I answer a lot of emails on this blog, but I gotta say – this guy wins the award for stumping me ;) How nice it would be to get paid for doing something we’re already supposed to be doing anyways! Imagine if we got paid to save or invest or even pay off debt?? (Oh wait… interest, 401(k) matches/compounding, interest again).
I don’t work out nearly as much myself as I want to, but if someone were dangling a Benjamin in my face you can bet your ass I’d be out that door before even finishing this post. Do you know how rich we’d all be if we solved such a dilemma come New Years??? We’d be swimming in money!
And this, dear readers, is why I bumped out my original post for you today and plugged in this spicy riddle instead. It’s the ultimate priority now and we must pull our resources together to make it happen STAT. You want to be swimming in piles of cash along with me, right? Be the younger, sexier version of Scrooge McDuck? It would make for a work out all in itself! (Wait a second…. are we onto something here??) I don’t know how we’re going to do it, but you’re not allowed off that computer until it’s worked out, kapish?
Here’s the email our reader friend sent in:
J-
I would like to lose some weight but I loathe working out. I mean, really, there are better things in life to occupy my time. I’ve had plenty of physical adventures (hiked the Appalachian Trail, biked across the country) in which required physical activity, but there was always a goal attached to the “working out” part.
I home school my kids so I’m home many a day. You can imagine how sedative this lifestyle is. I have a bike on an indoor trainer but get so bored cycling in place. I’m not about to go spend money on a treadmill.
If I weren’t interested in managing money, I wouldn’t be reading your blog or writing for advice. So here is my thought. I would like to make money by losing weight. I’m goal oriented so there has to be an end game with money attached. Any ideas on how to start? Is there a way to sucker my insurance company somehow? Are there programs out there already?
What do you think? Am I just an undisciplined person?
I jest above in fun, but truth is – whoever can find a way to make money off something we all suck at deserves genius status right away. Anyone can make dough by utilizing their skills (*ahem* side hustling *ahem* cutting down bills), but earning some bucks off our shortfalls? That’s un-chartered waters, my friends. And while perhaps, yes, a clean bill of health is reward in itself for most people (I plead the 5th), it’s still something that needs to be solved whether financially rewarded or not.
I told Johnny B. Clever up there (that’s my pet name for him) that I don’t have a solution for him quite yet, but I did have a few youtube videos that help get me in action whenever I take the time to actually schedule it in. What we really need though is a way for babies to sleep all through the night and never get sick or cost a penny forever and ever and ever – pretty please?? I may or may not be half-delusional right now trying to type all this ou….zzzz…
This is the video that almost always does the trick:
You might remember it from my resolution last year to become more like an adult, and it’s apparently based off science and supposed to be just as good as “prolonged endurance training,” just in a shorter amount of time (it’s pretty intense covering 12 different exercises in 7 mins). I don’t know if it’s as good for losing weight as it is for just getting the heart rate pumping every day, but I read about it in The New York Times and get a kick out of telling people so just because it makes me feel smarter :)
The other videos I like to exercise to are from this dude, and I usually supplement the above w/ ’em.
None of this helps you make any money (although it also doesn’t cost you any either – they’re free!), but perhaps it would make it more fun to do? Listening to hip hop/crazy music and working out in short bursts of time? Trying not to die before the videos end are pretty goal-oriented enough for me – hah.
The only route I thought could be somewhat do-able is getting sponsored by a fitness company to blog/tweet/make videos/etc on behalf of them. But that would require not only having an audience to convince them enough to pay you, but also doing job-like stuff in the process. And if you think working out is hard enough already, try then sitting in front of a computer for hours afterwards telling all your followers about it! There’s plenty of other ways to make money faster, and usually for a lot more too…
I do have a way to *spend* money to help with motivation though ;) It’s called Stickk.com and you pretty much tell them where to send your money if you don’t do what you say you’re gonna do, haha… For example, you can have them send your money to a friend, to a charity, or – even better – an anti-charity (an organization you hate! Say, to the Republicans or Democrats!). They claim putting money on the line ups your chances of success by 3x and I totally believe it. Wouldn’t you follow through if you were being forced to support something that goes against your values?
