What is the Whole Life Challenge, and why is everyone doing it?

It seems like everyone is either taking a 30-day fitness challenge to do sit-ups and squats, or they’re cutting out sugar for three weeks to lose weight. But who’s crazy enough to change how they eat, sleep, sweat and breathe for two whole months? A lot of people, it turns out.

The next eight-week Whole Life Challenge begins Saturday, and the underground game has already drawn almost 20,000 players. Challengers pay $49 to commit to “7 Daily Habits,”
earning points for the healthy steps they take — and losing points for the rules they break. Players team up and log their points online, and that competitive edge seems to keep people in the game.

“Eight weeks was a long time ... but I appreciated the accountability,” says Emer Smith, 34, a WLC survivor who lost 15 pounds playing. “I definitely had more energy — no mid-afternoon slump. I saw improvements in my workouts. And my skin was nicer!”

CrossFit members Michael Stanwyck and Andy Petranek created the challenge in 2011 when they were trying to get their clients to keep behaving themselves once they left the gym. So they tasked a handful of early players with eating well, exercising, stretching and taking supplements every day for eight weeks.

“The key was not telling people what they couldn’t do — you could do whatever you wanted — but you were going to gain points for doing certain things, and lose points for doing other things,” explains Stanwyck, 43, who lives in Venice Beach, California. “And this was prior to there being a lot of challenges out there, so immediately, everyone wanted to earn points.”

About 150 people from one CrossFit gym played that first game, and they did so well — losing sometimes up to 30 pounds — that they brought families and friends on board for the next challenge. And this grassroots movement has been building from those couple hundred people in 2011 to almost 20,000 signing up for the seasonal challenges each spring, fall and New Year’s Day.

So how does it work? Players select one of three nutrition levels that get progressively stricter. This is a relief if you’re a newbie who wants to play without losing her daily glass of wine (the “Kick-Start” level). But all three tiers ban beer, soda, bread and cheese; it is a challenge, after all.

Sticking to the compliant foods for a full day nets five points, and you lose a point each time you cheat. But that’s just one piece of the wellness puzzle. So you also earn five points for exercising 10 minutes a day and five more for getting a good night’s sleep. Stretching, drinking water, personal reflection and weekly lifestyle challenges get five points apiece. Failing to complete any of those subtracts five points.

“It’s a very holistic approach to just being well,” said Stanwyck. “It’s all of the daily habits, like sleeping, relaxing, connecting with other people.”

And you earn bonuses for following the rules — so if you go four days with losing less than two nutrition points, you earn one “Indulgence Bonus” that lets you eat one of your cheats. Or exercising 10 days straight earns a rest day. “We want people to realize that a day off is not the end of the world as long as you have a practice that is consistent,” said Stanwyck.

Many players wonder what their $49 is getting them, since The Whole Life Challenge doesn’t come with a set workout or diet plan. And there’s no reward for winning beyond hopefully learning sustainable healthy habits. But Stanwyck argues his team is working full-time to provide ad-free life coaching.

“We’ve created a community around the world that is all doing this at the same time,” Stanwyck says. “You’re going to have support, I’m going to make it fun and give you new ideas.”

Plus, the website notes that people who pay are in to win, because they’ve got skin in the game. Is that pint of Ben & Jerry’s or sleeping in worth $50? Didn’t think so.