Did you hear?… My Fitness Trainer "Fit America" contest open for sponsors, entrants

A fledgling fitness and training website is promoting a free contest where entrants can try to get fit and lose weight using any program they choose — and can win prizes based not necessarily on most weight lost or any dramatic result but rather on success.

Already Nautilus has signed on as a prize sponsor, donating home gyms, SelectTech dumbbell sets and Bowflex gyms to the program started by MyFitnessTrainer.com. The contest is called Fit America Contest (www.fitamericacontest.com) and was begun by the company’s passionate, non-corporate, entrepreneurial founder Annette Hudson, who kicked it off earlier this month. Entries will be accepted through Feb. 28, and the contest will run through April 1.

“One goal is to have as many winners as possible as opposed to a ‘biggest loser’ judging style,” Hudson told SNEWS®. “We have chosen to have this contest judged subjectively, using all measurements, not just weight, as well as using a short essay describing the contestant’s fitness journey.”

Hudson’s one-year-old MyFitnessTrainer.com offers virtual training for fees that range from about $6 to $10 a month and currently has a small membership of 200, she said. To enter the contest, however, one does not have to be a member.

“It’s totally free to enter,” Hudson explained to SNEWS®. “Anyone can win using any healthy means of weight loss with no requirement to use a certain program, and participation is open to anyone in the United States right from their home” using the Fit America platform on her website.

The Nautilus equipment joins a lineup of more than 200 prizes that includes 30 one-year memberships to an international fitness center chain, a one-year membership to online personal training site MyFitnessTrainer.com, an AquaJogger fitness system, 50 one-year subscriptions to Northwest Woman magazine, one three-month style makeover from StyleUpgrade.com, plus other products oriented toward weight loss, self-care, fitness and wellness.

“The companies that have donated prizes to the Fit America Contest truly care about the health and well-being of Americans,” Hudson said in a statement. “Their prizes will motivate participants and help the winners keep the weight off.”

Contestants will be challenged to lose weight using any sensible, medically safe nutrition and exercise plan.

“This is the contest’s first year,” Hudson said, “but it has been such a hit that I am sure we’ll make it an annual event.”

To learn more about the Fit America Contest, go to www.fitamericacontest.com or www.myfitnesstrainer.com. Companies interested in a sponsorship can click here for more information about sponsorship. Hudson can be reached at 253-219-8815 or by emailing annette@myfitnesstrainer.com.

SNEWS® View: There is something quaint and appealing about this contest. It lacks flash, TV blitz, stars and chest-pounding, but could make a real difference in participants” lives. Kudos to Hudson for taking this step.