After emailing Johnny B. all of these non-helpful tips above, he sent me back the following which I also got a lot of amusement out of:
Really, if you think about it Jenny Craig isn’t an inspiration. She is a business. A business that profits when I do all the work. Tell me exactly why should I be paying her to eat her food?. Ass backwards if you ask me. You want to make me part of your experiment, then pay me. BAM! And that goes for all the other weight loss boondoggles!
I can’t say I follow him there, haha, but it did remind me of a dissertation one of my friends forced upon me years ago on why car companies should be paying US for advertising their brands all over the place. His theory is that we already shell out thousands of dollars to purchase their vehicles off them, so why should we then be forced to advertise on their behalf *for free* wherever we drive?
He wanted to start a campaign to remove all logos from cars to make it more “fair” to us consumers. And if they wanted to continue branding their cars as-is, that would be fine provided they mailed us a check every month ;) So that’s a way to get paid just to drive! (See also: Uber/Lyft)
Anyways, back to the task at hand: How can we get paid to lose weight and stay motivated? What do you guys do for work outs and/or money gathering? Can’t we just combine the two? ;)
Yes we want to help our fellow reader Johnny B. here, but more importantly we want to become filthy rich help all of mankind never have to mark “exercise more” on their NY’s Resolutions again. So if you don’t do it for him, do it for the rest of us! Harness that brain power of yours and let’s get to scheming!
——-
PS: Later on the agenda: how to get paid to breathe, how to pay off your mortgages by sneezing, and my personal favorite – how to turn toilet deposits into savings deposits. You won’t want to miss it!
[Weird exercise photo by sanchom]
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There’s also Pact (FKA Gympact). I’ve been using it for a couple of years now and earn a small amount of money each week for hitting exercise commitments I set.
+1
I was going to suggest this too, but you beat me to it :)
I was going to suggest that too!
+1 I started using Pact this year after Mrs PoP recommended it – very worth it. I think I have about $70 in the account for the year – and all I have to do is log my food with MFP 6 days a week and walk over 10k steps 3 days a week to “Earn” it. But it’s a bit of a hit ($10) when I don’t walk 10k 3 times per week and $5 for not logging my food. It definitely has been motivating!
Interesting! Thx guys – never heard of this one before.
+3? +4? Great way to get it to cover part of your gym cost. Every dollar helps, right?
Jay
Pact is awesome. I get between $1.60-$2 a week. It has forced me to go on a walk for my lunch breaks because if I don’t they’ll charge me $5 a missed day :P Much easier to get motivated to workout when you know that you’ll be charged not to.
Losing weight = Good diet + Exercise. If Johnny B hates working out, then perhaps he can focus more on the diet and nutrition part. For the making money part he could start a website. The idea would be for JB to photograph or video himself each day and write a short a post about what he plans to eat and how that will help improve his diet. Healthy living and weight loss testimonial blogs are huge all over the Internet. Once the site starts gaining some traction, the money will come.
Healthywage.com for starters!
Coaching! For 6 years I coached a high school baseball team, and not only did I get a 2 hour workout 5 days/week, I also got paid to do something I loved. There are so many options, depending on your preference for workout: traditional team sports, leading a group learning to jog or nordic walk, lead hiking groups, teach bicycle safety courses, run weekly PE classes for other homeschooled children…the possibilities are endless.
Hiking one seems like it may be up his ally :)
A healthy body is just as important as a healthy bank account, if not more so. There are flexible jobs we can find, such as dog walking that will give us some good exercise.☺ We could also do runs for charity, which would cover our charitable donations for the year. This let’s us save money by relying less on our earned income to meet our donation goals.
Beeminder.com is another great source for motivation – goals with teeth! I haven’t beeminded working out yet though.
I’m intrigued. Ok I don’t have an answer exactly, but, I do have somewhat of a solution to the motivation thing–get a job(ish) at a gym.
I work two shifts a week (one of which is taking out the trash, the other of which is working the front desk) at my yoga studio in exchange for free heated yoga classes. Since I have to go to my shifts, I then also go to a class. It’s sort of a double incentive–I’m already there since I have to “work” and the class is free anyway, so I do it. This strategy obviously doesn’t make me any money, but I don’t loose any dough either and it keeps me going to yoga consistently.
