Bigtime Fail

I lost my own DietBet. I was the only one of the 8 of us to lose. I started with the best of intentions:  

1.   I would be committed.  
2. I would post at least weekly about my progress, along with any tips and recipes I came across.     
3. I’d link up with the Pish Posh challenge.   
4. I’d meet my goal.

And I didn’t do ANY of those things. 

Hoping to entice participants, I offered some prizes and winners would be entered into a drawing. I figured I’d meet my goal and at a minimum get my $40 back to spend towards prizes, plus two of the prizes would be donated.  Bigtime fail. I didn’t win and didn’t get the two donations (more my fault than the donators).  The failed DietBet wound up being slightly expensive. 

•   $40 buy-in        
• $25 JCPenney gift card (sorry @red_writinghood I STILL haven’t mailed this)       
•  $25 Victoria Secret gift card         
• Mary Kay mini fragrance set         
• Mary Kay pedicure set

But, on a more positive note, I took this picture towards the end of the game – as I headed out to my Burlesque 101 class. I think I look okay. Even if the pounds didn’t fall off, the skirt I bought at the beginning of the bet is now too big, so something was happening! So I’m okay with not meeting the goal in pounds.

Want to see more pictures? Check out my Facebook page. 

A special thanks goes to Redhot Writing Hood for participating AND helping get a few additional participants.

Interested in DietBet? Check out their website and join an open bet or host your own. It’s a great motivator and can be fun. I did win my first two bets but at this point think I’ll work on toning and not worry about the scale anymore!

Sexy in time for Halloween

How many times have you looked at all the latest Halloween costumes and snottily pointed out that they're too sexy these days, but in the back of your mind you know part of your issue with them is that you can't fit in one? Okay, maybe that's just me.

This is the costume I want this year. Although I'm slightly irritated that the wings don't come with it.
How is it a fairy costume without the wings?!

As some of my readers know, I participated in a DietBet a few months ago and got down to my lowest weight in years! It was awesome. But the stresses of separation combined with new meds and my total lack of motivation the last two months resulted in some weight gain and loss of muscle tone.My "fat pants" are snug. My back fat is bulging. Ugh. That about sums up how I feel about that. So in order to try to get to my goal weight (125 pounds), tone up, and just plain feel better, I'm doing two things. I hope my friends and readers will join me!

1.  DietBet - You bet $40 you can lose 4% of your weight in 28-days. Weigh-in on the first day and the last day of the challenge by submitting two pictures to the game. Lose weight in whatever way works best for you. At the end of the game, everyone who meets their goal is a winner and the pot gets split between them. In addition, the winners will be be entered into a drawing for the following prizes: a $25 Victoria Secret gift card, a bottle of wine, a Mary Kay miniature fragrance set, and a Mary Kay mint blossom pedicure set. Click here and sign up now- my game starts on Monday, September 17. (I've just emailed support to change the date from the 10th to the 17th, so ignore that it says the game starts now!) Remember, as long as you meet your goal you at least get your $40 back. My last game had a $50 buy-in. The winners wound up with $83 each. 
2. The Pish Posh Challenge - The wonderful Pish Posh is also doing a weight loss challenge; hers doesn't cost any money, though. Check out her 8 week challenge here. I'm joining a little late - but what the heck.

If you're really intense, check out the Whole Life Challenge. I was going to try this out after hearing about it from Crossfit Echelon, but I don't have another $40 right now and I'm not sure I'm ready for this kind of commitment. This is an 8-week challenge and the last day to sign up is September 14.
Here's a summary of how it works: "The Whole Life Challenge is an 8-week health and fitness game designed for you to see what kind of impact you can have on your body, fitness, and lifestyle if you commit yourself to a specific structure. There are three categories for the game - Performance Results, Physical Results, and Lifestyle and Accountability. This is not just a “change your body” challenge. It is a “who you are” challenge! Nutrition, workouts, mobilization, supplements, daily accounting, community engagement -- if you play all out you won’t believe the results you can get!"

It's the food part of this I'm not sure I can commit to... I think I'll take baby steps on that part.

And here are pictures from last year's Halloween costume (Mrs. Edward Scissorhands), just for fun.