the video.

News flash: There will never be just one way to lose weight. Which is why 25 women shared the different success secrets that all yielded the same result: A healthier, more confident version of themselves.

Want to fatten your wallet as you trim your waistline?
Companies that offer weight loss services raked in more than $6 billion last year.
So why not get some of that money back?
There are several programs that pay you to shed pounds. The catch, if you don’t make your goal you’re the one who has to pay up.

Lose weight, win money: that’s the promise of a website thousands of people are using to shed those extra pounds.
But does it work? CBS 2’s Dana Kozlov takes a look in this Original Report.

Sara Bibee took a gamble on her weight loss—literally.

We’re well into the New Year and right on schedule our big resolution resolve is…gone. Abandoned. Dead. According to statistics, 36% of people who make resolutions give up before February and only 8% keep their resolutions for an entire year. Don’t worry, it happens to the best of us—not for lack of willpower—it’s just that old habits are hard to break and new ones tough to make stick. Here are a handful of tech tools to get you back on track with the most common resolutions of the year.

If you're struggling to lose weight, it might be because you're going at it alone. It might also be because you've tried before and saw yourself go up and down, so it's hard to find concrete motivation to make this the time that the weight actually comes off. If you want to give a real, valiant effort and motivate yourself to lose weight and get healthy, you might want to put your money where your mouth is and give DietBet a try.

Cold, hard cash is a great way to convince yourself to hit the gym—that much we know. But as a new study shows, monetary motivation should be less carrot and more stick.

Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Spotify—you likely know about the big-name apps that help you connect with loved ones, upload photos or listen to music.

But what about the apps that help you improve your health?

According to a recent study, participants who used fitness apps were much more active compared to nonusers. Current users also had a lower body mass index.

VISTA, Calif. - As New Years Day approaches, thousands of San Diegans will make that resolution to lose weight.
And those who succeed can pick up some extra bucks.
Vista resident Stephanie Miko has lost 100 pounds in the last two years.

Before: 373
After: 198

The Lifestyle

My family and I have always been overweight. I don't want to blame my parents, but they pretty much let my brother and me eat whatever we wanted when we were kids. There were times where I would eat an entire box of Pop-Tarts, and no one said anything. By the time I reached high school, I weighed about 260 pounds. But I never really saw the need to lose weight because I was funny, and that made me feel confident.

When I got to college, I weighed about 300 pounds and then put on the freshman 15—times two. I think the reason I gained so much is that I just kept up my unhealthy habits, didn't exercise, and ate like a college kid. I don't think I had one vegetable while I was there.

On Friday last week, Crowdfund Insider shared that SeedInvest, an equity crowdfunding platform in NYC, had launched a potential Regulation A+ issuer, WayBetter, as they “test the water” of investors. Part of the potential of Title IV of the JOBS Act, or Regulation A+, is the ability to gauge investor interest prior to filing with the SEC. This saves time, and of course money, for the issuing company. SeedInvest quickly leveraged the new exemption and posted what may have been the first (definitely one of the first) companies to ask investors if they would participate in a crowdfunding round. So how is WayBetter doing? They are pretty much killing it.

In just a few short days, WayBetter has registered over $4.9 million of investor interest. It took just 3 minutes for the first investor to add their name to the list. The current total is being updated in “real time”, according to SeedInvest, but if I had to guess – this one is a go.

Weight loss can be a struggle for many people but an online company is using cash to motivate you to lose weight and keep it off.
The program is on the website DietBet.com. Users sign up, choose a challenge and decide how much money to bet for the game. If users lose the weight-loss goal, they get part of the winnings. Read the full article.

DietBet (Android and iOS) DietBet serves up two games you play to lose weight for cash. The four-week Kickstarter challenges you to shed 4 percent of your body weight. The six-month Transformer dares you to drop 10 percent, with six rounds of body weight losses — 3 percent to 10 percent — in that time frame. Start with a pic of you on a scale, along with your scale’s preferably digital readout and a special weigh-in word. After the final day, you have 48 hours to submit your weigh-out. Winners divide the pot. Read the full article.

The Lifestyle

I've been overweight most of my life. I basically ate whatever I wanted and didn't exercise at all. For breakfast, I'd have a bagel, and lunch was either a deli sandwich or pizza. Besides choosing foods that weren't exactly low in calories, my biggest problem was overeating. I didn't know anything about portion control—I just ate until I felt really full. Even though I was heavy, I wasn't concerned about what I looked like. I assumed that this was my body and there was nothing I could do about it. Plus, I was in a great relationship with my husband, so I saw no reason to change anything. I was happy.

