Diet Bet challenge

In May my friend Niki told me about this program, invited me to join this DietBet challenge she was doing for 4 weeks. $30 entry fee, goal to lose 6% of body weight, if you do, you get your money back. Great incentive & motivation. Bonus is you get % of pot if other people don't lost their 6%. Pot was $85K at that point, later it grew to over $100K. Initially I thought it would be great for Jai to do, as I really was living in denial world about my weight. I thought I'd gained a bit, but didn't realize until I decided to join with them & stepped on scale how wrong I was. I weighed as much as I did when I started Virgin Diet ONE year ago. I was SO pissed since I'd lost 18 pounds in 3 months, felt & looked great (still had another 10 or so pounds to lose).

Logistics
1. You create account, choose Diet Bet you're doing, pay entry fee
2. Receive BEGINNING email with secret word which you write on card/paper
3. 2 photos are taken & uploaded while standing on scale
photo 1: put card on floor next to scale, take photo of number on scale (aerial photo)
photo 2: distance photo showing you on scale
3. Upload photos as directed on website, wait for review process for approval
4. Lose weight, you can post info on website, use social media, encourage others, see your progress
5. Receive ENDING email with secret word which you write on card/paper
6. 2 photos are taken & uploaded while standing on scale (same process as before really)
photo 1: put card on floor next to scale, take photo of number on scale (aerial photo)
photo 2: distance photo showing you on scale
7. Upload photos as directed on website, wait for review process for approval
8. Hopefully you're a WINNER!!!!!!!

If you win, you get money deposited into your account. It can be used for future DietBet challenges or processed for PayPal account reimbursement. Jai & I both said from beginning "I just want to get my $30 back!!" : )

May 5-June 2 was basically the 4 weeks for first challenge I did. I lost 1-2 pounds each week, loving this process, especially posting on Twitter or sending "high 5's" to Jai & Niki. I started following Virgin Diet in week 2 to give me more structure. I also starting exercising consistently, returned to my routine at Y each morning before work. I hit a bump 1 week before END & gained 2 pounds which freaked me out (think it was hormonal) as I only had to lose 0.5 to win. I'm a fierce competitor - to be close & lose would really annoy me. I cracked down, limiting carbs, no chips or crackers for snack, & I did it. Got my final weight photos done & approved on Monday, June 2 (last day of work for teachers, also day I got new job) then celebrated on Tuesday, June 3 lunch at Calypso Cafe with PMES colleagues.I got rice with salad & fruit tea with meal (I rarely do that!). YAY!

I lost 7 pounds which is amazing. I felt great & wanted to continue that trend & momentum.
Overall goal for summer is to lose another 10 pounds.
Sadly Jai nor Niki met their % goal, but they lost weight - I got some of their money.

Fast forward to Aug. 3 when I'm really writing this post. : )
I had told Susie about this process & she decided to participate so we joined 1 together for June 6-July 3.
Luckily entry fee was $15 & I used part of my winnings. Unfortunately I was on vacation first part & then I don't know what happened when we returned to Nashville, but I didn't lose weight, actually I gained it. Later I discovered I'm experiencing some hormonal changes that I believe negatively impacted weight. Also we were eating out more (so typical in summer, especially while traveling) though exercising more I thought. Anyway, neither of us met % goal. : (

I have some money in account so not sure if I'll do another challenge or convert to PayPal, but I got "back on horse" & following healthy eating behavior & going to Y each morning (walking Johnders every morning too until I returned to work last week). I am back to my winning weight from June 2, shorts fit again (I don't want to go to Goodwill for me again until I lose overall goal of 25 pounds!), feel better. Limiting snacks helps - I have been eating fresh local fruit mostly instead of chips & crackers, trying to get gluten free as much as possible, but not being fanatic (no wheat!). I'm not following Virgin Diet - I need eggs & tofu sometimes, but not daily. No peanuts & corn are standard for me anyway. Limiting sweets always helps. I made applesauce cake when some friends came over last weekend & it was so strange. Delicious, but I hadn't baked in 3 months.

New goal - lose 2 pounds each month
Lower expectation so it's attainable & safe. That means I'll get to 24 pounds in year or sooner maybe which is great. I want us to be at "fighting" weight before 10 year wedding anniversary trip in June 2015. : )