HealthyWager Challenge Rules
These rules are incorporated into and incorporate the Services Agreement, to which all participants must agree in order to register and participate.
Sign up on the HealthyWage website
It takes only a few minutes to sign up to make a HealthyWager and win significant money for losing weight.
Place your wager
Pick the number of pounds you want to lose; the amount of money you want to wager; and the number of months you want to lose weight. The HealthyWager algorithm then offers you a prize amount. You can run as many "experiments" as you want until you find the right bet for you. When you're ready, place your bet.
Lose the weight
After you place your bet, the prize amount is locked in. To win the prize, you must achieve (or beat) your goal by the end of the last day of your wager. You can get your verified weigh-out any time during the Weigh-Out Window, which is the last two weeks of your challenge, ending on your challenge end date. If you lose the weight earlier, you must maintain the weight loss (or lose additional weight) until your Weigh-Out Window begins. You can lose more than your goal weight and still claim the prize. However, if you do not lose all of the weight selected during your wager, you will not win any prize.
Get paid in cash if you win the wager
If you win the HealthyWager, we will award your prize in cash via check or Paypal. The amount paid will be the total amount indicated when you placed your wager.
Note: There is a processing fee for a paper check of $7.00. If you choose Paypal, Paypal will charge a fee of 2.9% + .30 cents, except in special circumstances when HealthyWage pays the fee (e.g., Team Challenge Reimbursement Prize).
Your payments start the day you sign up
Your payment is processed the day that you sign up regardless of when you submit your verified weigh-in. If you select to pay in full, your entire challenge payment amount will be processed on the day you sign up. If you select to pay in installments, your first installment payment will be processed on the day you sign up. Future installments will be automatically processed monthly thereafter.
Note: We will attempt to process all delinquent installments monthly. Any challenge not paid in full by 3 weeks before its end date will have any remaining owed payments processed at that time.
Your HealthyWager clock starts running when you get your starting verified weigh-in
Your HealthyWager clock starts the day you get your weigh-in verified, regardless of when you placed the wager, i.e. if you place your wager today, payments will start today, but your challenge clock will not start until you get your starting weight verified. Starting on that date, you will have the number of months you selected during registration to lose the weight. Separately, you have the option to extend your challenge by buying more time. The option will be available on your dashboard until the end date of your challenge. Buying more time will add six months and six installments to your HealthyWager. The prize and weight loss goal will remain the same.
You can buy more time
You have the option to extend your challenge by buying more time. The option will be available on your dashboard until the end date of your challenge. Buying more time will add six months (and six months’ worth of cost) to your HealthyWager. The prize and weight loss goal will remain the same. When you buy more time, your prize does not change and you will not recoup the additional investment (even if you win). The extra money buys you additional time to win your original prize payout amount.
Example: Mary starts a six-month HealthyWager paying $50 each month to lose 50 pounds with a prize of $1,000. She realizes she will not hit her goal in time, so she buys more time. She will then pay an additional $50 each month for another 6 months (for a total investment of $600). If she wins, she will get her original $1,000 prize amount (she will not get her $300 additional investment back).
Paying for “Buy More Time”
Buying more time adds six months’ worth of payments to your remaining balance owed. You can pay for the additional time all at once (when you buy more time) or in six additional installments.
Example: Nancy’s 12-month HealthyWager was $600 total (i.e., $50 per month for 12 months). It does not matter if Nancy originally chose to pay the $600 upfront or in $50 installments. If she buys additional time, she can choose to pay her $300 additional fee upfront or $50 per month for six additional months (if she chooses installments).
Get additional information about buying more time by reading the Buy More Time FAQs.
Get your weight verified again at the end of the challenge
You must get your weight verified at the end of the challenge. Your ending verification can be done any time during the last two weeks of your challenge, including the last day of your challenge. If you get your weight verified before the weigh-out window begins or after it ends, it will not count.
Increase your prize by referring friends and family
Each friend you refer will receive a $40 HealthyWager prize boost, and you'll get a $40 prize boost for each referral that signs up. Holy cow! That means if you blast 500 Facebook friends and 50 sign up for a HealthyWager, your HealthyWager prize will increase by $2,000 (added to your existing prize amount). Past winners are also eligible to participate in our referral program, with boosts going directly to your HW Points account (instead of being added to your prize). Remember that all previous winners must comply with our “Yo-Yo Rule” as defined further below.