”For as long as I could remember, I\'d always been overweight,” Sara says. ”I used to eat a couple of bowls of cereal for breakfast, half a pizza for lunch and fast food for dinner. When I was tired in the evenings, I\'d eat to stay awake.” She hit 342 pounds in March 2013 and realized she needed to do something.

She tried multiple diets, but none worked. Then one of her college friends told Sara that she'd lost weight using the website DietBet—now a free app—that turns weight loss into a betting game played with other competitors for money. ”I didn't want to be the fat friend. I didn't want to be left behind,” Sara says. ”I wanted to live my life without worrying every day about my weight.” Read the full article.

Would a friendly bet help you lose weight? The answer is yes for WayBetter, which has paid out $11 million to participants who lost a total of 3 million pounds while taking part in its weight-loss competition, dubbed DietBet.

For a small fee — usually $30 — people sign up to lose a predetermined percentage of their body weight in a set amount of time. Those who succeed split the pot.

“I liked the idea that if you could make something fun, people would gravitate toward it,” said WayBetter CEO Jamie Rosen. Read the full article.

”Diet is the most important thing because a muffin top is basically excess fat, which comes from overeating,” says the daughter of Muhammad Ali. “So you definitely have to get your nutrition in order.”

Ali – who is hosting a DietBet online weight loss challenge starting June 1 – recommends sticking to a clean diet. Read the full article.

The creator and founder of P90X and author of “The Big Picture” Tony Horton joined us live with summer slim down tips plus details on his new fitness challenge where you can win money for losing weight. You have til May 19th to sign up for Tony’s DietBet. Tony is also offering tons of incentives for those who join including books, autographed P90x program, and even one-on-one Skype sessions with those who recruit the most players! Read the full article.

Putting her money where her mouth is helped Sara Lugger drop over 100 pounds.

When I realized that I was almost 350 pounds, I knew I had to make a change. There was just something about this number that made me realize I needed to try to lose weight again. I was out of excuses not to do it. That's when one of my friends from college told me she had some success losing weight using this website called DietBet.com. Basically, it's website where you join a group of people who bet a minimum of $5 that they will lose at least four percent of their body weight in 28 days. If you lose the weight, you get your money back, plus however much is left over from people who didn't lose the weight. What's cool about these 28-day "games" is that you have a support system within the group. When I was having a hard day, I wrote to people who were also trying to lose weight and told them about it. They always responded with so much support. Read the full article.

I was turning 34 and closing in on being 350 pounds. At that time, I didn’t want to go out with friends, or to any events and outings, because I wasn’t sure if I could even fit in the seats.

One of my best friends was losing weight while being a part of a community weight-loss challenge site called DietBet.com, and after seeing her positivity and the support she was receiving from others in this group, I decided to join as well. In addition, I started working out and trying to incorporate physical activity into my daily schedule. In the mornings, I would exercise on the elliptical for 30 to 45 minutes. I made sure to walk around outside my building at work in the afternoons. And in the evenings, I would either take walks with friends or do dance workouts on my Wii. Read the full article.

Losing weight is going competitive as a new website uses people’s urge to make money as an incentive to shed pounds. DietBet is a New York City-based website that launched in 2013. It allows users to put money on the line that they can win back if they lose a certain percentage of their body weight in a set amount of time.

Ottawa mother Laureen Krumshyn said she bet $200 she’d lose 10 per cent of her body weight in six months and it’s working so far.

“It’s a competitive thing for me,” she said. “I don't like to lose. It's fun knowing that you've made this commitment and you're motivated to do it.” Read the full article.

After having her first baby in 2009, Brandi Laughlin weighed more than 200 pounds. One year later, she shredded 60 pounds, but gained back the majority of it after she had her second child.

“I was just sick with myself and I didn’t want to be a mom that had let herself go,” the mother of two said.

Laughlin said she got serious, started working out with a trainer and even competed in her first bikini competition.

During her weight loss journey, she regularly updated her blog called, “Mama Laughlin.”

"It just kind of stuck. After I had my first child, I was like, ‘I’m a mom now. Mama Laughlin,’” she said.

Laughlin did not know it, but hundreds of women across the country were inspired by her blog, including San Antonio resident Jenica Muse.

“She’s such an inspiration,” Muse said. “It really helped me to realize that there’s a lot of people that go through the same trials and tribulations and have their own weight loss story.”