Very smart move.
The funny thing about the Jenny Craig reference is that these companies pay celebrities millions to lose weight so they can be “spokesmen” for the company so that you and me sign up and pay them. It is backwards!
I know of a few apps that have you pay in if you don’t workout, but none that actually pay you. I would have to say the only thing I can think of is starting a fitness blog. Take a starting pic and then post about your diet and routine each day. Slowly that will build up and money will come.
Not sure where he works, but many companies now offer wellness programs and the insurance company will give you discounts or bonuses when your BMI is a certain level. I have a client who just got $100 from her company for hitting that healthy number. As someone who used to be 50 pounds heavier, I would say that he should lose weight to save himself which in turn is making money because bad health habits only cost more health bills down the road.
This is exactly what I was going to say! My company is switching to an outcomes-based health care plan where we will receive credits for meeting certain biometric targets (BMI, blood sugar, blood pressure, etc.) that can be used to offset our health insurance costs.
http://Www.Dietbet.com …lose the weight, win the money. Different goals so you don’t have to get crazy. You do have to put in cash but only the winners get cash back and that’s how you make money.
Awesome, thx!
http://www.dietbetter.com/
–this site incentivizes you to lose weight: you contribute $$ to a pot with a specific group, and if at the end of a set period of time you can demonstrate you’ve lost the weight, you split the pot with the other “winners.” If you don’t make your goal, you lose your cash.
So it’s only getting paid to work out if you actually do the working out and lose the weight, but still!
There are some weight lost products that offer challenges if you lose weigh in certain periods of time and can earn money, but you have to buy their product. Sounds like a blog detailing his fitness/weight loss goal might be the way to go.
When I was really into tennis, I got payed to teach little kids (not a work out), and to be a hitting partner (a major workout).
You could consider being a beach body coach or selling vitamins which would require you to have an instagram ready body:
http://www.sidehustlenation.com/growing-a-4k-a-month-business-in-an-hour-a-day/
$4k a month biz too – just checked that out. Nick’s always featuring some bad ass hustles on his site.
I have nothing to add re losing weight for money, BUT I will give my two cents about losing weight in general (I lost 28lbs a few years ago) — it’s 80% what you eat and 20% exercise. Focus on the food is much more important than the exercise. The exercise only works and helps once the diet is under control and supportive of losing weight… Good luck!!
Working out pays off in healthcare costs. A little outdated, but I’m sure the numbers have only grown…
“A study in the October issue of “The Physician and Sportsmedicine” found that physically active individuals had lower annual direct medical costs than did inactive people. The cost difference was $330 per person, based on 1987 dollars.
The potential savings if all inactive American adults became physically active could be $29.2 billion in 1987 dollars, or $76.6 billion in 2000 dollars.”
Attaching workouts to other goals and feats also helps- for me, training for the marathon was major motivation. Now, all the motivation I need is how amazing I feel afterwards. Seriously, cardio is the ultimate anxiety reducer.
I am sure there are plenty of weight loss studies going on at any one time. Participating in research sometimes pays. For example, my wife is a Type I diabetic. UCLA is doing a study on the children of Type I diabetics. Since our son was born in 2005, he has received payment for participating in this study. Right around his birthday every year he has some blood drawn and gets paid $50. They’re trying to see if having a diabetic parent increases the risk that a child will develop Type I diabetes. They also send him t-shirts and other stuff.
Become a referee for either soccer or basketball. But not for baseball or football, you don’t run enough. I started refereeing youth soccer games – which pay between $20 – $60 a game. You get more money and more exercise if you are the Center referee. I have made up to $300/weekend by refereeing during a tournament, and you are exhausted at the end. Too tired to spend any of the money you earn.
You can easily add $500/month without killing yourself, but still get plenty of exercise. And if you want to get “paid to run” during the week, then pick up High School and Middle School games – which pay about $35-$45 per game.
It is a great job for owning your schedule and getting paid cash in hand. The downside are the parents and coaches. You have to have thick skin.