Note: If you choose to run any marketing/advertising campaigns directing to your referral page, you can't hijack HealthyWage brand terms or otherwise do things that are adverse to HealthyWage's interests as outlined in the Services Agreement. Additionally, you may NOT share your referral link directly on any of HealthyWage’s owned social media properties, including the HealthyWage Facebook page and any ads or sponsored content run by HealthyWage. Failure to comply with this rule may result in loss of earned boosts and removal from referral program.
Try to tell us your weight each week
Reporting your weight on the website each week is recommended but not required. All weekly weigh-ins should be submitted as unverified (You can do this by clicking the weigh-in button on your dashboard). Reporting regularly will allow you to see accurate tracking stats of how you are progressing throughout your challenge. However, you will NOT be disqualified for not submitting unverified weigh-ins regularly. Only your starting and ending verified weigh-ins are required to be eligible for the prize.
Talk to your doctor about any medical issues
Make sure you consult your doctor regarding any medical issues that may impact your readiness or ability to lose weight in the challenge.
The yo-yo rule
This rule applies only to past winners of the HealthyWager Challenge. If you’re starting at a higher weight than your weight at the end of your winning HealthyWager challenge, the profit level of your current prize will be reduced compared to your previous challenge. Please visit our Yo-Yo FAQ page to learn more.
NOTE: Registering under a different/new account in an attempt to bypass this rule will result in immediate disqualification with no refund. This is a direct violation of our Services Agreement.
10% minimum weight loss goal
10% is the minimum weight loss goal for the HealthyWager. For example, if your starting weight is 200 pounds, then your HealthyWager goal must be at least 20 pounds of weight loss. If your starting weight is 160 pounds, then your HealthyWager goal must be at least 16 pounds of weight loss. And so on.
No body builders, trainers or other professional athletes
No person who has earned more than $5,000 (or equivalent in prizes) in a single year from any athletic event(s) and/or contest(s) and/or by offering athletic or weight loss training services of any kind (including via employment), for one or more of the last five years, may win the HealthyWager, including personal trainers, sports and athletic trainers, body builders, professional athletes and amateur athletes who meet the above-mentioned earnings threshold. In addition, no person, whether or not he/she has earned money from any of the above activities, may win a HealthyWager unless it is his/her intention to permanently lose weight. Any person who intends to regain some or all of the weight lost in a HealthyWager is not eligible to win the HealthyWager.
Eligibility
The HealthyWager is available to residents (aged 18 years and up) of the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Latin America (including Mexico), Australia, New Zealand, and most of Europe and Asia. If you are participating through an employer, such as Halliburton, you are generally allowed to participate regardless of your location in the world. Unless you are participating through your employer, you may not participate if you are a resident of North Korea, Iran, Syria, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Burma, Yemen, Afghanistan, Libya and Sudan.
Verified Weigh-in Instructions
These are the verified weigh-in rules; these do not apply to the unofficial weigh-ins that you self-report as often as you like.
You must get your weight verified twice for each challenge, once at the beginning (starting verified weigh-in) and once at the end (ending verified weigh-out). Getting your weight verified is easy, but you must follow the Instructions.
Additional verification rules
Make sure your verification is accurate & honest
Make your best effort to ensure that your verified weight has been measured and reported truthfully and accurately.
Additional proof
As part of our review, we occasionally request that some (very few) participants submit an additional weigh-out video. If an additional weigh-out video is required, HealthyWage will contact you with instructions.
Be responsible for your verification
Your verification may not be valid if: a) HealthyWage does not receive your verification within 72 hours after it was performed, or b) if your verification does not take place within the specified verification period of your challenge.
General Rules
These rules apply to all our challenges.
You can participate in multiple challenges
Go for it! You can do all of our challenges at the same time! A few specifics:
- You can participate in as many as 10 active challenges at one time.
- You can only participate in one HealthyWager at a time (but you can sign up for other challenges at the same time as your HealthyWager).
Get your weight verified twice
Once at the start and once at the end of each of your challenges, you must have your weight verified. Verification can be done from the privacy of your home by making a video and uploading it to our website.