Since Laughlin has a strong following, a weight loss website called DietBet asked her to host a challenge. Anyone can sign up. All you have to do is place a bet that you’ll lose four percent of your body weight in four weeks. The winners then split the money.

More than 4000 people signed up for Laughlin’s DietBet competition, putting down more than $158,000.

“You’re putting it out there for a chance to lose it all, so that helped give me that motivation to where I don’t want to lose that money. I actually want to win some money and I did,” Muse said.

Muse won $46.31 for losing a total of 12.5 pounds over four weeks.

For most of her adult life, Alfena Rascoe battled obesity. At 238 pounds, the Laurel resident said, the extra weight slowed her down, affecting her stamina at work as a child psychiatric specialist. It also led to high blood pressure, putting her at risk of heart disease and stroke.

"I've done Atkins [diet], protein powder, the lemonade diet," says the 47-year-old. "Everything you can think of, I've tried it. They all work, but my issue is being able to maintain it."

So in March 2013, after a new blood pressure medication caused swollen ankles and shortness of breath, she decided to give dieting one more try. This time, she found a new motivation: money. Rascoe joined DietBet, a website that turns losing weight into a money-making — or money-losing — game. Read the full article.

Millions of Americans promise to lose weight every January, but by February, that couch and those cheeseburgers are starting to look good.

If you need a little extra motivation this time around, how about a cash incentive? There's an online game that pays players to shed pounds. Read the full article.

One of the latest diet trends has people logging on and betting money to drop pounds. Dawn Hyatt had tried a number of diets before but nothing seemed to stick. Her co-worker told her about DietBet, a website that lets people gamble on their weight loss. If they meet their goals, they could get their money back and then some. "I've kind of gotten a little addicted to it," she said. Dawn has lost 42 pounds since June. It turns out the money was a huge motivator. Read the full article.

The fitness guru stopped by Weekend Express to tell us about some new projects he has in the works, including a weight loss challenge that could have you winning big bucks and a fun new workout that makes it possible to shed pounds in only 30 minutes a day! Read the full article.

Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition contestant Bruce Pitcher from Salt Lake City, lost over 200 pounds on the show and is now an expert on nutrition and fitness and said social media has played a huge role in his success, so much so that he developed his own weight loss game on DietBet, an application for smartphones. Pitcher believes when people post before and after photos it inspires those people to get up and do something about their weight because they see others who are in the same situation. He gets the most feedback when he posts photos on social media of where he used to be and where he is now. Read the full article.

Read the full article.

DietBet brings people together as a community to support and motivate each other to lose weight. They call it Social Dieting, and it works! 96% of their users lose weight during their games, about 5.5 pounds in a month on average. Winners lose over 9 pounds and make money. Read the full article.

Have you ever tried to lose weight, only to fall off your diet? If staying on your diet could net you some extra cash, would you be more likely to stick to your goal? Thanks to websites like DietBet, FatBet and HealthyWage, you can bet on yourself to lose weight – hit your target and you win cash, or miss it and pay up. The sites all differ in terms of payouts and goals, but they generally work the same. Pony up money, send the website a photo of you on the scale and then try to hit your target weight. “On our site, there’s a community of people who are coming together to try and hit a specific goal,” says Jamie Rosen, founder and CEO of DietBet. “Our most popular competition is to lose 4 percent of your body weight in four weeks.” Read the full article.

Transcript: Anchor: Doug from Perrysburg says - "My friends are doing a DietBet. Is this a scam? how does it work?" Health Expert: No, it is not a scam. It's a reputable website and a way to lose weight as a competition. You've seen how the biggest loser offers major cash prizes and how it does serve to motivate people. Offices have long done weight loss pools or competitions. DietBet formalizes it and lets you connect with your fellow dieters online. Everyone puts in a certain amount of money and the people in the group who reach a 4-percent weight loss goal split the pot. Huge pots can mean nice payouts if you win. If you're looking for a cash incentive or online support maybe check it out. Visit DietBet.com for the details on how it works. Read the full article.

Sara Lugger was skeptical as she placed her first $5 bet. But she realized that all she had to lose was weight -- and a few bucks if the money didn't motivate her to get in shape.
A friend's success had inspired Lugger to join DietBet, a website that hosts private and public games where people can bet on their own weight loss. Each game sets a goal, such as losing 4% of your body weight, and users who reach that goal split the pot. Lugger was 34 and weighed 342 pounds. Read the full article.

Dietbet, a social online weight reduction program that involves financial incentives and gaming, works, according to a study at Miriam Hospital. Read the full article.

