Start Your Own Biggest Loser Contest

Losing weight can be a great green thing to do. That's not breaking news. Losing weight often entails less consumption, more exercise, and a healthier lifestyle—as long as the weight loss is achieved properly. But losing weight isn't easy. It doesn't happen overnight and often times requires the support of others in order to be truly successful.

And that's part of the reason why contestants on NBC's Biggest Loser succeed in so many cases—they have a lot of support. So it makes sense that the small town of Fossil, Oregon recently created their own Biggest Loser type contest. And people are losing weight. Turns out, all a friendly intra-office weight-loss competition needed in order to involve 20% of the entire town (Fossil's population: around 450) was an article in the newspaper. Before the office workers knew it, townspeople were calling, asking if they could join in the weight loss competition.

Some people just need a reason to lose weight—besides the obvious reasons. A fun competition involving widespread support is a great reason to lose weight.

My challenge to you: Organize a weight-loss competition in your own town. Do whatever you need to get the ball rolling and encourage locals to join in on the fun. You may find that there are more people in your town interested in losing weight than you would have guessed. It's a great green thing to do—especially if you offer some green prizes to the winners. Who knows, maybe you could even get a local car dealership to donate a fuel-efficient car as a prize to the biggest loser. It's worth a shot, right?