Frequently Asked Questions

Yes, anyone can participate. We do however, require all participants to have a MyWellSpan account in order to participate. If you already have an account, click on "Register Now" on the 10 Pound Throwdown site and log in with your MyWellSpan account. If you do not have a MyWellSpan account, create one now. After you create an account, return to 10poundthrowdown.com and click "Register Now."

Unfortunately, no, for two main reasons. 1) The bulk of the materials provided on the 10 Pound Throwdown site are intended for adults. We believe that some of the tips and tools would also prove valuable for families, but we do not allow minors to register for the 10 Pound Throwdown. Also, 2) Minors would not have their own MyWellSpan account and would therefore not have the ability to sign up. If you have a minor child that is interested, we encourage a parent to participate and then share tips and tools with the whole family.

Check out these helpful resources for children:

• Tips for Parents – Ideas to Help Children Maintain a Healthy Weight
• Help your kids get more physical activity

No, you will need a MyWellSpan account in order to participate in the 10 Pound Throwdown. If you do not have a MyWellSpan account, create one now. After you create an account, return to 10poundthrowdown.com and click "Register Now."

WellSpan is committed to ensuring the information that you provide during the 10 Pound Throwdown is secure and confidential. The creation of a MyWellSpan account ensures your personal information, including your contact information and weight entries, are safe and secure.

Sure can! The 10 Pound Throwdown Challenge is designed to be 10 weeks long. We know that it takes time to make changes in eating habits and to make physical activity part of you routine. We hope that you set realistic goals at week one and will participate for the full 10 weeks. If you are not able to, we understand, and you can join the Challenge at any time.

No, you can participate as an individual without joining a team.

1. Visit 10poundthrowdown.com and click "Register Now."
2. If you already have a MyWellSpan account, you will be prompted to log in to that account. If you do not have a MyWellSpan account, you can visit my.wellspan.org and click "Sign Up Now" to create an account.
3. After you create an account, go to 10poundthrowdown.com and click on "Register Now" again.
4. After you log in, you will be directed to a 10 Pound Throwdown registration page. Enter the required information and click "Next."
5. We are interested in learning a little more about you and your interest in the program, so please complete the brief survey and click "Next."
6. You will be prompted at this time to enter a team code, if you choose to. Click Continue. You can add a team code later if you don't have one now.

The 10 Pound Throwdown Committee is hoping that the Challenge will continue annually. We collect anonymous information about our participants so that we can improve the challenge to best suit participants. Understanding a little about you and your health behaviors, goals and interest in this program help us to know which improvements are necessary for the program. We used the feedback and surveys from last year to make changes this year! Please note that all information shared with us will remain anonymous - meaning your name will not be connected to the information you provide!

The creation of a MyWellSpan account is required for participation in the 10 Pound Throwdown, which we do to protect personal information. Much like you need to verify your identity to create a bank account, MyWellSpan requests that you provide your SSN to verify that you are who you say you are. You can contact MyWellSpan's customer service by phone, and they may allow you to verify your identity in another way. They are available Mon - Fri 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. and Sat 8:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. by calling 866-638-1842.

Absolutely! You can join a team at any time. After you enroll, you will see a tab that says "Team Progress" on the tracking page. You can enter a team code into this tab at any time to join a team. If you are a Team Captain, you will receive a confirmation email verifying your team name and assigning you a team code. Feel free to send along the email to anyone you would like to invite to join your team at any time.

No, you can participate as an individual without joining a team.

After you "Create a Team" on the webpage, the Team Captain (whoever submits the team request) will receive a confirmation email verifying your team name and assigning you a team code. The email will provide instructions on how to enter a team code during enrollment. Team Captains should send this email to all potential teammates so they can follow the instructions when they enroll. You can invite as many people as you would like to join the team, but we ask that you have at least 3 teammates, please. Teams with fewer than 3 participating members will not appear on the leader board and will not be eligible for the team prizes.

To track weight loss progress, we use this equation: total pounds lost by the whole team in a week divided by the team's total weight from week 1 multiplied by 100%. This will equal the percentage of weight lost for the whole team.

Example: (9 pounds lost/300 pounds) x 100% = 3% weight loss for total team

The team with the highest percent change in weight will be the leader for that week. Progress will not be based on pounds lost.

First, double check that you and your teammates have entered your weights correctly- double check that there are no typos. If you need to change a weight entry, then log in, go to “Tracking Tools,” select “Weight Tracker.” You will see buttons to edit weights entered or edit starting weight. Click “Edit” and then “Update Weight” when finished.

There will be a team tab on the "Tracking Tools" page that will list all teams participating in the challenge, as ranked by their percent weight loss. Meaning, the team listed first will be the team leader who has the highest percent weight loss for that week. The team that you are a part of will be highlighted in blue. Your individual weight entries will not be visible to anyone except you. Your teammates will be able to see who is on their team. Your name and email address will be visible to your team only.