It took being quoted in the New York Times in 2009 to convince serial entrepreneur Jamie Rosen to turn his diet blog into a business. Inspired by seeing several friends join a dieting group at work, Rosen started a blog about weight loss. The Times’ item inundated the blog with responses and led to follow-up interviews for in-flight magazines and international publications. A business was born. Read the full article.

It took being quoted in the New York Times in 2009 to convince serial entrepreneur Jamie Rosen to turn his diet blog into a business. Inspired by seeing several friends join a dieting group at work, Rosen started a blog about weight loss. The Times’ item inundated the blog with responses and led to follow-up interviews for in-flight magazines and international publications. A business was born.
Rosen had a proven track record. He sold his browser business Comet for $33 million in 2004. Read the full article.

Sue Johnston’s weight loss journey started in late 2013. First she shed 7 pounds on her own, then another 45 using Weight Watchers. She still had pounds to go, though. Read the full article.

A few companies, however, do compete on this level and they’re gaining traction. MyFitnessPal, for example, makes a free calorie counting app that features social connectivity among its users. Founded in 2005 with 50 million downloads and counting, it recently raised $18 million in venture capital. SparkPeople is a free weight loss community with over 10 million users, many of which are former customers of Weight Watchers. And my company, DietBetter, has received traction setting up online weight loss communities structured as social games that we call dietbets. “What we’re seeing here is classic disruptive innovation,” says John R. Kimberly, professor of management at Wharton. “Old-line companies are being deeply challenged by new technology and new competition.” Read the full article.

Read the full article.

The IHRSA Trade Show is the biggest and best in the health and fitness industry. For two days in the San Diego Convention Center, Halls A-F, mega-companies like Technogym, Matrix, Cybex and Life Fitness will share the attention from more than 7,000 attendees (7,450 in 2013) with newbies DIetBetter, Da Vinci BodyBoard, Paofit Technology and StrongBoard as well as those somewhere in the middle, like Woodway USA, ABC Financial, Iron Grip and Spri. Read the full article.

This week on Take Care, Dr. Tricia Leahey discusses DietBet, a social networking website that challenges users to lose weight. Leahey is an assistant professor in research at Brown Medical School and the Miriam Hospital’s Weight Control and Diabetes Research Center, and is also part of the DietBetter.com’s advisory team.
“We are finding that perhaps these financial incentives, by putting your money where your mouth is, plus having these social interactions and this ongoing support and friendly competition, which can actually be quite fun, does yield some pretty impressive weight losses,” says Leahey. Read the full article.

People who join programs like DietBet place bets on themselves, and the ones who lose a certain amount of weight after a month all divvy up the pool. Researchers said these participants are more motivated to stick to their diets, and it shows — the big losers dropped 4.9% of their body weight and won an average of $59.
Researchers from The Miriam Hospital in Providence, Rhode Island made an interesting discovery regarding a social gaming site's link to weight loss. DietBet is an online commercial weight loss program that combines social influence with financial incentive, resulting in "significant" user weight loss. Read the full article.

Much like when you’re dieting, being specific leads to progress. Saying you’ll start saving Jan. 1 will likely get you nowhere, says Jamie Rosen, founder and CEO of dietbetter. Saying you’ll save $2.00 a week over the next month is likely to get results. Read the full article.

I never had to worry too much about my weight until 2010. I went through a very difficult breakup and began to have health issues. Eventually I was diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome, but not before I’d packed on nearly 40 pounds in about a year. Read the full article.

Make a fitness gamble. Users put up a bet ($10 or more) to join a team. If they drop 4 percent of their weight in four weeks, they split the pot with the other "losers". Read the full article.

Commercial weight loss companies like Weight Watchers and Jenny Craig continue to lose market share to do-it-yourself diets and free apps. When it comes to weight loss, people want flexibility, value and convenience. In a year in which the stock market has surged, Weight Watchers has lost nearly half its market value. Why? Commercial weight loss programs like Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, and Nutrisystem are being leapfrogged by free apps that let people customize their approach to their needs. In our annual survey of DietBet players, MyFitnessPal, Lose It! and Fooducate have been among the most popular food-tracking apps. Our players also use exercise apps such as Runkeeper, MapMyRun and Couch to 5k as tools to motivate them to exercise. It remains to be seen, however, whether calorie-counting apps are sustainable as our players tell us that they fatigue from logging everything they eat. Read the full article.

It's really nice when you see women working toward a common goal and sharing. We all come together, which is really nice. Nobody leaves anyone hanging, everybody really goes out of their way to help someone else. I feel like I really have someone -- no matter what time of day or night -- who will say, `We're there to support you. Read the full article.