Don't cheat or commit fraud
We use proprietary algorithms, weigh-in reviews and, if necessary, outside investigators and law enforcement to catch cheaters. The legal consequences are not worth the benefit. Rule-breakers don’t get refunds – don’t even ask. The rule also applies to folks who are dishonest with the HealthyWage crew or a verifier or anyone else in connection with your challenge.
Don't use unhealthy tricks to “game” the challenge
Doing unhealthy things in order to “game” the challenge is prohibited, including, but not limited to, deliberate weight gain (before, during, or after a HealthyWage challenge), starvation (defined as eating fewer calories each day than your doctor recommends), excessive exercise (defined as exercise that exceeds your doctor’s recommended amount of exercise, in terms of type, frequency and duration), water deprivation, unusual water consumption, self-induced vomiting, diuretics, laxatives, or any weight loss or weight gain plan that your doctor does or would advise against, or that, in HealthyWage’s sole and exclusive discretion, would be considered unhealthy or unfair by an ordinary person.
Don't harass other players…or anyone else
Be nice, please! Harassment of any kind, whether of your own teammates or other teams or non-participants is prohibited. You are encouraged to support your teammates, but you covenant and agree that unwelcome emotional, physical, or other abuse is absolutely forbidden. Harassment shall also include any words or actions that, in HealthyWage’s sole and exclusive discretion, would be likely to cause any of your teammates, or any other person, to feel pressured to do any of the unhealthy things defined above.
Don't do anything illegal
Well, duh!
Don't participate while pregnant
If you become pregnant during your challenge, you are entitled to postpone the challenge until a future date. If you enter a challenge while pregnant, you will be disqualified. Weight loss caused by giving birth to a baby (/-ies) does not count. Sorry mom!
Your challenge is suspended the minute you think you might be pregnant -- just let us know. You have 60 days after that to supply proof of pregnancy from your clinic/doctor. Once you confirm your pregnancy with documentation, we will stall your remaining installment payments and pause your challenge. After your doctor clears you to start again, we will reinstate your installments and either start your challenge over or let you complete your remaining months. If you choose to start over, you will need to submit a new verified weigh-in. Regardless of which option you choose, you will only need to pay the remaining number of installments from your original wager. This means your payments may end before your challenge ends.
We have a strict no refunds policy
We believe strongly that an important part of the service we provide is a negative reinforcement that helps you avoid procrastinating and quitting, which would be undermined if you could simply change your mind or find an excuse to quit. Moreover, our pricing is based on actuarial models that assume no refunds. There are no exceptions except in rare, evidence-documented medical situations – email us at accounting@healthywage.com if you think that applies (but please prepare yourself for the likelihood that there will be no exception granted).
Don't have surgery during your challenge(s)
You may not have bariatric surgery during your challenge or within one year prior to your challenge start date. You may not have liposuction or any other surgery that causes your weight to decrease by more than 5 pounds, regardless of whether weight loss was the intended purpose of the surgery, during your challenge. If you need to have surgery, we may grant you a dispensation to continue your challenge or we may suspend your challenge or we may reduce your goal weight or we may cancel your challenge (with or without refund, depending upon the circumstances). Please contact us to get a referee's ruling -- accounting@healthywage.com.
Gaming the Verified Weigh-ins Not Allowed
When the rule applies:
This rule applies only if you are registered for more than one challenge, and applies only when you are finishing a team challenge or HealthyWager and lost more than 2% per week since your last verification.
What it says:
You can't end a challenge with a weight that is less than 2% per week (on average, rounding up) less than your last HealthyWage verification. If you do, your ending verified weight will be adjusted upward so that it is no lower than 2% per week lower than your last HealthyWage verification.
Example:
Bob starts a HealthyWager at 201 pounds on May 1. On May 5, he finishes the team challenge he started earlier in the year, and his ending weight is 178 pounds. That's a violation of the rule because Bob would be claiming to have lost way more than 2% of his weight in less than a week. 2% of 201 is 5 pounds (rounding up), so Bob's May 5 weight can't be any lower than 196 pounds. HealthyWage will adjust his team challenge ending weight up to 196.
Apple is not a sponsor of HealthyWage or any HealthyWage challenge.
