Better living and better health will be the incentive for those who take part in the 100 Day Challenge which starts next month.

But residents who want to meet that Challenge need to sign up soon with only 60 people selected, before a panel of judges decide a final 27. The deadline to sign up is 5pm on Friday, February 3 and the event will begin on February 16.

The first of four TV shows will air on Channel 9 on February 28 which will chart the selection process and introduce the candidates.

After last taking place in 2013, the Challenge is now being sponsored by Colonial.

Naz Farrow, the company’s chief operating officer, said: “I remember when the 100 Day Challenge first started. It was great fun. I loved watching it.

“Of course, there is a very serious underlying message to the fun. Bermuda has very high rates of chronic conditions like obesity and diabetes and it is absolutely essential that people take some responsibility for their health and wellbeing. The Bermuda 100 Day Challenge shows us, in a fun way, how we can improve our health through exercise and wise choices of food.

“We are very happy to be the title sponsor this year and hope that between Colonial and the 100 Day Challenge we can persuade people to take an active interest in a healthy lifestyle.”

All the entrants will get free enrolment to the Colonial Wellness programme, Zest, which will give them access to their own private online account where they can upload their physical activity and nutrition as well as an activity tracking device that syncs to their account.

Selected Saturday boot camps will also be opened up to the public to train with the 100 Day Challenge contestants.

Jacqueline Perreault, Colonial’s corporate wellness director, said: “Through the wellness programme participants will be able to add up to ten friends as their personal support team and they will get tips on how to make progress in terms of their health.

“It is the first time I have been involved in the Bermuda 100 Day Challenge and I’m really looking forward to see who the competitors are and how they get on.”

Andrew Phillips, project director for the Challenge, said he was delighted that Colonial had agreed to be the title sponsor, adding: “The Colonial Insurance Bermuda 100 Day Challenge is an evolved show from the one that ran for six seasons straight and finished in 2013.

“By this I mean that although it is still very much a weight loss and exercise programme with the same format, this year the focus of the trainers is highly placed on increasing the contestants lean muscle.

“So some of the fat reduced will be replaced by muscle which does have its own weight, as a result the contestants may not appear to lose as much weight in previous years. However, we feel that they will look healthier than they did before.

“The other evolution is that selected Saturday boot camps will be opened up to the public. So now the whole country can come and train with the contestants. The requests for applications has started to stream in so get ready for another hot season.”

For more information, check the Facebook page, The Bermuda 100 Day Challenge.

To apply to participate, e-mail bermuda100daychallenge@gmail.com and request the enrolment forms. Be sure to return the completed forms to that same address by February 3.

The show will run on television four times throughout the 100 days but people can get updates on their favourite competitors as well as information on the Boot Camps on the Facebook page as the Challenge progresses.