Straight to the Bar

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HELPING YOU GET STRONGER SINCE 2004

Facebook Helps You Lose Weight? What!?!
Written By : Ferris Stith
Filed In : Articles
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Ok well Facebook doesn’t actually have any part of helping you lose weight, but last year, my best friend and I created a game that’s grown into somewhat of a movement within the social networking site and we think it’s pretty cool! It’s called Bikini Challenge 2011!
It all started last year when my best friend, Tara and I were looking for a way to really motivate us to lose weight and feel great in our bikinis. We had always tried to create games and challenges against each other, but nothing ever really stuck (we have the worst discipline), so we came up with a genius idea that we knew we’d never back down on… what was this genius idea you ask? It’s pretty simple actually.
In February 2010, we created a Facebook event (we called it Bikini Challenge 2010) and invited several of our friends who we knew wanted to lose weight as well. The challenge didn’t consist of much. Participants had until June 21st (the first day of Summer) to get fit, lose weight, etc. Then at midnight on D-Day (June 21st) each participant had to post a full length shot of them in their bikini and use it as their default pic on their Facebook profile for 24 hours. We also had the participants post the shots on the wall of our fan page. Anyone who didn’t post the bikini pic by 12:15 would have to pay $100 which would go into a pot and be split up evenly between all the participants who did post their pic. Since no one wanted to pay the $100 and no one wanted to post a “fat” bikini pic, the motivation was, well, pretty intense!

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The event was just meant to be a fun little game to help each other out and to give and gain support from others.


We started out with about 10 of our close friends and family and it grew to over 30 participants pretty much overnight! Needless to say it was a lot of fun and very successful. We received messages and comments from women all over the country telling us they had achieved fitness goals they’ve never been able to attain in the past. We were so thrilled to see how this little event had become quite an inspiring movement, so we decided; why not make this a yearly activity?
Bikini Challenge 2011 is now in effect and we want to invite you to join the movement! As I mentioned, it’s pretty simple to participate; only this year, we’re not doing the whole $100 penalty thing. The rules are very basic: You have until midnight of June 21st to get fit for this year’s bikini season, whatever that may be for you, whether it’s to lose weight, tone up, build muscle, etc. We know every body is different and everyone has their individual goals, we just want to help give you the inspiration, support and motivation to achieve them alongside like-minded peers!
We’d love for you to get in on the fun. All you have to do is “attend” the Bikini Challenge 2011 event on Facebook, it’s open to anyone. Come join us and make 2011 your happiest and healthiest year ever!

Over to you. Drop us a line on Twitter ( @scottbird ), or add a comment below.

Cheers.

 

NB : if you love talking about strength-training as much as I do, you might also like to check out the weekly newsletter (there's also a daily version available). A regular dose of fitness-focussed discussions, absolutely free.

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Written By Ferris Stith
Ferris Stith runs the annual Bikini Challenge, and is an author for Straight to the Bar.
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