The Biggest Loser Club



	Buddy Challenge Overview \| Starting a Buddy Challenge \| Joining a Buddy Challenge

How to Start Your Own Buddy Challenge

Step 1: Initial Preparation

To start (or join) a Buddy Challenge, you first need to be part of a Buddy network. More

Before you organize and start your own Buddy Challenge, it's a good idea to check your Buddy list to see how many of your Buddies are already participating in Challenges—you'll see a little green 'buddy' icon next to their picture on your Buddy list. Remember, a Club member can only participate in one Buddy Challenge at a time.

Also, remember that members on your Buddy list have their own Buddy lists, too (and some of their Buddies may not be on your list). So, you may want to send a message to the Buddies on your list to let them know you're planning to start a Buddy Challenge. That way, any of your Buddies who want to start—or join—a Challenge will know your plans, and you and your Buddies can coordinate who will do what so that there's no duplication of effort or confusion.

In addition to the above, consider the following when you are getting ready to start a challenge:

Do you want to initiate a Buddy Challenge, or join an existing Challenge that one of your Buddies may have already started?
How long do you want your Buddy Challenge to last?
Who do you want to invite from your Buddy list?

Step 2: Choose Your Buddies You Want to Invite to Participate

When you've made the decisions above in Step 1, click the "Challenge Central" tab in the member site's main top navigation bar to begin setting up your Buddy Challenge!

The site will walk you through the process of setting up your Buddy Challenge. First, you'll select Buddies from your list you want to participate (Buddies already participating in a Challenge will be grayed out, and can't be selected/invited).

After you've selected your available Buddies to invite, click the "Done" button to continue.

Step 3: Choose When Your Buddy Challenge will Start and End

After you've selected the available Buddies from your list to invite to your Buddy Challenge, you'll choose the start and end date/duration for your Challenge. You should choose a start date that's far enough in advance to give the Buddies you invite time to accept or decline your invitation, and, if Buddies decline, you'll have time to invite more Buddies.

It's also a good idea to send a follow up message to Buddies who accept the Challenge invite to confirm the start date (though you can always change the start and/or end date later).

You'll also select whether or not to display weight loss data on the Buddy Challenge home page that'll be created when you've set up your Challenge—specifically, a list of all of the participating Buddies, as well as a leaderboard that shows and ranks each Buddy's weight loss percentage (with actual pounds lost, too) throughout the life of the Challenge.


	Step 4: Send Your Buddy Challenge Invitations Once you've chosen the start and end dates for your Challenge, click "Prepare Challenge Invitation." This will display a pop up with the message that will be sent to your selected Buddies inviting them to participate.



	The Buddies you invite will receive the invitation in their personal "Message Center" on the site, and will click to tell you whether they've accepted or declined your invitation (you'll receive these notifications in your "Message Center" on the site). If not all of the Buddies you invite are able to participate, don't worry—you can always invite more Buddies!



	Then, Manage Your Buddy Challenge! Whenever you start and organize your own Buddy Challenge, you are essentially the leader and motivator for participating Buddies. How much you actually do to manage the challenge and support and motivate participants is up to you, but here are suggested tasks you can undertake. All of these tasks can be completed from the Buddy Challenge home page, which will be displayed when you click the "Challenge Central" tab in the top global navigation bar: Change the duration (start and end date) of a Buddy Challenge Choose whether or not to display weight loss data and rankings on the Buddy Challenge home page Invite new Buddies to participate in the Challenge Remove Buddies from the list of participants if they quit the Challenge End a Buddy Challenge You can also use the site's "message" feature to send regular messages to Challenge participants (either specific participants, or all participants)—for example, info on when the weigh-in day is, reminders to weigh-in, general Challenge updates, motivational messages, etc. At the same time, Challenge participants will be able to send messages to you using the site's message feature.

The content and other information presented on the site are for educational purposes only. The content is not intended as a substitute for medical counseling. Before starting this or any other diet or fitness program, consult your physician to determine if our diet and fitness program is right for your needs. Do not start The Biggest Loser Club online program if your physician or health care provider advises against it. The Biggest Loser Club reserves the right to refuse or cancel your membership if we determine that you have or if you inform us that you have certain medical conditions.