The truth about DietBet.com. Does it work?

Several weeks ago while researching news stories for my Tech Talk radio show, I came across a story about a website called DietBet.com. The story intrigued me enough to give DietBet a try for myself.

How DietBet works

First, a primer on DietBet. Here’s how the website works. You visit the website and start browsing through games (or create one of your own). Each game has its own set of players and own set of stakes but the rules of the game are the same no matter which one you join—you have to lose 4% of your body weight in 4 weeks.

When you join the game you “ante up” (i.e., pay) the stakes specified by the game. For example, if the stakes are $25, everyone who joins the game pays in $25. At the end of the 4 weeks, the total pot (minus a cut that DietBet.com keeps) is divided equally among everyone who successfully lost 4% of their body weight.

My game

I don’t know how I got involved in such a giant game right out of the gate but I joined a game called “Mindys Fitness Journey DietBet” which ended up with 615 players and a total pot of $15,765! The price to play was $25.

The first step of the game was the weigh-in. DietBet implements several strategies to prevent cheating although I think it would still be fairly easy to cheat the system. But I decided to play fair just to see if I could do it.

So following the rules, I submitted to DietBet two photos of myself. One was a full head-to-toe shot wearing what DietBet refers to as airport attire. For me, it was a pair of shorts and a t-shirt. The second photo I took was of my feet standing on the scale showing my weight with a unique word given to me by DietBet written on an index card. The unique word is one method DietBet employs to prevent cheating.

For the next 4 weeks, I really paid attention to what I ate and tried to exercise when I could. Apparently, I did enough because I was able to successfully lose 4% of my body weight. I will admit that many times I felt like giving up but the thought of losing my $25 coupled with having to write in this blog post that I lost were enough motivation to keep me on track.

The payout

At the end of the 4 weeks, I had to repeat the two photo process except this time with a new unique word, again to prevent cheating. The DietBet judges quickly confirmed that my photos were legitimate but I had to wait a few days for all of the results to tabulate.

In the end, I was awarded $41.49 mean I not only lost 4% of my body weight, but I profited $16.19 in the process.

Does it work?

So, the big question, does DietBet work? Well, clearly it did for me and I think it would work for everyone else as well. But I still maintain that it would be easy to cheat. What would have stopped me from tucking a 5 pound weight in the back of my shorts to give me a 5 pound head start? Or using the manual adjustment on my scale to throw it off a pound or two?

I think DietBet is betting themselves on a couple of things. First, that most people are honest. Second, that even if you cheat, your not going to quit your job over it. I mean, I did things legitimately and I only gained $16.19 in 4 weeks. And finally, it’s a bit of a hassle to take and submit the photos (although they do have an app that makes it easier) before and after the game. Again, a lot of work for not a lot of money.

According to the small print on DietBet’s website, they can ask you to visit the medcheck area of your local drugstore (I think it was Walgreens or CVS) to get an “official” weigh-in from them if they think you are cheating but I wonder how often they actually request this.

Like I said, DietBet definitely works when played honestly so if you’re looking for some financial motivation to help you lose weight over the next 4 weeks, I would definitely give DietBet.com a try.

NOTE: If anyone from DietBet.com reads this, I would love to hear your comments on the cheating aspect of the game that I mentioned above. You can comment here or contact me directly at [email protected].