Littlest Biggest Loser Contest

Several months ago, my coworkers and I had been trying half-heartedly to lose some weight. Since we weren't getting the results we wanted, we decided to hold our own Biggest Loser competition. There were 4 of us. We weighed in on day one, and then again three months later. We each put $100 in the pot (kept by a non-competing referee) and the person who lost the highest percentage of their weight would get the whole pot.

I used to be able to run a few days a week and eat whatever I wanted and not have to worry about a thing. Not so much the case these days. 5 years after my wedding day, I had gained 25lbs. Not cool.

I needed to get a handle on this (Before)

$100 is a lot of money to lose, and $300 is a lot of money to gain, so I decided if I was going to participate, I was going to LOSE bigtime!

I had a strategy. I wanted to weigh as much as possible to start off. So the week leading up to our initial weigh-in, I went hog wild (pun totally intended) and consumed as much junk food as I could, like...
I weighed in and was shocked at the number on the scale...definitely the highest I have EVER weighed.
From the very start I kept a daily log of calories and started a rigorous workout routine. I would get up early, exercise for about 90 minutes, eat super healthy all day long, and go to bed early. I decided I would apply simple math --burn more calories than I consumed. I focused on making the calories I did eat really count. This meant whole grains, fruits and vegetables, and as little trans fat and sugar as possible.

In my downtime I would read articles about healthy eating, exercising, and weightloss. I used a couple websites to look up nutrition information, calculate my recommended daily caloric intake, and chart my progress.

I was absolutely dedicated. I'd allow myself a treat now and then so as not to drive myself to a complete binge at the end, but mostly I was pretty hardcore.

The day finally came to find out the results. We each took our turns weighing in with our referee. After returning to our desks, the referee sent out an email announcing the winner. It was.....

...the new and improved me! (After)

Let's see that again....

Before............................After

(Ok, so maybe full-body before and after photos would be better, but the actual taking of those photos is what has been holding up this post for so long!)

Anyway, I was thrilled, 25lbs lighter, and 300 dollars richer!

It has been about 4 months since our little Biggest Loser contest, and I am proud to say that I have held onto the healthy habits I developed during the competition and I plan to keep at it!

What did I do with the money, you ask? Well, losing some weight forces you to do a little wardrobe makeover...so some was spent on that. And the leftovers are going toward an upcoming trip back to Romania (!)