Biggest Loser 2.0

 From April to July my family did a Biggest Loser Challenge.  People tend to scoff when I say that, so let me start by saying that I do realize that none of us are overweight.  But we all had goals we wanted to reach weight wise, and all have a goal of just being healthier in general.  And what better way to accomplish those goals than a little "friendly" competition?!

  So here is how it worked... Each member contributed $10 to the pot (I know, big spenders over here!).  My dad gave an additional $10 bonus.  Personal weight loss goals were determined by each participant and then approved/disapproved by the group.  If a person met their personal goal, they got to keep 8 of their $10.  The winner was determined based off of the highest percentage of weight loss.  My brother Dustin is pretty much an Excel genius, so he put together a sweet spreadsheet for everyone.  Weigh-ins were conducted each Saturday morning, and participants were required to weigh in under the same circumstance that they had when the competition started (my dad made that VERY clear - especially when we were nearing the end ;) ).  For me, I woke up, used the bathroom, and weighed in.  Each week Dustin would email the spreadsheet out so we could see the damage.

The competition got off to kind of a slow start, as expected.  I was trying, but not as hard as I could since I was pretty sure I had no chance of coming close to winning.  Well, then one day I got the spreadsheet and... I was in first place!  So then I started to think, "Hmm.  Maybe I can do this."  Dang little hope seed!  I'll explain that in a minute.

As the competition got more and more intense, I got more and more intense.  There were hilarious emails, full of trickery and temptation; People saying they had eaten a ton to make you think they were out of the running and posting pictures of things that they know you LOVE, like pizza to try and get you to fall (Tyler, I'm talking to you! ;) ).  But, I held strong!  I became pretty determined to win this challenge and nothing could stop me!  I was eating pretty healthy - lots of fruits, vegetables, lean meats, little to no carbs, 5 meals a day, 1000 - 1200 calories/day (yes, I know that may not be considered "healthy"), no eating after 8.  I felt great!  Then came the last couple of weeks.  Crunch time.  I wont go into great detail, but there may or may not have been desperate measures taken.  Like, eating ONLY watermelon the day before the final weigh in (And just so everyone knows, YES I did regret that the next day).  I definitely don't condone eating like that normally - I just really wanted to win ;)  Also, my brother in law (my main competition) may or may not have biked with a rain coat on to aid in getting rid of some water.  We are crazy, I'm tellin ya!  Well, the final weigh-in came.  Not only was I excited for this torture to be over, but I was excited for my 4th of July burger.  Mmmm, delicious.  And here are the results:

 Yes... I lost by less than 1/10th of a percent.  Ahhhh!  Really I found it hilarious and laughed my face off for awhile.  Of course that would happen to me!  But, like I said, I was SO glad it was over so that I could go back to eating more normal.  The good news is, I felt for the first time what a huge difference eating healthier foods makes.  I've always been pretty active, but as I'm getting older, I'm starting to notice that that's just not enough.  I am glad to have developed some new habits, and even though I didn't win, I am proud of myself for what I accomplished!  Here are my stats below: 

 

Progess Chart:  I went up and down a lot, but in the end, I exceeded my goal by 5.8lbs!

 

 

I lost nearly 11lbs.  Since the competition ended, I have gained back a few of those, which is to be expected since they were the ones I didn't really "lose".  And I am fine with that.  My goal now is to hopefully tone everything up a little bit, and maintain the weight that I am.  We will see how it goes! :)

Yesterday just for fun everyone did a 1 month post-competition weigh in.  Everyone has done great!  I think we'll keep up this tradition.  Losing weight is hard to do by yourself.  It's great to feel good!