Holiday Challenge FAQs

What is the Holiday Challenge?

The Holiday Challenge is a FREE program that runs from Thanksgiving through New Year’s Eve. Instead of focusing on losing weight during such a hectic time of year, we encourage participants to maintain their weight throughout the holiday season. During the 7-week program, we send weekly newsletters, daily tips, weekly challenges, and healthy holiday recipes directly to participants’ inboxes to help them stay encouraged and motivated. Any adult over 18 years of age across the United States with a valid email address can join the Holiday Challenge. Participants can participate as much or as little as they would like to, as all resources are sent to their email and/or are available online. To learn more and to register, click here: Holiday Challenge.


Is the Holiday Challenge free?

Yes, the Holiday Challenge is a free program available to anyone across the United States. All that is required is your name and email address during registration. To learn more and to register, please click here: Holiday Challenge.


When will the 2023 Holiday Challenge begin?

The 2023 Holiday Challenge will begin on November 13th and participants will receive the first Weekly Newsletter that morning. The program will run through December 31st. Registration for the Holiday Challenge is always open and does not close, so new participants may sign up at any time. To learn more and to register, please click here: 2023 Holiday Challenge.


When does registration close?

Registration for the Holiday Challenge is currently open and does not close, even after the program begins. New participants may sign up at any time. To learn more and to register, please click here: Holiday Challenge.


Do I submit data or personal information?

No, we do not collect any personal health information for participants. We encourage all participants to keep track of their well-being goals on their own, using one of our downloadable logs or on a free website/app such as MyFitnessPal or LoseIt. At the end of the program, we send out an anonymous wrap-up survey that asks in general if the participant maintained, lost, or gained, but does not ask for specific weight, nor their name or any identifying information.


Are you offering the Employer Package this year?

Unfortunately, we no longer offer the Employer Package for the Holiday Challenge. Due to the increased size of the Holiday Challenge, we cannot offer customized reporting and marketing features at this capacity. Employers interested in offering the program to their employees can refer to our Worksite Guide, which contains a few tried and true strategies other employers have used throughout the last decade. We also offer several downloadable flyers to help spread the word.


How do I include my employees or organization?

Each employee will sign up for the program individually and will receive the Holiday Challenge emails directly to their inbox. If you are interested in tracking their progress, offering incentives, or creating more of a “team” atmosphere, check out our Worksite Guide, which includes tried and true strategies various employers have used throughout the years.


Do you offer reports for employers or organizations?

Due to the increase in the size of the Holiday Challenge, we no longer offer customized reports for employers or organizations. Employers interested in offering the program to their employees can refer to our Worksite Guide, which contains various strategies other employees have used throughout the years.


Can I offer incentives to my participants?

Offering incentives for your employees or participants has been shown to increase participation and motivation throughout the program. However, we do NOT recommend basing any incentives on weight. Basing incentives on weight can lead to unhealthy habits to achieve weight loss in order to win an incentive. Instead, we recommend basing incentives on participation in the program. Incentives can range from water bottles or t-shirts to raffles for a Fitbit or local gym membership. To learn more about tracking employee participation in the program and offering incentives, please refer to our Worksite Guide.


Can we connect with and support other participants?

There are currently thousands of you around the world working on the same goal – to maintain your weight through the holiday season. Connect with one another and share tips, tricks, ups, and downs through our Private Facebook Group. This is a private group only available to Holiday Challenge participants.


How do I track my progress?

If weight maintenance is your well-being goal, tracking weight is a proven weight management strategy. It is important to know your starting weight as it will keep you motivated and allow you to track your progress through the Holiday Challenge. We offer downloadable logs to track your weight, food, and physical activity, which are for personal use only and will not be submitted. If you prefer an online option, we recommend MyFitnessPal.com and LoseIt.com.


Did my registration go through?

As soon as you register for the Holiday Challenge you should receive a Welcome Email to confirm your registration (you will not get confirmation until at least mid-September each year). Please check your junk folders or under the “Promotions” tab in Gmail, as these emails are sometimes caught in spam.


Why am I not receiving emails?

If you are not receiving Holiday Challenge emails after the program begins:

  • Check your Spam folder.
  • Double check the spelling of your email address. This can be done by re-registering on this page HERE (even if you previously registered correctly, you will not receive double emails).
  • If you have completed the first 2 steps email us for assistance. A team member can contact Constant Contact to check if your emails are being bounced.
  • Did you register with a work email address? If you are registered with a work email address, the emails may be blocked by an office firewall or security setting. Please re-register using a personal email address or you can request your IT department to safe-list our email address HolidayChallenge@esmmweighless.com. Safelisting (formerly referred to as “whitelisting”) an email address ensures that emails sent from that specific address reach the Inbox, instead of being marked as spam. Each email provider or security service has their own instructions for adding email addresses to a safelist.

Do I need to log into a website?

Participants do not need to log in anywhere for the Holiday Challenge, all of the materials will come directly to their inboxes.