First Team Weigh In

                                       

Last week, I told you that I was going to have another go at losing weight.  So, I decided to take part in a team weight loss challenge at work.  Last week, we weighed in and got put in to our teams.  We also had to individually make a goal of how much weight we want to lose over the eight week competition.  I decided to go with 20lbs.  I thought that would be a pretty easy and attainable goal for 8 weeks.   There are four teams of four all competing for a cash prize.  Being that the entry fee was $15, that means there's a chance of winning $60 per person, plus any money collected for pounds gained.  There's a penalty fine of $1 per pound gained if anyone puts weight back on.

I decided in order to pace myself and not ending up losing momentum, I thought I'd try something new each week.  This week, I decided to start off small and just cut out soda and add more water.  I also, of course, lowered my calorie intake and watched what I ate.  

Well, I'm very happy to report that after one week of those slight adjustments earned me a loss of 4.6 pounds!! That's a percentage of weight loss of 1.72%.  That's also almost 1/4 of my weight loss goal completed.

Collectively, my team lost 24lbs.  I was happy with that number.  Unfortunately, we are in last place even with such a great first week... but only by a tiny percentage.  

One thing I know about these weight loss challenges is that it's often hard to keep the momentum.  The first week is always a good week for everyone, because everyone is so pumped and motivated.  There were some extremely high numbers lost by my competitors this week, but the first week is not an indicator for how the rest of the competition will go.

I know that slow and steady wins the race.  There's no way that my competitors will be able to lose, individually, 8-12lbs each week.  Which is what some of them lost this week.  I think that's amazing, and I'm very happy for them.  But, it doesn't make me disheartened.  I figure I can lose close to 5lbs each week pretty easy, as long as I keep upping the intensity.  

Last night was my "free night".  I've decided that on each weigh-in day, I'll treat myself to something I wouldn't normally eat.  Mostly because Thursday nights just happen to be Butter's football game nights, and we always eat dinner out on Thursdays during football season.  

Well, I'm very happy to report that even though I told myself I could eat anything I wanted last night, I didn't go crazy.  The kids and I tried a Mexican restaurant that we've been wanting to try.  Now, my usual go to at a Mexican restaurant is the chimichanga.  It's deep fried, loaded with meat and cheese, and delicious.  But, last night I told myself that couldn't happen.  Instead, I went for fajitas.  Still not the ideal weight loss food, but better than a chimichanga.  The best part was the fact that I couldn't eat it all.  When I got full, I stopped eating.  And I was shocked, because I can usually down a plate of fajitas and all the fixings with no problem.

I limited the amount of rice and beans I ate, and focused mainly on the pico and meat.  I have been trying to limit my carbs.  Not cut them out, completely, just keep a tight squeeze on how many I eat.  Because carbs are my worst enemy.  I have to really train myself to be able to handle eating carbs without overloading, so I'm trying to start off small with how much I can eat.  When I do eat carbs, I have only been eating the whole grain variety.  

I feel like I'm doing very well in the food department, and I haven't touched a soda since the competition began.  Even when we went to SDC last Saturday, I drank only water.  I have been drinking my coffee in the morning, and water for the rest of the day while I'm at work.  Giving up soda was a pretty easy task for me.  Because even though I love a Diet Dr. Pepper every now and then, I never really drank it too often.  I don't feel like I'm depriving myself without the soda.  

Next week's goal is to focus on some exercise.  One of my teammates and I will be working out after school two days next week.  Nothing too crazy, just a start for adding in some exercise.  We've decided that even some laps around the gym is better than nothing.  We can always up the intensity each week as the weight continues to drop off.

Being in the team mentality has really boosted my motivation.  There are some people that think it's unhealthy to be "competing" for weight loss, and they are entitled to their opinion.  Yes, I know that losing weight should be only focused on me wanting to lose weight, and being in a competition is only a short-lived experience, but it could be the springboard I needed.  I do well in a competition environment, more so when it's team oriented.  I don't like to let people down, and there are people counting on me to do my best.  Plus, I really think my recent upbeat attitude has played an important part in all of this.  Eating is one of my stress coping mechanisms.  I eat when I'm stressed.  Being that I've eliminated a lot of the negative stress I was feeling, I feel like I've been able to stay upbeat and positive with my weight loss efforts.  

So, here's to another awesome week of losing weight.

Have a great Friday, everyone!!