My 16 year old son is funding a Roth IRA by refereeing – he adds about $1000/year since he was 14 and still has plenty of spending money for car and going out. And no boss to boot.
You’re raising a smart kid :)
This email is funny, and a bit out there. I like some of the answers above to kind of solve this guys problem, but this is a tough one. Maybe you can put a 100 dollar bill in a glass frame in your work out room, once you complete 10 workouts you can break the glass and spend it on any indulgence you like.
I know my health insurance gives you $200 every 6 months if you go to the gym 60 times. The idea is that it offsets the costs of your gym membership, but I found a gym that was $99 for the whole year, so… if I hadn’t failed miserably at this, I could’ve made $301.
What? Really? That’s a great incentive by health insurance! I wonder how they track it? Would suck if you liked to exercise at home or by running outside/etc…
I read something about a weight loss challenge where the person who lost the most weight got paid.. but why not start small and just get a paper route? Then walk to drop off the papers. I used to have a friend who did that to get paid to get some exercise. Plus your reader can get the kids out there to help.
Lots of ways to get paid to workout:
Teach a fitness class: yoga, aerobics, martial arts, anything!
Work at a gym (at my gym I know they get a free membership and are given 10 hr shifts: 8 hrs work with 2 hrs to workout)
Become a coach: show your students how it’s done and motivate them by joining in
Become a personal trainer: Motivate your clients by working out along side them
Health Coaching: one of my friends is really into the whole Insanity / Beachbody / Px-90 stuff right now and as a coach you get commissions and free trips and some insane extra cash. Seems like a pyramid scheme to me but she IS getting paid to get into shape!
.
I want to second two of the ideas already listed. Beachbody Coach — I made $10,000 in two years doing almost nothing as a coach. I got in early, I do not know if the pay out to work ratio is the same now. The video’s are good workout video’s. And be a coach, I have trained people in my basement with mostly homemade equipment. My wife still trains one of my old clients. Some people want to workout in a private atmosphere.
Also, being healthy will save you a fortune in healthcare costs over the long run. Had a patient this morning complain about his $147.00/month Type 2 Diabetes medication. Being fit pays!! If we are all going to be fabulously rich after saving and earning all the $$’s, you need to be healthy enough to enjoy it!! Just finished my workout, how about you?
While it’s not exactly getting paid to work out, my Crossfit box participates in the Sweat Angels program, which takes box check-ins and turns them into donations for the charity of the month. (This month it’s gifts for kids with cancer). And it sounds silly, but the drive to get our box in the top 10 NATIONWIDE is a pretty good motivator to go work out. As they say at the box, the hardest thing people have to do is show up. http://sweatangels.sojo.com/leaderboard (We’re Crossfit Protocol, #16 currently).
I think there are a quite a few apps out there that allow you to make money with fitness/weight loss goals- Fit Bet is the one that comes to mind. If you win your “bet”, you win money. It’s worth a look!
JD’s idea on coaching is brilliant – and in most cases (at least in schools) the practices are every day. For public little leagues, it’s at least a few times a week, and who says you can’t get out there and run laps with your athletes? (And you get PAID!)
I also LOVE Stefanie’s point about the money regular workouts actually SAVE you. You don’t have to spend anything to workout (beyond basic athletic shoes or a cheap yoga mat) and doing so saves money on both basic medicine and reduced doctor visits.
I studied yoga in India, and one of the masters I studied underneath was talking about balancing a life requiring a busy work schedule to pay our bills and doing 1-1.5 hours of yoga every morning. He admitted that sure, you might be able to make a lot of money in that 1-1.5 hours each day, but if you don’t look after your body, where does that money go? To the doctor (or the drugstore).
On a personal note, I’ve found that momentum trumps will power almost every single time. So once I put in the will power to build up a light 1-1.5 hour workout every morning, the momentum behind it and the motivation of how much better I’ll feel after it is what keeps me going rather than my willpower to get out of bed. (Because let’s be honest, who has the willpower to do that on a cold winter morning? – It also probably helps that the workout is light, not too heavy. I can’t imagine I could wake up and run 5 miles right of the bat, but I can handle the Ashtanga sequence.)
