Kmart Hosts 'New Day' Weight Loss Contest

Kmart's "New Day Your Way" rewards customers for losing weight

Ever since NBC's hit reality television show "The Biggest Loser" became such a runaway hit, everybody and their momma has been getting in on the action to help motivate people lose weight weight and get healthy by providing incentives for doing so. That's exactly what retail store chain Kmart is doing with their annual "New Day, Your Way" weight loss program and contest.

With so many people on a resolution to lose weight at the turn of the new year, Kmart wants to be there in 2007 to help their customers be successful at shedding the pounds and have some fun doing it, too. They have set up the official "New Day, Your Way" web site to offer support, health tips, and lots of rewards along the way for reaching your weight loss goals. Kmart will give away free or discounted products for those who succeed.


Renee Gugel lost 54 pounds as the Grand Prize winner in 2006

To participate, you must register and use this resource for accountability and motivation to keep it going. The best part of this program to me is the fact that they don't tell you HOW you need to lose the weight; they simply let you do it "your way." SWEET! That means you could do it livin' la vida low-carb, baby!

There is also a special "New Day, Your Way" contest where lucky contestants in the following metropolitan markets will have a chance at some fantastic CASH prizes and merchandise from Kmart (more about that in a moment).

Here are the participating cities:

Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, East Brunswick, NJ, Honolulu, HI, Long Island, NY, Los Angeles, Miami, New York City, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, San Francisco/Bay Area, San Juan, PR, Tampa, FL, Tamuning, Guam, Washington D.C., St. Louis, Virginia Beach and Salt Lake City

If you live in or around one of these cities and want to be considered for the contest, then click here to sign up! You will fill out a little bit about yourself and will be asked to submit a 50-word essay about why you want to lose weight in the "New Day, Your Way" contest. Contest entries will be judged based on how you answer the questions about yourself and the inspirational value of the essay.


Click on this video for more on the "New Day, Your Way" contest

There will be 10 total contestants chosen in each of the 19 markets who will participate in a 16-week weight loss competition and weigh-ins will take place in the pharmacy section at local participating Kmart stores. Every contestant will receive free product rewards from Kmart as they reach various bi-weekly weight loss milestones and there will be one finalist from each market who will receive a $100 Kmart gift card as well as become eligible for the various super prizes.

GRAND PRIZE: $10,000 cash, a total beauty makeover in New York City, $1,000 Kmart Gift Card, a treadmill and a three-year membership to Bally's Total Fitness

FIRST PRIZE: $5,000 cash, a total beauty makeover in New York City, a $500 Kmart Gift card, a treadmill and a one year membership to Bally Fitness

SECOND PRIZE: $2,500 cash, a total beauty makeover in New York City, a $250 Kmart Gift card, an elliptical machine, and a one year membership to Bally Fitness

THIRD PRIZE: $1,000 cash, a total beauty makeover in New York City, a $100 Kmart Gift card, an elliptical machine, and one year membership to Bally Fitness

Very nice prizes indeed and all for LOSING WEIGHT--YOUR WAY! :)

The sponsors for the "New Day, Your Way" program include Bally's Total Fitness, Slimfast/Unilever, Bell Fitness, Hanes, ICON Health & Fitness, Johnson & Johnson, Loreal, Procter & Gamble, Maybelline, Hamilton Beach, the American Diabetes Association and Vanity Fair magazine.

Please read the Official Contest Rules for further details.

Interestingly, since Slimfast is one of the sponsors, they highly encourage contestants to use the on-line Slim-Fast Virtual Weight Loss Center and the Slim-Fast Buddy system with advice from registered dietitians. There will also be periodic calls from a Slim-Fast Weight Loss Advisor and will be asked to follow the Slim-Fast Optima Diet, track their food intake weekly using the online Food Diary, track their activity weekly using the online Activity Log, weigh themselves weekly and record their weights using the online Weight Chart, and have bi-weekly “check-ins” with their Slim-Fast Weight Loss Advisor during the contest. But they do say you can lose weight "your way" so I wouldn't worry about this too much.

I'm glad they make it abundantly clear that contestants should "not use Slim-Fast as the sole source of nutrition" and that they should "eat at least 1,200 calories a day." Kudos to Kmart for making that clear to everyone up front!

If you are interested in participating in Kmart's "New Day, Your Way" weight loss contest, then you must complete the online registration no later than this Saturday, January 20, 2007. Finalists will be chosen in mid-February and it will run through June 2007. GOOD LUCK TO EVERYONE WHO ENTERS! Let me know if you are selected as one of the ten contestants in your market. It's time to put some feet to that desire to lose weight!