In response to requests from participants, we have added this feature last year. You and your teammates will have the ability to see who is on your team. Team members will have access to the names of others on their team as well as the contact email address provided at sign-up. This feature is only available for those participating in teams. Participants' weight entries will NOT be visible to anyone other than the participant. To see who your teammates are, and their email addresses, select "Team Members" from the Teams drop-down menu.

Unfortunately, the process for approving teams is not automated so someone from the 10 Pound Throwdown team will need to manually approve each team. If the team does not receive the code within 24 hours of submitting it, please email communityhealth@wellspan.org.

The 10 Pound Throwdown committee does not have access to participants’ log in credentials. You can use these links to recover your username or recover your password. If that doesn’t work, contact the MyWellSpan Customer Service line at 1-866-638-1842. They are available Mon - Fri 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. and Sat 8:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.

The 10 Pound Throwdown committee does not have access to participants’ log in credentials nor can we lock or unlock accounts. To get your account unlocked, please contact the MyWellSpan Customer Service line at 1-866-638-1842. They are available Mon - Fri 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. and Sat 8:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.

When participants enter their weight for the first week, that weight will become both their starting weight and their week one weight. Participants then have the option of editing either weight. If someone edits their weight, and week 1 and the starting weight no longer match, they may show a weight gain or loss. We check all entries each week to ensure there are no alarming gains or losses. We like to allow participants to play around a little with the tools on the website so we try not to intervene. But we will contact anyone with alarming weight changes to make sure everything stays fair.

We do the best that we can to ensure the leaderboard is accurate. Remember that the weights are self-reported and that typos can happen. We check the standings regularly and reach out to teams/ individuals who have alarming weight gains or losses.

Visit www.10poundthrowdown.com and click in the top right corner to log in. Once logged in, click your username in the top right corner to view a pull-down list. You will see "Preferences" in that list. The Preferences section will allow you to change the email address where you receive communication from the 10 Pound Throwdown team.

Visit www.10poundthrowdown.com and click in the top right corner to log in. Once logged in, click your username in the top right corner to view a pull-down list. You will see "Preferences" in that list. The Preferences section will allow you to change the way that your name appears on the site so that you can add a nickname, etc.

First, you may want to verify that the email address that we have on file is the one that you would like for us to use. Visit www.10poundthrowdown.com and click in the top right corner to log in. Once logged in, click your username in the top right corner to view a pull-down list. You will see "Preferences" in that list. The Preferences section will show you what email address we have on file and will allow you to change it, if desired. If you still do not receive the email reminders, please email us at communityhealth@wellspan.org and we can explore it further.

Absolutely and we hope you will! In addition to the weight tracker, our program offers educational materials about goal setting and the benefits of healthy habits, as well as a list of useful links. In addition to supporting your friends and family as they make healthy changes, you may find these features of the website to be especially appealing:

• Badge Tracker - Participate in weekly badge challenges and collect healthy eating and physical activity badges for reaching weekly goals.
• Prizes - Participate to be eligible to win weekly and grand prize raffle drawings. Eligibility is based on your success in reaching the badge challenge goals and participation in the Challenge.

We believe maintaining a healthy weight is just as important as losing weight and we hope the weekly badge challenges and tools on the site will help you!

We apologize – but if you miss a weekly weigh-in, you can NOT go back and add your weight. This policy is in place because entering a weight for at least 8 weeks makes an individual eligible for the grand prize drawings. We encourage you to return to 10poundthrowdown.com each week on a regular basis to log your weight, with a weekly deadline of 11:59am on Monday.

Tip: If you worry that you will get busy and miss the weekly deadline, keep in mind that you can add a new weight any time during the week (12:00pm Monday through 11:59am the following Monday); and then make edits to reflect your final weekly weight. To edit a weight, click on the link "Edits Weights Entered" and make the appropriate change.

Good news! You are able to earn the badges throughout the Challenge. If you miss a week or didn't quite meet the goal a particular week, keep trying! In order to be eligible for the weekly prizes however, you will need to meet both badge goals in the week they are first introduced. Please visit our Prizes page to learn more about the eligibility.

As indicated in the disclaimer when you enroll in the challenge, the 10 Pound Throwdown committee will provide your employer with a list of participants and how many weeks each employee participated, if they request this information. You will need to select your place of employment during registration for your employer to receive your information. In addition, your teammates (if you join a team) will be able to see your name and email address. Absolutely no personal information or weight changes will be provided to your employer, your teammates, co-workers or others. You will be the only one who sees your weight.

You can email us at communityhealth@wellspan.org or call Community Health & Wellness at 717-851-3222. After you enroll in the Challenge, you will also see a "Contact Us" page at the top right of the 10 Pound Throwdown webpage.