Ideas for Biggest Loser Challenges

"The Biggest Loser" has become one of the most popular and inspirational reality shows on television. The basis of the show is for a group of contestants, who have varying but significant amounts of weight to lose, to compete to lose the highest personal percentage of weight through strict diet and exercise, while engaging in a series of contests. While you won't win hundreds of thousands of dollars, creating your own at-home biggest loser challenge is a rewarding way to jump-start and accomplish your weight loss goals.

Get Friends Involved

• Gather a group of friends and create a contract stating that you lose weight and abide by certain weight loss rules. Decide what your rules will be and what kind of prizes you will offer for winning the entire competition or smaller challenges along the way. For instance, chose a deadline for the competition and decide whether winning will be based on total weight lost or percentage of weight lost and when weigh-ins will occur; this creates accountability and competition. Have each contestant put a small amount of money into the pot --- $10-$50 --- and let the winner take it all at the end.

Create Mini-Challenges

• One of the major components of "The Biggest Loser" competition is the weekly challenges. While everyone in your group should be exercising and dieting rigorously, add some fun and competition to the week by creating your own exercise- and diet-related challenges. Perform exercise challenges together for prizes; set diet challenges for personal enrichment. Since everyone has put money into the pot, they have something to lose by not fully committing to diet challenges or not exerting full effort along the way.

5K Scavenger Hunt

• Get the group together for a 5k race, but make it a scavenger hunt as well. Have someone who isn't participating in the competition mark your course with objects or special points. The challenge is to complete the 5k with the fastest time and by collecting as many of the scavenger hunt items as possible.

Water Challenge

• Have the group increase their water intake by making it a part of a challenge. Set individual goals for participants by requiring them to drink a set amount of water based on their body weight. Have them drink have the number of pounds they weigh in the same number of ounces. For example, if a participant weighs 200 pounds, have her drink 100 ounces of water every day.

Carry your Weight

• An essential "Biggest Loser" challenge requires participants to lug the weight they've lost while performing a physical task, such as carrying sandbags equivalent to the weight they've lost. Depending on the amount of weight your group has to lose, require members to lug their individual weight or that of the group.

Earn your carbs

• To make the group more conscious of what they are eating, have a week-long challenge where contestants have to do some cardio exercise in order to have carbohydrates in a meal. For instance, if they want to have oatmeal for breakfast, they will need to take a morning walk first. Fruits and vegetables will not be counted as carbs that need to be earned; only breads, pastas, potatoes, corn, etc.

Work Together

• To ensure additional accountability, have all contestants use the same scale and weigh in together on the same day of each week. Require contestants to attend weekly nutrition and fitness classes together at a local community center. Work out together once a week, aside from challenges.

Safety

• Have all participants get a doctor's clearance before beginning the challenge. Write in the contract that no member of the challenge will use any unhealthy, unapproved methods to lose weight.