NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwire - Feb 7, 2012) - DietBet.com, an online social dieting game that lets people win money through weight-loss competitions, announced the winners of its "Lose to Win Challenge." The players -- seven top bloggers -- came together at DietBet.com for a high-stakes game that benefitted charities. DietBet put up the $5,000 pot.
All the players reached or exceeded their goal of losing four percent of their weight in four weeks. In the final week, one of the participants, Amy Oztan, of "Selfish Mom," said, "Do you realize we've lost the weight of my seven-year-old daughter? I can't pick her up anymore!" In the end, the seven women collectively lost 67 pounds in just under a month.
The women razzed each other along the way. In the beginning, one blogger sent another a doughnut maker. They were also supportive and commiserated about the challenges of losing weight while traveling for work. The bloggers said the competition and high stakes kept them sharp and energized.
One player, Angie Vinez of "Blessed Beyond Words," used the motivation of the game to go well beyond her goal, losing a total of 17 pounds. The result was a seven-way tie with each player splitting the pot equally ($715 each). Players donated some or all of their winnings to the charity of their choice.
Winners of the DietBet Blogger Lose to Win Challenge are:
- Amy Oztan, of "Selfish Mom" and "Blogging Angels." Oztan played for The Fistula Foundation.
- Amanda Lonsdale and Amy Schirmer of "Dilettante Club." The duo donated their winnings to the DC Central Kitchen.
- Kathleen Canedo, the author of the "Brutalism" blog and the weekly Oakton Patch humor column "At Home with Brutalism." Canedo also selected DC Central Kitchen as her charity.
- Kimberly Coleman of "Foodie City Mom." Coleman played for City Harvest.
- Angie Vinez, of "Blessed Beyond Words." Vinez will donate her winnings to St Jude's Children's Hospital.
- Shari Simpson, the author of the blog "Earth Mother Just Means I'm Dusty." Simpson played for HOPE Worldwide.
"We were pleasantly surprised to see that every one of these bloggers won," said Jamie Rosen, DietBet's founder. "Clearly they had a lot of fun -- the kind of fun not typically associated with the word "diet," and it propelled them to reach their goals."
The bloggers all credit DietBet with enabling them to jumpstart their weight loss. Several plan on competing again.
"DietBet helped motivate me in other ways, besides just the bet. We talked to each other on the message boards -- to celebrate little victories, share tips, and threaten to send cheesecakes to each other. It was an excellent way to reinvigorate my weight loss motivation," said Amy Oztan. "Prior to starting the challenge, I'd dropped 15 pounds and now I'm down another eight thanks to DietBet."
DietBet injects fun, competition, and social collaboration into America's quest to shed extra weight.
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.