Wow, you’ve lived a cultured life! I hope you blog about a lot of these experiences on your site – really fascinating to read :)
Hehe…I feel this way about many things. Pay me to wash the dishes! Pay me to cook meals! etc. etc. I am loving the dietbet.com suggestion that a couple of people mentioned. I think I’m going to try that myself.
I’m another person that’s heard of Dietbet.com. My friend just lost a 6 week bet and had to cough up $25. If she had met the 5% weight loss goal, she would have received $75 based on how many people in the group failed the bet.
This may have been mentioned, but the health insurance provider we used once upon a time would cover the cost of our health club membership if we went to the club at least twelve times per month. That’s sort of like getting paid to work out. (Although–and of course I never did this ;)–all you really had to do was walk in the door, check in, and walk out. No workout actually required!)
Also, here’s the big payoff: Maintain good health through diet and exercise, and you’ll save HUGE money over your lifetime in health related costs! Just ask some of your not-so-healthy friends what they’re paying for insurance, medication, co-pays, etc. I find that motivating!
I love Diet Bet. I am currently doing a 6 month bet, but did a 4 week one in the past. You put into a “pot” and bet that you’ll reach your goal, 4% loss for the 4 week and 10% loss for the 6 month one.
I more than doubled my money from $25 to $55 in the 4 week one, and hope to double my money in the 6 month one. A friend of mine put in $150 and won $310, equating to a profit of $160 during her 6 month bet. It is great if you are working to lose a bit of weight!
Nice! You guys are killing it!
1. Get a side hustle doing something physical like being a bike courier or a track coach.
2. If you qualify, go on the Biggest Loser and win.
3. Work out on your own and your improved physical fitness will save you money on healthcare and you won’t be creating negative externalities for other people who pay for health insurance. With the current obesity epidemic, the laziest and least fit people in the U.S. are drastically INCREASING the cost of healthcare for everyone, which is a major financial bummer for those of us who stay healthy and fit.
This is a great way to find motivation. I’ve lost 20lbs with the Loaded Gun Diet, and the only reason I didn’t achieve my goad (30lbs) is I didn’t have the motivation to run or swim or something else.
I should look into these suggestions too. I actually have finally found something I like to do for working out (Crossfit), but it’s damned expensive. If I could find a way to earn a little bit by doing my 3x/week workouts, etc. that would be awesome!
Back when I was working, the company would cover half my fitness costs. Sorta?
I have a family member in basic training now, he was just bragging that he gets paid to jump over walls. Close?
Here we go. Fatbet.net. You get put in a group and you all pool your money. When you get your target, you get your cut. Convince everyone else to go out for ice cream and you could have a real money maker.
become a fitness instructor!
Reward points are given by companies like Walgreens for working out. These points can be used to get products. There is no fee for participating.
I want to run my own ‘biggest loser’ contest in work after New Years. As example, $50 to enter, hopefully many join, everyone weighs in, set an end date. On the last day is the weigh-in, the person who lost the biggest PERCENTAGE of weight wins! I’d be very motivated.
Do it! Just let the boss win at the end – hah.
What a great idea: monetizing a healthy lifestyle! I think that there are many teachers of traditional martial arts, mental toughness, and personal growth that do that.
You lose weight by eating less calories that your body uses on average per day. Eating less calories = less food = more $$$. Also, losing weight has a long term financial benefit of fewer health problems which is less money spend on medical expenses.
Your health is more important than your finances, that is all the motivation you should need to get started :)
J$,
Getting paid for what you love to do. A great idea, and exactly why I’m so blessed to be able to write for a living.
But I’m also a fitness enthusiast. I studied to be a personal trainer way back in the day, when I was a competitive bodybuilder. The pay is pretty solid and the hours are very flexible once you have some clients under your name. That could definitely kill two birds with one stone, as you work out alongside your clients, get paid to do so, and you’re more motivated than ever to get in shape…because who wants to hire an out-of-shape personal trainer?
Best regards.
Well – even if Johnny B. Clever doesn’t like the ideas I sure learned a tidbit or two that I might use. After the holidays I’m gonna join “dietbet.” :) I am also going to check with my husband to see if his work insurance has health club benefits. I can’t even believe that I never asked because I’m usually all over that! I’ll have to smack myself on the forehead V-8 style if I find out we were full-paying for nothing!