If money is a motivator for you, consider joining a weight loss group online like DietBet or HealthyWage where you pay a fee to join but get money back if you meet your goals. Or, set up your own group weight loss challenge. Read the full article.

If nothing else is working for you, how about a losing weight with friends? An app called Diet Bet turns weight loss into a group competition. You and your friends can put money in a pot and whoever loses the most, wins.
Some pots have reached hundreds of thousands of dollars. How's that for an incentive? The app only works if you're part of a game, but you can find a competition to join on the website dietbet.com. The free Diet Bet app is available for iOS devices only. Read the full article.

Why do people quit diets or play the guitar for two sessions, put it down, and never pick it back up? Because there's no penalty, there's no cost. You don't get fired from your job if you quit the guitar. But if you use something like stickK or DietBet.com, you can actually put your money on the line, where if you don't follow your program, and you have a referee to keep you honest, you have money that will go to an anti-charity, your least favorite charity on the planet. Read the full article.

I found that the idea of losing $20 was more motivating than actually losing the weight. The Oreos calling my name weren't nearly as loud as my wallet wailing over its missing $20. And lo and behold, when the four weeks were up, I'd miraculously lost the 4 percent. When the pot was split, I got back $39. The $20 I'd put in had almost doubled in just four weeks! How's that for a lucrative ROI? Read the full article.

If this seems too good to be true just ask Sugar House Mom Samantha Stults. In June of this year she decided to bet against her own weight. So far shes lost 35 pounds and made $137 dollars after a total wager of $35. Read the full article.

In the weight-loss race, cash may be the perfect carrot. When participants in a Mayo Clinic study were offered a change to win—or lose—$20 a month, 62 percent completed the program, dropping an average of nine pounds. Without monetary motivation, only 26 percent followed through, losing just two pounds on average. Visit sites such as DietBet.com to set up a challenge for yourself or make a wager with friends.

The appeal of DietBet lies not only in the financial incentive — winners split the collected money among themselves — but also in the fact that it provides a social and motivational platform that aims to combat the dreariness and often unsustainable nature of conventional dieting. Read the full article.

On June 15th, 2008 I got married. Five years and 30+ pounds later I am always on the lookout for a way to get back into my pre-marriage shape. I’ve picked up Soulcycle (which I highly recommend), joined soccer, basketball and softball leagues and a variety of other methods. Although I feel I am on the right track, I needed a little more public incentive to get the process going. And that’s when I discovered a startup called DietBet, an internet-based social dieting company. Read the full article.

According to Tamara Grand, BCRPA-certified personal training, advanced group fitness leader and the author offitknitchick.com, people are simply searching for the support they need, and these challenges provide it. The challenges motivate and keep people accountable to their goals,” says Grand, who just hosted her second DietBet challenge. Read the full article.

I haven't tried DietBet myself -- but I'm about to...I'm only looking to lose about 10 pounds, but I'm really fired up about this. And I think the more people who join, the more fun it will be. For what it's worth, I'm donating 50 percent of whatever money I win (and I will be among the winners, thank you) to Mothers Against Drunk Driving. If you want to support a charity as well, you can update your DietBet profile accordingly. Read the full article.

A study from the Mayo Clinic found that dieters offered a financial incentive were more likely to lose weight...TODAY contributor Dr. Roshini Raj was impressed with the results. 'As human beings, our brains really respond to rewards,' she said. 'Unfortunately, you would think being healthier, having a reduced risk of heart disease and cancer is the reward itself, but that's a long term thing. Money, you feel it in your pocket and you like it.' Read the full article.

I've not only gained new clients, especially since people invite their friends to join them in my DietBets, I'm also maintaining my current client base, which is what any personal trainer wants'—that she's now contemplating running a DietBet to coincide with each 'diet season,' roughly five a year. Another benefit? 'Doing these bets expands your ability to create an international or global brand,' she says. Read the full article.

DietBet users can go on the website and join a public group, or create their own private game among family members or friends. The amount of money needed to wager is set by the person who starts the game. There are many public games that charge as little as $25. The goal is to lose 4 percent of your body weight in four weeks. Read the full article.

Four-week games organized by New York-based DietBet, have been run at more than 500 companies, allotting cash prizes to any participant who sheds 4% of body weight. Chief executive Jamie Rosen says 90% of players slim down, averaging a 5.4-pound loss. Other employers run ad hoc contests, usually modeled after NBC-TV's winner-take-all 'Biggest Loser' series. Read the full article.

