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The biggest loser is not just a television show anymore, it’s a phenomenon. It’s not just seen in the US, there are “Biggest Loser” versions for many countries. With the new year right around the corner (and with it resolutions) why not contact Human Resources at work about starting your own biggest loser at work? Start one at your church, or challenge other family members.
I’ve put together a biggest loser kit consisting of an excel spreadsheet (to do all the math), and a word document to help you organize the weight loss efforts at your job, church, or family.
Here are some rules you can mix and match to come up with your own version.
Universal Rules
1. Everyone that was doing this had a rule that people need to weigh in on the same scale at the same time. This keeps things consistent (and honest).
2. You go by the percent of body weight loss. The calculation is the take your actual weight (today) and subtract it form your initial weight. Then divide that number by your initial (starting) weight. Take that number and multiply it by 100 and you get your weight loss percentage.
((IW-AW)/IW) * 100= weight loss percentage
So if I start at 211, and I lose 5 lbs in a month and end up at 206.
That’s 211-206 (5 lbs.)
Take 5 lbs. and divide it by my starting weight (211). 5/211 = .023697
Multiply that by 100 and you get 2.37%
Mix and Match the following “rules” to make your best competition
1. “HAVE FUN”, Eat healthy, and exercise. 2. The first weigh in will be on (PICK A DAY) at (PICK A TIME)
3. The final weigh in will be on (PICK A DAY) at (Pick a Time – 15 WEEKS – or choose length)
4. Weigh-in’s will occur every (PICK A DAY) at PICK A TIME. Choose one person to manage the money and be present at all weigh ins.
5. There is a one time $(PICK AN AMOUNT) registration fee which “MUST” be paid during your first weigh in.
6. You can Join at any time during the first three weeks (but the longer you wait the harder it will be to win)
7. All monies owing to the pot should be paid during the time of weigh in or prior to the following weigh in.(So if you have a bad week, be prepared break out the spare change)
8. There will be a $1 weigh in fee per week applied to all contestants.
9. There will be a penalty fee of $1 applied if your weight stays the same.
10. There will be a penalty fee of $1 if you miss weighing in. This dollar will be combined with the weekly weigh in fee of $1, for a total of $2 dollars each time you miss a weigh in.
11. There will be a penalty fee of $1 added for each pound gained. (i.e. Gain 3 pounds, you owe $3)
13. You can have one person win all the money, or divide between the top 3 players, donate the money to a food bank, whatever. Money can be a nice motivator.
Here are some tips for keeping people involved:
Teams can add accountability. The first big rule of creating an office Biggest Loser competition is to create teams. Having a team to be accountable to is very important. If your workplace is like most, snacks and leftovers find their way to a central location where people can munch all day long. Having team members, as well as opposing team members, watching, really keeps your mindless munching at bay. If you are in the competition only for yourself, you will be much more likely to indulge. Being accountable to other people can really help people stay on track.
Make the weigh-in public knowledge. You don’t have to post actual weights here, however, whether or not contestants went up or down in weight each week (and how much) should be displayed publicly in the office. This provides yet another aspect of accountability and motivation. Now you are not only accountable to the people participating in The Biggest Loser, but also your coworkers who are not. A chart should be created to track the weekly progress of each team member, with team totals appearing as well. Having the entire office in on the action, not just those participating in the actual weight loss, adds volumes to individual motivation.
I’ve made this kit available for free, if you would like to say “thanks” with a donation, why not join our “top spots” at www.logicalloss.com/support
A portion of sales through this Amazon.com link goes to support the show. Thank you in advance!
{ 49 comments… read them below or add one }
i want to make my own biggest loser in my health club where do i start thacnx
You can download the spreadsheets that do all the math at
http://logicalloss.com/biggest-loser-kit
I am going to use the kit and see who wants to start a club at work. My co-workers are all over the united states so this will be great!!
This is great kit, but what would be the best plan for my coworkers?? We are all over the US. Next time we are all together will probably be Feb 2011. It would be hard to collect money and would it be reasonable to have IOU’s for the pot when the winner is selected. I would love to do this for us. Any thoughts??
I’ve decided to play it against myself. From my spending money I’m going to put penalties in savings and rewards in my amazon payments account (not sure that’s what its called) At the end of next year, I’ll see how much is in the pot! (I have a lot to lose)
I have tried to open the biggest loser kit and it opens up pHOTOSHOP INSTEAD. HELP.
Cannot seem to locate the kit. would love some help! thanks
I’ve downloaded the kit, is there anyway you can help me add weeks? We are doing a six month weight loss challenge at my work. I’d really appreciate it! Thanks!
Trying to get the kit. I get a couldnot find URL requested error each time I try the link.
I have downlosded this program,I am sooo excited to get started.Do you do the percentage weight each week,or at the end of the program (over all)weight.Thank you so much for all the info.Jackie d
10 of my family members have agreed to participate. I am soooooo excited to get them all involved. Thanks for the inspiration!
Say after the second week, do you go by the TOTAL percentage or the DIFFERENCE??
Universal Rules
1. Everyone that was doing this had a rule that people need to weigh in on the same scale at the same time. This keeps things consistent (and honest).
what does that first sentence even mean… it makes absolutely no sense at all!!
He isn’t talking about everyone being on the scale together.
