Hi ladies! I don't know if any of you remeber me, but I am back after a few months off track.

Well, my two best friends and I have always had weight issues, so we came up with a friendly weight loss competiton. It lasts 20 weeks (today to Monday May 31, Memorial Day). Each Monday we weigh in and the two who have lost the least amount must pay $5 into the "pot". At the end of the 20 weeks, there will be $200 in the pot and whoever has lost the most weight gets to take the money and buy themselves a new bathing suit.

What do ya think? Has anyone ever tried to have a competition among friends? How did it go? This website really helps keep me accountable, but I think it might help to have someone close to me as well ya know? I hope it works out, but I'd love to hear stories if anyone has ever tried anything like this!

I did something similar with a co-worker. We had to go to the gym every day during the week, and whoever didn't go had to buy the other person lunch on Friday. It worked - we wound up buying our own lunches for about 5 weeks

A few years ago I did something similiar to that with a bunch of coworkers. We all paid in $2 a week for 8 weeks and who ever lost the most weight one all the money. It worked really well for me and I lost 15lbs. Only down fall to that was I ended up getting pregnant a few months later and then gain it all (and then more) back!

It funny you mention it ..... this why I am here , me and friend say on nov 2008 let see who lose more weight ... and the one who lose pay the another $100 ... guess what .... I won more than $100 . I won ... healthy and 27 pond less .... and $100 .

Are you doing it by pounds or percentage? I'd say go by percentages if you all have very different starting points. Someone who is 300 lbs will lose "more" in terms of pounds most likely than someone who is 200 lbs

I've seen many of these competitions done- they seem motivating- and as long as people don't allow their feelings to be hurt (or rub loss in other's faces) then I think it can be successful.

I think that competition can be helpful as long as you and your friend have a healthy approach towards your bodies, and also it's probably helpful if the friends have substantially different weights to lose. It can get difficult when you start comparing yourselves, etc. And someone always loses, and regardless of the weight lost, feels a little demoralized.

Ok, looking over what I've written, it looks like I don't really like weight loss competitions. They kind of remind me of that terrible reality show 'The Swan', where women were given extreme makeovers and then had to compete in a beauty pageant. Now that they've gone through so much to become 'beautiful', they still have to compete to determine who ended up the most beautiful. This is probably idealistic, but weight loss is its own reward. I'm more in favor of celebrating at the end with a vacation, etc, so you have something to work for but there isn't necessarily a winner. There's just a deadline.

I wish I had some friends that would be willing to do this....Not that I'm cocky or overconfident, but I am competitive and I do love money. lol

I would love to do this!!! Too bad all of my friends don't need to lose weight. I think it's a fabulous idea, just make sure y'all have similar stats when starting or else someone else will have an unfair advantage (I'm way too competitive). Maybe do like a separate pool or $50 to whoever logs the most minutes working out or something. That would be a good incentive to keep it healthy and not just starve yourselves to win $200.

Thanks for sharing everyone! We have decided to go by percentage lost every week because we all have different amounts of weight to lose and we think that'll be most fair. Also, we decided to change the winnings a little to 1st place gets $125, 2nd gets $50 and 3rd gets $25 just so we don't feel like we've worked our butts off for nothing in the end.

I think we all have pretty healthy views of our bodies, we've just lacked the motivation to lose the weight we've been wanting to, and I really think this will help. This is the most excited I've been about dieting since last year when I lost the 20 lbs I had put on during pregnancy!

aw I think that's a wonderful thing to do! And that's awesome that you and your friends have also decided to share the money.

I wish i had friends who wanted to lose weight with me that would be awesome.

I would only do it if you'd be okay with losing. If under normal circumstances you wouldn't mind giving one of your friends $200 for a bathing suit (and vice versa), then it won't stress your friendship if it turns out you have to. Personally, I would lower the stakes to $1 a week so the window for hard feelings is slimmer.

Of course, that's because I don't like weight competitions in general; I'd rather everybody celebrate together (like all three of you go shopping for bathing suits or spa treatments) rather than only selecting one winner. I mean, you'll all have "won" in your own way, right?

Edit: Oh, I've just seen that you adjusted the winnings to share the money. I think it's a splendid idea.