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!

Consumer Reports Skews Atkins Benefits

This Associated Press story is all over the place today heralding a new rating of the top diets in America according to the June issue of Consumer Reports magazine out today.

Do I even need to tell you what they think of livin' la vida low-carb?

The top two diets according to Consumer Reports is the meetings-based low-fat program Weight Watchers and the high-sugar shakes and bars plan Slim Fast.

The rating were determined by the amount of weight participants lost, nutritional content of the foods that were eaten, the diet's ease of use and the length of time partipants stuck with the diet.

Weight Watchers got the highest overall marks, but Slim-Fast was found to be the best weight loss program for losing weight, according to Consumer Reports.

I used to be on Slim-Fast way back when. It was an okay diet, but you quickly get tired of sucking down those nasty-tasting bars after a while. Talk about boring, this was the epitome of boring, regardless of the new flavors they would come out with. It was certainly easy and you can lose weight on it, but it's not something that can realistically be done over the long haul like low-carb.

Speaking of the low-carb lifestyle, Consumer Reports applauds it as a great "short-term weight loss" program, but lambastes it for failing to help participants retain their weight loss and for providing poor nutrition. Additionally, the Atkins lifestyle is criticized for having too much fat and saturated fat, too few fruits, too little fiber and that it "might have a negative effect on some dieters' health."

Here we go again! While I not only used Atkins to lose my 180 pounds in 2004, I have been using it as a weight maintenance program for the past 5 months and have held steady ever since. I have eaten many of the same great-tasting foods I ate during my weight loss with a few additional carbs than I used to eat.

I get excellent nutritional content from the fruits and vegetables I consume and have never felt more energetic in my entire life. As for fiber, I'm eating so much fiber now I can't stay out of the bathroom! Okay, maybe it's not that bad, but fiber is a crucial element for people doing a low-carb lifestyle.

As for fat, I wrote about a new study earlier today that proves restricting your fat intake is not only unhealthy for you, but it will make you fatter! The focus on fat in the United States as a main contributor to the obesity problem has been exposed, and it appears the real story is the myth that says you can lose weight by restricting fat grams. That idea's gone bye-bye now!

This whole idea that low-carb is only for the short-term and lacks nutrition is unfounded. There is no evidence that backs up this repeated lie. There are millions upon millions of people like you and me who can attest to the improvements in our weight and health as a result of livin' la vida low-carb!

An Atkins spokesperson said this Consumer Reports study only examined the first stage or two of their weight loss program and ignored the nutritional approach advocated and promoted in the third and fourth phase where maintenance is encouraged and there is greater flexibility in the plan.

I thought it was interesting that the magazine based its conclusions on "clinical research on each diet," "a nutrient and calorie analysis" of the foods eaten and "how closely they follow federal dietary guidelines."

Well, of course the Atkins approach did terrible with this as the criteria for rating it! With all the negativity about the low-carb lifestyle out there, do you think the "clinical research" is going to look highly on this way of eating. And as for the "nutrient and calorie analysis," these aren't as important when you are doing low-carb as they are when you are on a low-carb/low-calorie diet. Finally, the low-carb lifestyle certainly does not adhere to the "federal dietary guidelines" recommended by the government. Is it any wonder why low-carb was at the bottom of this list of diets?!

The conclusion made by Consumer Reports Senior Editor Nancy Metcalf is that any weight loss and maintenance program needs to be something that people can stick with over the long-term.

And that's why we've chosen to be livin' la vida low-carb, Ms. Metcalf! It is indeed something we can do to lose weight and to keep it off for good.