Losing weight, a sure bet

John Hamaski tried a lot of things to lose weight but nothing really worked. The 38-year-old lawyer from San Francisco began several diets and enlisted in a gym. "It didn't work, I just stayed fat." Hamaski, who is about 1.56m tall and weighed 84kg, suffered from obesity.

What saved Hamaski just in time was Fatbet.net. In February he and five friends bet on losing 9.9kg in eight weeks. "I became very competitive, it was a matter of honor," the Californian says. Every day Hamaski and his friends had to register their weight on the website. They also invited their families and other friends to follow the collective slimming online.

"There was a lot of pressure, I didn't want to be a loser." Thanks to the bet, Hamaski forced himself to eat a balanced diet and to exercise six times a week. In the end, he actually won the bet. "In April I was down to 74kg."