Your Reward for a Healthy Lifestyle – Wellcoin

Disclosure: This post is NOT sponsored. I was not compensated. I just really love this app, the idea behind it and need to share it with you.

Trigger warning: If you suffer from molluscophobia (fear of slugs), please be aware that you will encounter graphic images of slugs drinking beer in this article.

Well, now that we have all the disclosures out of the way, let me tell you about Wellcoin. It’s a genius idea – the kind of idea that makes you wonder to yourself, ‘How was this not already a thing?’ It’s social media for those of us with a healthy lifestyle (or working towards a healthy lifestyle). But here’s what sets it apart from numerous other social media apps – you’re rewarded for your activity with ‘Wellcoins’. You can then redeem your coins for rewards from their marketplace. 

First – you set up your profile on Wellcoin

Go ahead and use this link to sign up – you’ll automatically receive 250 free WC’s because I contacted them and told them I love them and wanted to be an ambassador and they graciously agreed and offered my readers a perk. I really did. That’s not even an affiliate link. Or, you can just use the code carlyp250 when you sign up. (Note: use your email, not a Facebook login to take advantage of this freebie.)

Then you set your profile up – you can easily just set your picture from your Facebook profile, or upload a new pic. Find friends who are joined up to follow so you can see their activity too. Done!

Now – take a photo of a slug and post it as your first activity

Just before we left NYC, I went out with friends to a great outdoor bar in Brooklyn. We were having drinks and enjoying the late summer NYC evening when we suddenly noticed the slugs. Yes, slugs. Slugging their way toward empty beer glasses on our table. Someone mentioned slugs loved beer and these slimy fellas were not about to prove them wrong. It was bizarre and of course everyone’s phone at the table came out and the little guys were photographed about a hundred times.

A little later on, I basically forced my friend Mandy to download Wellcoin so I could show her and our friend Alison why it was my latest obsession. I walked her through the sign up and when prompted to enter her first activity of ‘Joining Wellcoin’, Mandy quickly uploaded what she thought was a cute picture of us having cocktails.

Here we are, enjoying our drink:

Yeah, she accidentally posted the slug picture. Perhaps it was due to the drinks we were enjoying, but the three of us were in hysterics for a good few minutes after that came up on her Wellcoin profile.

The next day I texted her that photo of her screenshot and was in (sober) hysterics all over again.

What (apart from slugs drinking beer) can you earn Wellcoins for?

The Wellcoin library is pretty extensive (and they’re enough of a start up that I bet if your favorite sport or activity isn’t listed, you could contact them and they’d add it for you). There are so many options, split into six categories:

Eat Well – you can log all your meals and snacks, as well as choose from activities like ‘Choose Whole Grains’ or ‘Leave Food on the Plate.’

Feel Good – like time with your child or pet, doing something fun, napping, sleeping…they even offer ‘Do Something Unhealthy’ (for a whopping ONE point, so don’t get too excited.)

Get Moving – this is where you can log your running miles (10 WP per 10 minutes!), or anything else that moves your body, like Barre, cleaning the house, taking the stairs, or Jazzercise. (Yes, Jazzercise. They’ve tried to think of everything.)

Give Back – all the things that make the world a better place. Volunteering, giving blood, or making a donation are all part of this library of activities.

Tune Up – earn WC’s for picking up a prescription, checking your blood pressure, going to a health professional or getting vaccinated, among others.

Get Set – there are just three activities listed for this category, but you can earn lots of points. Buy Gear (an excuse to shop for workout gear, guys!) and Buy Healthy Groceries are 4 and 5 WC’s per $10, or you can earn 50 points if you Join an Activity Center.

We took the boys to the pediatrician for their flu shots and racked up 46 easy points! (Note: it was Halloween-  normally we don’t dress them as characters for their doctor visits.)

How do you prove it?

Excellent question! You get extra Wellcoins if your activity is verified. The easiest way to do it is by posting a photo, like the total on your grocery store receipt; what you ate; or a running shoes shot. Basically, if you live pretty healthy and you’re on Instagram, take a look at what you post there and you could duplicate it on Wellcoin for points. Any member on Wellcoin can verify photos, deciding whether the picture proves the uploader actually did the activity and rating it accordingly. You earn WCs from verifying fellow community members’ activity, giving you an incentive to be part of the verifying community.

The app also links to RunKeeper and FitBit, among others, so your activity is automatically verified when you post it through a linked fitness account.

Finally, you can earn extra points if you have a fitness professional verify your activity – if, for example, you work out with your trainer and have him or her confirm it went down just like you said it did.

What can you earn?

You’ll earn cool discounts and freebies that fitness-minded people will love! There are discounts you can trade your points for, like an extra 20% off online sale prices with Reebok, or $10 – $30 off orders with merchants like Shoebuy, Bulu Box, Apothederm, EBOOST and more. You can get discounts with Diapers.com, or a driving credit for ZipCar. 

Bear in mind, also, that this is a pretty new venture. Wellcoin is just getting started, so the list of brands and merchants is just going to grow! Something I love is that Halo (a pet food company) offers a reward of a donation of 10 meals for shelter dogs and cats on your behalf for just 1000 Wellcoins.

The final takeaway

Yes, it’s another social media site, so I understand the argument that you just don’t want to have one more site to post to. And honestly, I often forget to take photos of food or healthy activities, so I know I miss out on points. (Although once I took a photo of my Chipotle veggie bowl with maybe two beans left on it, with the caption that is was delicious and I suck at remembering to take pictures of my meals and the community gave me instant verification!) 😉

There’s  no downside here: it’s free. You get an automatic 250 points by using the code carlyp250 (or just using this link). And your points will add up surprisingly quickly, even if you use it intermittently. Join up! Find me! Friend me! Come to the dark side, we have Wellcoins!

What fitness app could you not live without?

Have you heard of Wellcoin?

Did you know slugs love beer???