Thanks in large part to the runaway hit show Biggest Loser more and more people around the world are getting involved in weight loss competitions. Weight loss competitions are great because they give you added incentives to lose weight. In some cases, the more weight you lose and the more weight the entire group loses, the more money goes towards a specific charity. Any extra motivation that a person can get to lose weight, whether individually or collectively in a group weight reduction program, or in weight loss competitions is highly desirable.
Many people, even those that are overweight and obese, are highly competitive in nature. In fact, many of the most successful and productive members of society are overweight. In the Unites States, where obesity is an epidemic, you will find many large and extra extra large people having great financial success in many walks of life. We see these good folk everywhere. They are our neighbors and they attend our churches. They are our financial advisors and they run some of the small and large companies in our communities. They are the soccer moms and teachers and doctors who cure us. Society does judge people by how large they are and it was ignorantly thought for many years that fat people were slow, cumbersome, low energy, and even mentally deficient. These pre-conceived notions are given to us daily because the only heroic people we see on television are thin or muscular, never or almost never overweight.
With the proliferation of television shows such as Dr. Phil, Oz, Oprah, and others, the emphasis has shifted from ignoring these Americans to trying to help them gain control of their weight issues. The main problem for overweight people is that they end up dead earlier than others. These people end up dying of blocked arteries, heart disease, diabetes, and a host of other maladies that strike the obese. Other problems that they encounter on a daily basis will deplete their quality of life and give them chronic pain and ailments such as rheumatoid arthritis, diabetes, ulcers, hypertension, and high blood pressure, just to name a few. Weight loss competitions are a good method for these good people who we all know and love to finally divest themselves of the unwanted poundage.
Check out the Biggest Loser website and there are usually one or two weight loss competitions going on. You can also do a Google search for them. Many times these types of competitions are posted on local community or church bulletin boards. If you cant find any in your neck of the woods, why not start one yourself? Post some notices saying that you are starting some weight loss competitions in your home town and you will receive a lot of attention and competitors. You can hold meetings once a week where people will be required to weigh in. I am sure that you can get some sponsors from local health food stores or even local gyms. You should have some prizes and the sponsors can offer those, or you can charge a small fee to get in to the competition and use that pooled money as the prize itself for the biggest loser.
Whatever road you take, joining in weight loss competitions can only help you in the long road if you are serious about losing weight.