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Tuesday, March 27, 2012

I Bet You CAN Lose Weight: 4% in 28 days


Before I can post about the roller coaster ride my life has been over the past week and a half, I’ve decided I must write about my upcoming DietBet. I need participants! 

Exactly how I felt when I got on the scale last month. This is from some site on losing weight by going herbal.

(Disclaimer: By the way, this is not a sponsored post. DietBet won’t even know I’m writing this until after it’s posted, when they may chastise me and tell me I can’t use their name or something. I don’t know about rules when it comes to blogging.)

In February, SelfishMom convinced me to join her DietBet. I’d been slowly letting the weight creep back on, so this was a great incentive to get my growing ass moving again.  It’s just what it sounds like – you make a bet based on losing weight.  I wasn’t sure I could do it, but I figured losing money is always a motivator to me so why not try it?  I won: my $50 back plus an additional $33. And I lost 8 pounds.  
Several of my friends thought this was a cool idea and wanted to participate.  With an upcoming beach vacation in May (now cancelled, and that’s another post in itself, part of the whole damn roller coaster ride), I figured I’d host my own bet.

A very ugly picture of my messy room and what I looked like going into my first DietBet.

Here are some basics.
  • The game starts on Monday, April 9. This lets everyone go have fun the week before Easter (it’s Spring Break around here) and enjoy their Easter brunches or candy or whatever (for those who celebrate) and weigh in on Monday.
  • Buy-in is $50.
  • Bet is that you will lose 4% of your current body weight in 28 days.  (Game ends on Monday, May 7.)
  • The pot gets split between everyone who meets the goal of 4%. There’s no special award for losing the most weight or losing weight the fastest.  If you meet the goal, you win.
  • Participant must be at least 18-years-old.
  • You can lose weight through any method that works for you. There’s no set diet plan, nothing to buy, no specific exercises.

Because I have people from all over participating, there is room for cheating. I’m inviting people I trust and asking them to invite people they trust. Hopefully there are no sore losers out there who are intent on cheating us out of our money.

How it works:
  1. E-mail me or leave me a comment with your contact information and I’ll send you an invitation.
  2. Follow the link I send and register on the DietBet site. You do not need to pay when you accept the invitation, but I must receive your money before the game begins.  You’ll need to send the money via PayPal.  I’ll send more directions when you request an invite.
  3. On Monday, April 9, weigh in. This is where trust comes in.  You’ll email or picture message me a picture of you on the scale, and the picture must show the weight on the scale. You can take this picture looking down at your feet.  Use the same scale, dress the same way  you will dress and weigh in at the same time of day you will on May 7.  Don’t layer up for April 9 and then get on the scale naked on May 7.  Or pig out all day for weigh in and then weigh before you eat anything on the final day.
  4. Go about the next 28 days doing what works for you as far as losing weight. Encourage or set-up friendly competition with the other participants.
  5. On May 7, weigh in and again send me a picture. Once I have everyone’s weights I’ll let you know how many people met the goal and get the money sent out.

During my DietBet I really looked forward to interacting with other players. Some were on the DietBet site regularly, posting successes and frustrations.  Others we didn’t hear from at all other than weigh in.  It’s completely up to you how much you want to participate in the site. You can find other people to talk to on Twitter using the #DietBet hashtag.

So, comment or email me if you want to participate. If you’re a blogger, leave me a link to your page. I may require references or background check. J

What have you got to lose, other than weight, and maybe $50?

My goal weight. This isn't a great picture. Go to my previous post for a picture of my true goal!  Yes, it is inappropriate to ask me if I'm wearing anything underneath this dress. 





Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Who is that pale skinny woman?

I recently linked up with Bloggy Moms and joined The Blog Dare. I'm hoping this will help jump start my writing.  Today's idea is to post an old photo and write about what was happening.  Since I don't have access to my photos at home right now, I found one I posted on Facebook.


This is a picture of me at my senior prom - 1992.  Why no boyfriend in the picture? Well, because I'd gotten married during winter break of my senior year. (And contrary to popular belief, I was NOT pregnant.) If you look closely you'll see a wedding band on my finger. The dress was borrowed from my sister-in-law and altered to fit me. Believe it or not, in those days I ate fat cheesburgers and fries, burritos, etc. (Again, contrary to the beliefs of some, I was NOT anorexic.)  The glory of being young and having a great metabolism!

Now, because I don't want to leave just that picture up, here's a picture from two years ago. My daughter was given this dress at a yard sale and I decided to try it on.  This picture is part of my motivation to lose weight and get back in shape, along with my DietBet (which I'll write more about later).


I'd been doing cardio kickboxing two to three days a week for a year when this picture was taken. I'd lost about 30 pounds.  I want to look like this again for my next Burlesque show in May - 8 pounds (and some toning) to go!



Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Scarlett Sinsation Flops Big Time

I've been meaning to post for weeks. I've had some good ideas, but then when I start to write, *POOF* the words are gone.  My life just isn't that interesting, ya know? I'm a working, married, mom of 4.  2 of the 4 don't live at home but pop in and out throughout the month. They don't talk like little adults or give me lots of material to use. Hell, two of them ARE adults and still don't talk like it. I don't have great parenting tips to offer. I don't cook, I'm not particularly crafty, and I like to read but wouldn't want to write about what I read.  My job isn't exciting and if I tried to talk about it most people would have no clue what I was talking about. Occasionally I wish I worked at a place like Wal-Mart. At least I'd have funny stories that everyone could enjoy.  I'm pretty sure I'd get arrested or fired rather quickly, though, since I have very little patience for stupidity.   So that doesn't leave me much to write about.

I love this picture. I wish I looked like this as I sat with writer's block. This is from A Novel Menagerie - a website of book reviews, movie reviews, & more.
What this is leading to is another post about my love of Burlesque dancing. And a video that I have not shared because I look like I have a giant marshmallow for a waist and you can't see me through half the performance, because, well, you'll see why if you watch the video.

I gained weight before the performance. I bought a costume I thought was super cute: a pin-striped mini-skirt and top with a white tie. For some insane reason, I thought that wearing white tights under my fishnets, and pulling the top of the tights up under my top would look okay. But it didn't. While I was dancing, the top kept riding up and then you'd see what looked like marshmallow fluff where my waist should have been... Not attractive. Not at all. On top of that, I'd had a really hard time learning the choreography for this performance. I don't know why - it just wasn't sinking in.

WARNING: This may or may not be similar to what I look like in this video.  Proceed at your own risk. I found this image at artistic abominations sociallyunacceptableart Tumblr account  - if it's not okay to use this here, I'll be happy to remove it if requested.  Also, I don't really know what Tumblr is.


When I saw the video, I swore I wouldn't share it, but I've decided that since I haven't managed to post in ages and writing about my burlesque experiences is the only thing I seem to actually be able to find words for, here you have it.  It's my worst performance of all three. I look awful and I mess up A LOT.

My beautiful and talented girl crush, Sass Herass, was our instructor for this.  Take a peek - hope you enjoy!  Watch Sass (in the middle) so you can see what I SHOULD have looked like.



As always, don't forget to check out The Sizzling Sirens' website for more information on upcoming shows and classes - they're the most incredible group of women!