Content

• To step
• Tips
• Warnings
• Necessities

Research shows that people who are in a group with the goal to lose weight are more likely to lose weight than people who try it on their own.

To step

1. Think about when you want to start. January and spring are good times to set a goal. In January people often have the intention to lose weight; and in late spring, people want to look their best when they go to the beach or pool and have the motivation to lose weight.
2. Set a time and day for you to meet to discuss how you would like to proceed. It is wise to review the rules of the competition and diet guidelines.
3. Recruit people to come to your meeting. To get people excited about your weight loss competition, you can use the following ideas:
   • Post an announcement in the newsletter at work.
   • Hand out flyers in the hall, canteen, in your gym.
   • Tell everyone you talk to what you're up to.
   • Send emails to a group of people so they have the opportunity to register for the competition.
   • Post an announcement on your work intranet.
   • Use social media to let people know they can participate. You can even create your own Facebook page for the event.
4. Have a place where you can meet every week. Also choose someone who does not participate in the competition but who will help with weighing and writing down the results.
5. Determine how much the participants will pay to participate in the challenge. Use that money to buy the prizes that are awarded every week, month and at the end of the competition. You can also keep the money and hand over all the money to the winner at the end of the match.
6. Write down the rules of the competition. Make sure you think about important things like:
   • The dates of the match.
   • Consider whether people are participating in the competition alone or in teams.
   • The composition of teams, including how many people can be on a team, and who will become the leaders of the team.
   • The location of the gatherings at which you will weigh yourself.
   • The contribution for each participant and information about prizes.
   • How weight loss is calculated (the percentage of body weight someone loses, rather than how many pounds someone loses, is the most fair way to measure it).
   • Obligations with regard to meetings that you have planned, which are weighed on.
7. Organize weekly activities that support participants in their weight loss efforts. You can then support each other emotionally, as well as teach each other new ways to lose weight.
   • Use your coffee break and lunch time to talk to the participants. Talk about what's going well and what's hard about losing weight.
   • Go jogging or exercising together. Enter a marathon for a charity or compete in other running events.
   • Make a deal with a gym nearby where you as a group can follow a special fitness program, and where you receive guidance from instructors and personal trainers.
   • Take your group to lectures on health, or take a course on healthy living or healthy nutrition together.
   • Organize dinners where everyone makes something, and where you can exchange recipes, or meet at restaurants where you can eat healthy.
8. Always organize small competitions. Participating in competitions ensures that the group remains motivated during the competition.
   • Give a prize each week or compliment the person who has exercised the most hours in a week, walked, ran or cycled the highest number of steps.
   • Organize a spinning class or take turns on a treadmill at the gym to see who is doing the most meters in an hour.
   • See who can do the most push-ups or sit-ups, or who can jump rope the longest.
   • Enter a competition to see who can run up the stairs to the top floor of the building you work on the fastest.
   • Take part in a fitness program, take a relay, a tug of war competition, or a swimming competition.
9. Celebrate when you've done your best. Organize an awards ceremony where you present awards to teams and individuals. Make sure the prizes have something to do with fitness so that you keep motivating the participants.
   • Make sure you have a cup for the winner or for the winning team.
   • Hand out small tools that you can use while exercising as prizes or a big prize such as a treadmill or an elliptical trainer.
   • Hand out an amount of cash as a prize or a gift card at a sporting goods store.
   • Hand out a free ticket to a spa, or a membership to a gym nearby.
   • Offer 10 sessions with a personal trainer as a prize.

Tips

• Your work isn't the only place where you can run a weight loss competition. You can also organize a contest in your neighborhood, with your family, at school, in your church or in a social media group.
• Join other groups organizing a weight loss competition. That way you become even more motivated to do your best and keep it up.
• Stop smoking.
• Keep an eye on your cholesterol levels. Keep in mind that fluctuating cholesterol levels can cause a stroke or heart attack.
• Make sure your blood pressure is stable. If you do not know how high your blood pressure is, it can happen that your blood pressure becomes too high and that you get physical complaints.
• Keep moving and make sure you eat healthy. Exercise and healthy eating are your best friends.
• Keep your mind clean by being positive, and this is best achieved by surrounding yourself with your loved ones. If you are alone too much, you can suffer from negative thoughts and feelings.

Warnings

• People who are already at a healthy weight should not participate in a weight loss competition.

Necessities

• A plan to recruit people and the materials you need for it
• A location where you can weigh yourself weekly, and someone who wants to take care of the weighing
• Registration fee
• Written rules and policies
• Organized weekly support activities
• Other activities related to the competition
• Money or prizes related to fitness, for the winners or winning teams