Everyone needs to be at the weigh in at a specific date and time and weigh in one after another rather than straggling across days or times of day. The person moderating needs to pick one moment in time for the event to happen. I think this is what he means by saying “at the same time”
Everyone needs to use the same scale to record their weights in order prevent differences in weight that can be due differences in the weights reported by each scale.
I loved this and started a biggest loser using this kit.. Im not preparing to start my 2nd office Biggest Loser contest .. Last time our 1st place winner won over $700 . It was a big hit.
I can not open the kit, only the the “biggest loser challenge” part opens. Help?
There shold be another tab at the bottom of the spreadsheet to click on with all the formulas etc.
Our office is going to do this and we are all so pumped to do it!! Let the pounds fall off!!!
I’m starting a Biggest Loser contest at our school tomorrow! We are a small, rural PreK – 12th grade school and I have about 30 staff members participating! I’m trying to promote healthy lifestyles and living to our school so everyone that wants to participate can. We are going to do before/after pictures and take measurements also so we can see how many inches we all lose. Even people that only need to lose 10 lbs or maintain are involved. Some are doing the challenge with us just not putting money into the pot. I wanted to involve everyone and I’m so excited to see the results in January. The coolest part is the last 3 weeks they will not be weighing in. Just like on the show, they will have to be accountable on their own at home. Exciting times!!!
hello biggest loser,i am a local radio and television broadcaster from Jos,central Nigeria in West Africa. i am excited about the fact that versions of your show can be hosted in other countries and i am interested in hosted it in my country which has over 150 million citizens and millions of viewers of reality tv.but first ,i’d like to start at my office to know the game very well.pls help. sak solo.
hi i am thinking about starting up a biggest loser challenge in my community, i downloaded the kit but only there rules will open is there another way to get the spreadsheets? thanks
When you unzip the file, there is a word document and an Excel Spreadsheet. I’ll send you the spreadsheet.
I have been using this program for almost a year and love it!! Thank you! I need to add additional weeks past the 15 weeks. I don’t know Excel so can someone help me out??
Heather,
I sure can. Give me a few to get things in the right place. You might be able to copy and paste items to extend the time.
Dave
Hey Dave,
It keeps opening up as “read only”, would you be able to help me? I just need the individuals spread sheet.
Thanks!
Hey there! I have been on a wild goose chase looking for a spreadsheet to use for my workplace BL contest. I’ve used this one in the past because we did an individual contest, but this time, we are doing teams of 3. I am NOT Excel literate, so I tried chaning the Duos into what I needed and just got lost! Can you help me out? I just need to add an additional row under each team.
Thanks!
Jen
Thank you for the spreadsheet and info on how to start it at work.
I need a spread sheet to work for 17 weeks total. The one on the site is for 15 and is protected from being altered. Can anyone help with the addition of two more weeks?
We officially start this tomorrow at the office, thank you so much for providing the spreadsheet and such great info! We are all very excited, this will be a great positive competition for us especially since we are in the food and beverage business, it is so tough to be healthy!
@ Jack January 10, 2012 at 11:40 am
“I need a spread sheet to work for 17 weeks total. The one on the site is for 15 and is protected from being altered. Can anyone help with the addition of two more weeks?”
If you want to turn this off and edit the worksheet, just go to Tools > Protection >Unprotect Worksheet.
Then Copy the Week, Difference & Total columns, then right click to special paste and select formula.
My dept just started our own Biggest Lost. We work in a hospital setting and we all can’t weigh-in the exact day every week. Majority of us weighed-in on Monday. If we work the weekend, most times, we have Mondays off. So is it okay to weighing-in on Sundays as opposed to weighing in on Tuesday? One of the ladies says it’s not right, people which weigh-in on Tuesday if they have that Monday off. I don’t know what to say. Does it really matter if people weigh in a day before their normal weigh-in day?
Thank you for creating this. People at my work wanted to start one and of course I am the one person they come to to track and make the forms which initially made me not want to do it myself at all, then I found your forms so I am joining in as well. Thanks for making it easier to say yes.
Thanks for this kit, very helpful! We will be kicking our competition off within the next week!
I usually use the app to run these competitions, but this one I’m about to start is going to be 40-50 (instead of the usual 15-20), so the app is too much of a pain.
My question is, if you’re still checking this site, how do I sort the columns by percentage? I tried clicking on the column header but that’s not working, and I really dont want to have to piece meal it by hand. Is there a way to do it so I can just copy and paste the results?
Thanks!!!
Thank you so much for all the information. This was very helpful. We starting our Biggest Loser Challenge at our school tomorrow. I am the organizer and found the spreadsheets a great tool. I would also like to know the formulas. Our contest runs until June 25th. Hope everyone has a great day! Thanks again for all this useful information.
Hello, I am using excel 2007 and am looking to make this 18 weeks. I tried to special paste with formulas, but the equations don’t add up right. is there something else I need to do?
Never mind. Got it figured out!
very nice
This is amazing! I am trying to start a small business with Advocare and will use some of your ideas to do a biggest loser/24 day challenge with our products! If anyone is interested in doing the same, feel free to contact me.
how would u add more weeks to the week 15 spreadsheet please ?
I have done this twice at my work now and have now been requested to start up the 3rd competition. This is quite popular!!!
I was not able to get the spreadsheet, could you email it to me? Thanks!
Our workplace currently has a Healthy Miles Program so we’re planning to add this contest. Our school has a large staff is there any way to obtain a spread sheet which allows us to have teams of 4ppl? Thanks
i intersted beaing a contest on the show will you nofty me and what is your local
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