Thank you, DietBet

After a holiday season full of fudge, bake-paloozas and a relaxing cruise (with pretty much any food you can imagine 24/7), I felt like I needed a gentle nudge back to my weight loss journey. I find that if I revert back to my old habits of eating what I want, when I want…without any type of portion control or calorie counting, it’s a lot more difficult to get back on track. I crave junk food more, and my willpower is pretty much non-existent. This was my first holiday season of my weight loss journey, and I learned a lot this time around….hopefully I’ll look back to this post before December hits this year.

Dear Self,

1. Count everything. Even those cookies that you had to get a taste of or leftover fudge that you scraped from the pot.
2. Don’t stop exercising. You may feel more busy, but oh man, just make some time for it. Jillian’s Shred is only 25 minutes. I felt so unfit after I took a holiday running break. Stupid stupid stupid.
3. You don’t NEED that second (or third) helped of sweet potato casserole. It’ll be there next year.
4. Those Hershey Kisses in fun Christmas colors are the devil, Bobby Boucher. Don’t buy 4 bags because Walgreens says you’ll get extra shopper’s points or something. You know you’ll eat those by the handful.
5. Just be smart. Think of how far you’ve come. You don’t want to see 298.5 on that scale ever again. Enjoy the holidays, by all means, but just don’t go crazy.

In January, I told myself that if I lose 50 more lbs., I’ll reach the ever-so-amazing ONEDERLAND before Christmas next year. I was driven, and then a blogger friend started tweeting about a DietBet that she set up.

I originally thought it was the craziest idea. 4% in a month? There’s just no way…4% at 250 lbs. was 10 lbs. in a month. I haven’t lost 10 lbs. in a month since my first month into my weight loss journey, so I shrugged it off and got back to counting. Then I thought about it. I am so quick to waste $20 on Starbucks or snacks…why not consider this to be a small investment in myself? I will try my best, but if my best isn’t 10 lbs., I won’t beat myself up over it. So, I signed up.

That month, I lost 13 lbs. Completely surpassed the goal, and from then on, I was hooked. Month two was a little more difficult, but I did it (by 0.7 lbs. that time)! After that, I thought to just keep going…I’ve totally got this!

Well….DietBet #3 was the most difficult. I became the person that I never wanted to become on my weight loss journey. I weighed in 3x/day, and if the scale didn’t say what I wanted it to say, I really let it affect my mood. I was scared of salt and sweets. I was worried about post-workout bloat. I was obsessed! I just HAD to reach that number in my mind. So, after DietBet #3, I’ve decided to take a break from it. I may go back in a couple of months, but for now, I just need to leave the scale alone.

I will admit that DietBet motivated the something out of me. I’m so thankful for the site, because it gave me a little extra pep in my step these past few months.

Here’s a before DietBet (beginning of January) and after DietBet (last Saturday).

I definitely can see it in my face and stomach area. It’s just crazy to be 26 lbs. away from ONEDERLAND. I’m pretty sure I’ll reach it before Christmas…in fact, I’m making it a goal to reach 199 lbs. before football season begins!

I’m sure you’re wondering about what I’m going to do with the extra DietBet money, and I decided that I’m gonna put it towards some new workout clothes. Saggy compression pants are sort of a fail, so YAY SHOPPING…wait, did I just really say that?