Dieting can often be a lonely affair. While there are all sorts of apps which make it seem like you’re ‘all in it together’, with rankings and points, you’re still basically going it alone. This can seem like there’s nobody to spur you on. However, DietBet takes full advantage and allows dieters to accept real challenges with cash up-front bets.

If you’re going to do it alone, why not make it a proper competition?

Formerly a Kickstarter campaign, DietBet challenges participants to either lose 4% of their body weight in 4 weeks, or 10% over 6 months. If you take the bet, put down your money and lose your assigned weight, you win a share of the pot!

“For most people, going to the gym just isn’t that fun,” Matt Daniel, DietBet’s VP of Business Development, said. “We wanted weight loss to be a fun and social experience. That way, more people will stick with it.”

With measures to flag dangerous play, including losing too much too quickly and anything that looks like cheating, could this be the push that some need? Social gaming isn’t anything new, but with almost $13 million in prizes awarded and 3 million lbs lost since it’s start in 2013, DietBet is on to a winner. Or is it?

What do you think? Are you concerned that the pressures of social gaming mixing with real-life activities is too much?