But back to Johnny B. Question 1:How much money would be sufficiently motivating for Johnny B to lose weight? Question 2. After said weight lost is he gonna need weight maintenance money? :) I don’t know why, but I don’t see Johnny B getting terribly excited about the health club reimbursement simply due to the amount. :) The coaching and teaching a class ideas others suggested are great ideas. Is that enough money to motivate?
i liked M.E.’s idea of the Biggest Loser depending on how much Johnny has to lose. Millions of people watching. Large monetary prize. Potential for ongoing sponsorships depending on how the winner spins it. That’s kinda motivating.
I say invent your own Pancercise “craze” (see the most awesome video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-50GjySwew). It seems the inventor has created an entire business from it – go her! Great. Now I’ll be spending the rest of the day trying to figure out how >I< can invent the next Prancercise. Thanks, Jonny B. Clever and J$. :)
Yes, good points, my friend. Working out in exchange for $10 would be drastically different than working out for $100, eh? And funny about the “weight maintenance” money ;) I didn’t do my research!
Has anyone mentioned AchieveMint yet? AchieveMint.com is a site where you can link your fitness apps and get points for exercise/healthy habits. Get a certain amount of points and they send you a $25 visa gift card. The apps I’ve linked are mapmywalk, water habit, and fat secret. I generally earn about 700-800 pts/week for activities I’m doing anyway. Every 25,000 points gets you $25. It’s slow going, but motivating. You can link your fitbit too if you have one. I’m about halfway to my second gift card now.
Boom! Now we just have to hope this trend comes to the United States! =D
“New Chinese Profession: ‘Jogging Buddy'”
http://www.runnersworld.com/general-interest/new-chinese-profession-jogging-buddy
You know, having someone show up at my house to force me to jog would certainly do wonders! I get so bored going out by myself! (I’d have to pay them a little extra to talk with me the whole time ;))
I’ll give it a shot…or 3!
Idea 1: I would say be a personal trainer, but obviously that wouldn’t work for someone who needs the motivation to do it in the first place.
Idea 2: He could join the military! haha. That’s what I did. I get paid while I’m at PT 5 days a week, plus the gym is 100% free to use.
Idea 3: This is probably the most doable one for him…If he wants to make a huge life change, he could start taking basically taking bets from everyone he knows. Say he was going to lose 50 pounds in 1 year or something like that. I’m sure he could get enough people to either agree to giving him a small amount of money upon completing it (which could add up to a lot) or…he could take the actual bet route, where he would get the money if he did it, but he would have to pay if he didn’t. Of course, the goal would have to be reasonable in the first place.
Yes, the military would do the trick pretty fast ;)
I’m another “Diet Better.” They let you do up to 3 bets at a time, and I usually make between $15-20 profit on the bets I win. I haven’t lost yet! The $$ part of it is very motivating for me.
While this isn’t exactly getting PAID to work out, if you load the kids into a cargo bike like this one ( http://www.virtuebike.com/bicycles/2014-virtue-schoolbus-0 ) and ride it instead of driving three miles to the store or the park, you’ll be getting exercise and saving money on gas and wear on the car. You can pop the groceries in there, stop by the library, and get some really great fresh air and exercise. Oddly enough, the kids just love it – if I ask the toddler if he wants to go in the bike, he’ll stop mid-tantrum to say “yeah!!!”. And it fills that “exercise as a means to an end” need that you have (I do too) – you’d be riding for a reason instead of spinning on the highway to nowhere. If you get the rain cover for the cargo compartment and dress the kids warm, they stay comfortable even in the winter.
That looks so awesome!!! I WANT PLEASE!!!
It’s wicked awesome. It moves better than you might think, too – it’s geared well, so it doesn’t feel as heavy as it looks.
Pretty much everyone I know who gets really “into” working out becomes a part-time (or full-time) personal trainer. It’s not for everyone, though, and definitely not for someone who just wants to get in shape (ideally for as little time commitment as possible). This one has me stumped. I suppose you could do some work on a tablet or phone while on the elliptical? Haha not sure.
weight loss is easy:
Eat less than 150 grams of carbs a day
Do the 12 minute Body by Science workout ONCE a week
Buy a $10 pedometer and make sure you walk 10,000 steps a day.
