Today is my birthday…more on that in a future post though (maybe). More importantly for the time being, it is also the last day of the workplace weight loss challenge I was competing in. I had already made weight loss a goal for this 2009 season, hoping to be at my racing weight by the beginning of April, so when this competition popped up at the first of the year and timed almost exactly with my plan, I had to jump on it.
I normally don’t like weight loss competitions that pit everyone against one another to see who can lose the most weight (by %). One because a lot of people will do very well and make great progress and not be rewarded at all, and secondly because I think the competition to win it all leads to unhealthy weight loss tactics that I definitely refuse to partake in, and would recommend others not do as well (ie eating disorder activities, excess dehydration, pills, diurhetics, etc). But, people will certainly use these unhealthy tactics since money is on the line, so I’d be at a disadvantage.
All that being said, this “competition” was appealing to me because success was totally dependent upon each individual competitor. The rules were simple; you had 16 weeks to lose at least 8% of your body weight (from your initial weigh in). You put up $20 at the start and the pot is split between all the successful. Obviously if everyone makes it you just get your money back, but that is a highly unlikely scenario and either way you’re not out anything. In fact, after 4 months of not seeing your $20, it’s like not having had it in the first place, so getting it back feels like a bonus. Sure, the payoff isn’t huge unless everyone else fails, but with the right focus, it’s a guaranteed payoff.
Here’s how it went down for me. I had already lost about 7-8 lbs between November and Christmas, but then unhealthy holidays pushed me back to about 202 (on the home scale) or so by early January. On the initial weigh in day, I did sandbag a little and ate a large meal the night before, and drank a good deal of water before the weigh in. My start weight was 209 (fully clothed on the work scale…actually about 204 at home). That made my goal weight 192 or less. There wasn’t a great deal of drama, I just steadily lost the weight and hit the 8% mark on March 6, a month ahead of schedule. My pace certainly slowed after hitting the goal, but I did manage to weigh in this morning at 190 (189.6 actually)…that puts me at about 185 on my home scale without heavy work clothes on. I don’t know for sure yet, but it looks like about 30% of the participants will be successful, so I should about triple my initial investment…not too bad for being healthy.
I’ve been asked a couple times how I went about it. I’m very technically minded and like to work with numbers (as you can probably tell if you follow my previous posts). So, I broke it down to the basics and counted calories. 3500 calories = 1 lb fat loss, so I figured out what kind of deficit I’d need to hit the goal. I didn’t significantly change my eating habits, still had ice cream and pizza on occasion, but at the same time I could afford some calorie dense foods since I was burning upwards of 5000-5500 calories on some long bike/run days. I did eat more vegetables than I used to and avoided some foods more consciously, but overall it was basic diet consciousness and exercise that did the trick (go figure).
Now that I’m at my season goal weight, I don’t think I’ll have too much trouble maintaining due to the training volume I’m going to be doing through the season. However, I will monitor my weight and start logging food again if I’m starting to pack them back on. I felt fit last year as a Clydesdale, but that doesn’t even compare to how good I feel now with the additional 15-20lbs off.
I could certainly lose more…I’m definitely not “ripped”, but have been losing for almost 6 months now, so it’s time for a break. Maybe I’ll go for another 10 or so before next season. But for now…happy eating.
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