It's a great accountability system,' says personal trainer Tony Pino, who work at Platinum Gym in Sanford. Now that he knows about DietBet, he says he's going to encourage his clients to use it. When you have something to shoot for and then you have a group of other people shooting for the same goal or heading in the same direction, that gets momentum,' Pino said. Read the full article.

This social dieting game puts your money where your mouth is. Create a game with friends, set the bet amount, and the first person to lose 4% of their starting weight wins the pot. The more people who play, the bigger the pay. You can also join in existing games. Read the full article.

New websites and apps known as weight loss wager programs are encouraging dieters to gamble their way to a leaner figure, betting on whether they can shed unwanted pounds. TODAY's Erica Hill reports and Jamie Rosen of DietBet.com shows how the program changed the lives of five employees. Read the full article.

DietBet.com wants to help you make money while dieting. You can set up a challenge of your own or join another group. The competition lasts four weeks and the person who loses 4% of their bodyweight during that time wins. Celebrity trainers, gyms, HR managers, charities and others already have challenges set up on the site. DietBet is available for iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. Read the full article.

We've compiled a list of apps that can help you accomplish all sorts of goals this year. Check it out and let us know if we missed any that you plan on using in 2013. Read the full article.

Ahead of his latest book launch "The 4-Hour Chef," Ferris is hoping to get to the bottom of why people fall off the wagon with their diets, and figure out how to keep them on track. His first step was to put all participants on the same low carb diet and exercise program. [T]wo groups are using online tools that claim to help people create goals and stick with them in different ways that hold them more accountable and then offer them rewards for their success. Read the full article.

DietBet is a four-week weight-loss game with major perks! Join an existing game or start your own. Then place your wager, big or small -- the more people involved, the bigger the prize! And everyone who loses 4 percent of their body weight gets a share of the pot at the end. Read the full article.

Having a financial incentive to lose weight could make you five times more likely to succeed, according to a study published in The Journal of the American Medical Association in 2008, which may explain the recent success of 'social dieting' Web sites that let you bet on yourself. When you lose the weight, you win the money–a classic win/win. 'Nobody likes dieting, but everyone likes games,' says Jamie Rosen, the New York City marathoner who founded dietbet.com, where you win a share of the "pot" when you achieve a weight-loss goal in an online competition. Read the full article.

When you diet alone, nobody's holding your feet to the fire. There's nothing stopping you from saying, "I'll do it next month." But when you compete with others, especially with money on the line, it focuses you on a goal like nothing else. It's strict accountability wrapped in a game. Read the full article.

Starting a diet can feel about as enjoyable as enduring a root canal. But now there's a service that seeks to turn the process into a good-natured game, replete with rules, winners and cash prizes. Essentially a tech-savvy version of the age-old weight-loss competition (or, you know, The Biggest Loser), the new website DietBet facilitates one-month "games" between friends to see who can drop the most excess baggage. It's up to the organizer of each competition to invite participants and determine how much money is at stake; you can bet nothing, though recent studies show that money might be the most persuasive motivator. Once everybody is ready to go, contestants enter a starting weight (don't worry, the actual number is hidden from your pals) along with a telling "before" picture. At the end of the four-week period, dieters submit their final "after" shots and weigh-in numbers (to be reviewed by DietBet employees to weed out cheaters), and anyone who has lost at least 4 percent of their body weight wins or splits the pot. DietBet discourages dangerous behavior by disqualifying people who lose more than triple their goal, and of course a general air of sportsmanship is expected. After all, nobody likes a sore loser. Read the full article.

The idea is called The Fun Theory and it's what inspired the creation of DietBet, a site that turns losing weight into a game amongst friends. Participants ante up via PayPal or credit card. After the initial weigh-in, competitors have 28 days to reach their target weight. The winner gets the pot; if multiple players succeed, the pot is split amongst them. The official rules keep players honest and safe (you can be disqualified for losing too much weight). And while the game is afoot, you can talk smack, devise a strategy, and add photographic evidence to prove your dominance. At the end, you'll have lost weight and had fun doing it — not just in theory. Read the full article.

Blogger Amy Oztan decided it was time to kick her diet into higher gear. She turned to dietbet.com, a new website that lets you wager on future weight loss. Although she'd previously managed to shed 18 lbs. on her own, Oztan figured that she'd be spurred on by the combined threat of online humiliation if she failed, plus the thrill of prize money if she succeeded. Read the full article.