My DietBet: Did I Win?

In case you haven’t been following along with my DietBet, you can catch up here:

Post #1: Challenging Myself with a DietBet
Post #2: My DietBet: The Halfway Point
Post #3: My DietBet: The Final Countdown

For those who want the short & sweet version: I bet $30 that I could lose 4% of my weight in 4 weeks. At the end of the DietBet, the winnings in the pot would be divided between all the winners (after they take their fee out). So, in addition to losing some pounds, I had a good chance at winning some extra money too.

My personal goal was to lose 8 pounds. It’s a little more than was needed for the DietBet, but my scale wouldn’t do increments of pounds. I didn’t follow any specific diet plan, I just used the app MyFitnessPal and tracked my food intake. My calorie goal was 1,200, but I was able to earn additional calories by exercising.

I started off strong. I didn’t restrict myself from eating any of my favorite foods (there was still birthday cake and marshmallows in my diet), I just reduced my portion sizes and increased my water intake. I had gotten a bit out-of-hand with sodas, so I mostly went cold turkey for the four weeks. I did have a glass of wine here and there, as well as a couple hard ciders. Because, YUM!

For exercise, I stuck to my elliptical machine. I had planned to throw in a couple double-up days where I would do an extra work out of the Jillian Michaels Shred DVD, but after one day of that I decided that I’m just not THAT hard-core.

At my DietBet halfway check-in, I was down about 4 pounds. I kept going and made it to my goal weight of 8 pounds down the Saturday before my bet ended. Then, I had a couple bad meals that weekend and on Monday my weight was back up.

Going into the weigh-in week, I was 2 ½ pounds away from my goal and I was totally beating myself up about it.

Frankly, I was having a terrible week anyways and normally I would reward myself with food and drink and more food. Four weeks of eating well was apparently just enough to get into that new habit though. I was able to resist stuffing my face. However, I really didn’t think I was going to make my goal. I posted something whiny on my Facebook page and honestly everyone’s support was what really helped me push through.

During the last few hours before my final weigh-in, I drank a TON of water and ate light. When I approached the scale, with my phone in hand to take that final picture, I felt like I had done it.

I took a deep breath and tentatively stepped on… camera ready.
And I gained 8 pounds in one day.

WHAT THE F*&K?!

I jumped off the scale, absolutely horrified. Then, in disbelief I stepped back on and got a totally different number. And that is when I realized that my freaking scale was broken.

I cleaned the dust off the bottom of the scale, turned it off and on a couple times and stepped on again… and my weight was 8 pounds down.

I WON! I WON my DietBet!

I quickly snapped my pictures and submitted them to the DietBet app. As soon as I received my confirmation email back, I could finally relax a bit… because I was finally done. And I WON.

I can’t even tell you how good that made me feel. How much I NEEDED that win. You know what else felt good? When I got an email a day later saying that I’ll receive $49.88 for winning my DietBet!

My weigh-in was last Tuesday and I’ve relaxed my diet a little bit, but I plan to keep on with what has been working for me. Oh, and I bought a new scale, because apparently mine was a sadistic butthole.

Now that I figured out how to work exercise into my busy schedule, it’s much easier to stick with it. And I am incredibly proud to say that as of this morning I have lost 11 pounds. I am now only 3 pounds away from my pre-baby weight from THREE years ago. I’ve never lost 11 pounds in my life (besides when I popped a baby out…), so it seems almost surreal that it’s happened.

I really have all of you to thank. Your comments, emails and Facebook notes have really helped me reach my goal. Which, of course, means that I now have a new goal… and I’m only 10 pounds away.

Have you tried a DietBet? What works best to keep you motivated to eat healthy and exercise? When you’re having a crappy week do you want to eat EVERYTHING in the world?

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9 thoughts on “My DietBet: Did I Win?”

  1. CONGRATULATIONS!! I knew you could do it! 😀

    HECK YES, I want to (and sometimes do) eat everything and anything when I’m having a bad day or just a “ughh, I’m a girl” kind of a day. But, I try to balance that out with exercise. I am lucky in that I like to work out, but I still have to drag myself to the gym or to the basement for a Jillian Michaels DVD sometimes. I follow the 80/20 rule as much as possible (80% good-for-me food; 20% whatever the heck I darn well please food). So far, so good, I think.

  2. Congratulations! We just started the Biggest Loser contest at my job. We have 12 weeks to lose 3% or 7% and can win part of the pot if we lose the predetermined weight. Here’s hoping! There’s quite a number of us doing it together, so I’m hoping we’ll support each other. But my husband loves going to the gym, so he’s been pushing me to go more…which is good! Because yes, like you, I like to eat when I’m happy, sad, bored, excited, celebrating, etc. So a push to the gym is necessary!

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