I dare you to try it for 30 days and prove me wrong.
The money you save in the cardiac bypass is your financial reward
As a teenager I had a job taking care of horses. Feeding, taking them to the paddocks and cleaning out their boxes. Cleaning out those boxes was hard work, but I would listen to music and talk to the horses.
Never before or since have I been in a better shape than during those years. My arms were huge, and the pay was pretty good as well :-)
Only thing that comes to mind is the song “I work out. When I walk in the spot, this is what I see. Everybody stops and they staring at me.” Absolutely not helpful for the question at all.
Getting paid to workout? Simple – Duh! Just enlist in the Navy as a SEAL.
As a son of a Marine, it seemed like all my dad ever DID was work out! Still wakes up at 4am every morning to run/work out after being retired for a dozen years already. Hoo-rah.
You should film yourself working out, and make it into a Youtube instructional video to help others lose weight, that way it turns into a goal too as you seem to be goal orientated. (The goal being to help as many others as you can, and using the monetization from google adsense on your videos you will earn money too!) You can use google adsense to monetize your videos and make money that way. Hope this helps! As a frame of reference I have been a youtuber since 2009 and have just made $1000 this month :)
Insurance company pays you to keep fit.
http://www.wired.com/2014/12/oscar-misfit/
Here are a few things I can think of. Number 1: get certified in something and teach a course at your local gym. You will be motivated to work out because you will be the one teaching, and you will get paid for teaching. Number 2 (and this one is a bit out there and probably unlikely): I wonder if anyone would pay you to be their workout buddy. Lots of people don’t want to work out alone, but it’s hard to motivate people to work out with you. If the workout buddy (you) was getting paid to be there and work out with them, then you would both be more motivated to work out. Not sure how you’d set this one up there or if there are even people that would be willing to pay for a workout buddy, but it was a random thought that popped into my head while reading the blog today.
How about joining marathons and aiming for the grand prize? :)
You may not earn money by exercising but you are in fact saving money by doing so. The additional health benefits from working out and making your health better are saving you from having to visit the doctor with the added health issues of being overweight. Instead of finding a way to take money from an insurance company, think about saving the dollars before they leave your pocket by not having to pay deductibles and co-pays :). For each dollar you DON’T spend, you’re effectively making that + whatever tax (state income, federal income, etc) you’d be paying on each of those dolla dolla bills you earned, making it even better than earning more!
This idea usually appeals more to the teens, but still: offer to walk / jog with people’s dogs for a modest fee. Here’s why you should consider it, even as an adult:
1. there’s definitely a need for the service, because I, for one, have paid someone to take my dog on good long walks before. As someone who works at times over 60 hours a week, I don’t always have time. And even when I do, I’d still dish out $10 for an extra run/walk to keep my canine best friend happy. I know many others who would do the same.
2. Dogs are great exercise companions – they never complain.
3. You can do it together with your kids.
4. Regularly Walking / Jogging / Running Definitely helps lose weight.
Hey, I have that 7 min app on my tablet – same graphics but no crazy music! Not sure it’s gotten me any fitter but you get pretty good upper body from doing the push ups etc.
Great minds :)
I’m currently getting paid to work out. I took a seasonal job as a UPS delivery driver. I work 12 hour days and my fitbit tells me I’m walking 8-10 hours per day. It is 3 steps into and out of the truck for every delivery and there is the lifting / carrying as well. Since December 1st I’ve gone from 204 to 188 pounds and made $5000.
Body by UPS!
That should be 8-10 miles per day.
Damn son! Way to go!!
What happens now that the holidays are over? Or does it actually last a while longer with returns being sent all over? ;)
If you have a step tracker, both ShopYourWay (Kmart/Sears) and Walgreens offer rewards.
I subscribe to this newsletter, it includes an article about how to make money while losing weight. They are not high revenue options, but there are options out there, http://realwaystoearnmoneyonline.com/2015/01/5-ways-to-get-paid-for-losing-weight-this-year.html