Many of us are probably done with our typical New Year’s resolution: to lose excess weight and get healthy…most likely we did not follow through. Many lose more momentum instead of weight by the time Día de los Reyes rolls around. Emerging technologies, such as various diet-tracking apps and Fitbit, have helped; sometimes more motivation is needed – how about earning money for every pound lost?!
HealthyWage, for example, provides cash incentives to address our nation’s obesity epidemic and improve America’s collective health. The company was founded in response to academic research that proves even small cash rewards triple the effectiveness of weight-loss programs, finding that people are more effective at losing weight when their own money is at risk. Since social networks play a large role in many lives, this will likely play a large role in reversing obesity. The company couples its popular individual and team-based weight loss contests and challenges that proffer substantial cash prizes (upwards of $10,000) with social and expert-based support, tools and resources, and goal-setting and tracking technologies to further bolster the success rate of its participants. On the HealthyWage website, a potential user just has to enter the amount of weight they wish to lose to get started and a “wager” estimate will appear. Social and expert-based support is also offered.
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In addition, there are also a number of mobile apps that help to motivate and track your progress while earning rewards! Step-counting apps Pact and Charity Miles help you set up and keep various activity goals. Pact features food goals, as well, where the user also wagers their money in meeting/failing those goals; earn when goals are succeeded and lose when they aren’t. Charity Miles give you the chance to earn money for charity for all those walking and running workouts. Just choose a charity and go for a jog or a hike but not on the treadmill or stationary bike as the app tracks your phone’s GPS to record mileage. An app that can save you some money is Health4Me, which helps users find various health care providers and facilities in their area as well as comparing for common medical services.
With all that is out there to help us get healthy, and stay healthy, for the rest 2017 and beyond, let’s choose wisely and stick to it!
