NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwire - Jan 3, 2012) - A group of the most influential mom bloggers are using the new DietBet.com platform to set up a New Year's resolution weight-loss challenge, with $5,000 on the line. The winnings go to the bloggers and their charity of choice. All the players in the high-stakes game have to lose four percent of their bodyweight in four weeks. If they reach their goal, they win the pot, or split it evenly if there are multiple winners.
The hot topic around New Year's resolutions in 2012 is dietbetting -- with recent research showing that the carrot of winning real money -- along with the stick of losing it -- is a highly effective motivator. In a study at the University of Pennsylvania, people offered a financial incentive to lose weight were five times more successful at reaching their weight-loss goal than test subjects offered no incentives.
Social weight-loss challenges are popping up everywhere, from The Biggest Loser to the double-episode premiere of season five of The Office, which featured a dietbet among the Dunder Mifflin branches.
DietBet.com makes it a breeze to set up a dietbet, as easy as planning a party with Evite. Anyone can use the site's tools for free to set up a game with their friends and co-workers. A mobile app is coming out in early 2012.
"Losing weight is the number one New Year's resolution," said Jamie Rosen, DietBet's founder, a serial entrepreneur and Harvard Business School dropout. "The hard part is doing it alone. We're helping these mom bloggers -- and others -- jumpstart their weight loss goals by making it fun, competitive, and lucrative ... with the potential to win a lot of money. Our four week dietbet is an easy, manageable way to get started right."
The participants
DietBet is sponsoring the $5,000 pot for the blogger game. Players will be documenting their progress through blog posts and social media updates. The blogger game participants include:
- Amy Oztan, of "Selfish Mom" and "Blogging Angels." Oztan was named "Funniest Mom on Twitter" by Babble.com, and was recognized by Working Mother magazine as one of the fifteen most powerful moms in social media. She has selected The Fistula Foundation as her charity.
- Amanda Lonsdale and Amy Schirmer of "Dilettante Club," an award-winning blog written by three women who've made a hobby of not having hobbies. Their blog has been featured in The Washington Post, and elsewhere. They'll be playing for the chance to share their winnings with the DC Central Kitchen.
- Kathleen Canedo, the author of the "Brutalism" blog and the weekly Oakton Patch humor column "At Home with Brutalism." Canedo, who is also a member of the Dilettante Club, and was in the Guinness Book of World Records for tap dancing, has also chosen DC Central Kitchen as her charity.
- Kimberly Coleman of "Foodie City Mom," a blog covering food, recipes, city life and motherhood, will be playing for the chance to share winnings with City Harvest. Coleman, who formerly worked in investment banker and is a mom of two, also writes for Harlem Community Newspapers and She Posts.
- Angie Vinez, of "Blessed Beyond Words." Vinez, a rural Georgia-based Christian mom of six, and popular blogger, has chosen St Jude's Children's Hospital as her charity.
- Shari Simpson, the author of the blog "Earth Mother Just Means I'm Dusty" and the editor of "Mommy Poppins NJ." Simpson is a freelance writer whose work has appeared in various parenting sites such as "MomsLikeMe," "Moms In The City," and in CBS New York's "Kids" section. Simpson has named HOPE Worldwide as her charity.
"I wanted to get involved in the game in a public way because I think it'll encourage other people to make a healthy start in the new year," said Kathleen Canedo of Brutalism.
About DietBet
DietBet is an online social dieting game that gives players the opportunity to win money through weight-loss competitions. Dietbetters play with friends and co-workers and put money into a pot; whoever reaches the goal by the end of four weeks wins the pot (or splits it). It's motivation through friendly competition, with real rewards. Founded by Jamie Rosen in 2010 and launched in December of 2011, DietBet makes losing weight fun. Find DietBet on Facebook and Twitter.
About Jamie Rosen
Jamie Rosen, Founder & CEO, dropped out of Harvard Business School to start his first internet business, Comet Systems, which he sold for $33.5 million in 2004. At Comet, he invented the company's flagship product, which received Adweek's "Best Marketing Technology of the Year" award in 1999. Prior to Comet, Rosen invented toys. Today he has 10 pending and issued patents and in 2007, he sold several of his patents, covering location-based games, to Yahoo! Rosen graduated from Harvard College in 1992 and is married with three children.