A diet is never easy, that’s why we have an entire website dedicated to helping you tackle the pesky four letter word. So rejoice, frustrated dieters, for recent trends suggest you don’t have to lose your sanity or money trying to tackle your weight loss goals. In fact, a study by the Annals of Internal Medicine found that financial incentives were a significant tool for getting people to lose weight.

The science is fairly simple: out of the three dieting control groups they tested, the two that had the potential for monetary rewards fared better than the group with none. The control group that lost the most weight was the one that stood to make even more money if their fellow dieting teammates failed to meet weight loss goals. It’s no shocker that Americans will do just about anything to make a buck, and this study is all well and good for the few lucky people chosen, but how does it affect you?

There are legitimate and reputable websites dedicated to a phenomenon called “weight loss betting.” It’s a lot like betting on a horse race, except the betters are the horses and they control the outcome. Better yet, it’s legal, and you have the capacity to gain money while you lose weight.
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Welcome to the premiere episode of Vh1’s Money Hungry. My name is Josh Graston, and I’m one of the show’s contestants from the Team No Excuses and I will be your guide in this exclusive journey into the world of Bet Dieting. So, with no further adieu, I welcome you to VH1’s Money Hungry.

At the very start of the episode we see the bus loaded with all of the cast trying to make it up the driveway, and our driver Jimmy informing us that we were going to have to walk up the driveway. The cameras did not do the driveway justice, I am here to tell you it was quite steep.

Next we meet our host Dan Cortese. I was genuinely excited that we had a host that I actually recognized, although I kind of wanted a female host. Dan explains the way that our $10,000 entry fee for the show works. The final two teams each receive their entry fee back, with the winning team taking home EVERYONE else’s money, for a grand total of $100,000. Right before we head into the house Dan tells us if we break anything we own it, foreshadowing at its best.

Quickly Kaitlyn and Phillip get the party started with bodyshots, giving us our first glimpse at the amazing sound effects featured on the show. Dan Cortese shows up shortly after and we meet each of the teams and find out their team names.

Money Hungry Teams and Contestants:
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Weight loss as entertainment, it’s a hot trend in Hollywood right now. The leader being none other than NBC’s Biggest Loser, set to premiere in September its tenth season of competition-based weight loss.

With the weight loss industry being a multi-billion dollar one, fads are as plentiful as they are in music, fashion and other high-yielding industries. Bet dieting is another hot trend now; the idea being that it forces people to almost literally put their money where their mouths are.

So what happens when you’ve got bet dieting and weight loss entertainment as popular trends in the day of an obesity epidemic? You get VH1′s Money Hungry, a new weight loss competition premiering August 2, 2010 at 9/8c. The show will pit 12 pairs of overweight individuals against one another in a temptation-fueled competition where they each stand to lose a lot more than just weight.
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It is no surprise that money is a bigger motivation for many than their own health. It’s why the cost of fresh foods becomes an excuse why we don’t choose healthier foods. It is also why some people finally quit smoking when taxes are increased. There is even a prize for weight loss, like on the Biggest Loser (both for the finalists and the at-home winner).

Since the first season of the Biggest Loser, employees have gathered together to lose weight together, creating a pot for the participant that loses the weight. StickK is an online community that allows users to create commitment contracts for themselves and wager their own financial incentive. If they do not keep to the plan to which they committed, the money they wagered is given to a person or charity – often one to which they would not generally donate, what stickK calls “anti-charities.”

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