Indulge Me

I've been dreading doing this post because I know no one really wants to hear someone else's weight loss story. Sam, you can leave now. He is soooo tired of hearing me talk about Club Phat. I hope this post isn't going to sound preachy--Luckily for you, I've had two weeks since Club Phat ended to fall back into my bad eating habits so I really can't say too much.

I wish I could tell you the six weeks went by quickly and that it was easy and the weight just fell off. But that's not true. I worked like a dog and there was nothing easy about it. I didn't miss a single day of working out in six weeks (except Sundays.) I tried to go to the gym every day at 9:00 am but sometimes I had to go when it was completely inconvenient (like at 2:00 in the afternoon or 11:00 at night.) I went when I was sick and I went when I didn't feel like it. I tried new classes and pushed myself out of my comfort zone.

I didn't drink soda. I ate my #%#%(@@$ veggies! And worst of all, I only had a handful of treats in that entire time. Sometimes I was hungry when I went to bed. Sometimes not having treats made me really grumpy. Long story short, it was hard. To lose weight, you have to get sweaty and uncomfortable. The process is unglamorous but I did it.

The very hardest moment of the entire six weeks was standing at Mrs. Field's cookies with my kids and not getting a cookie and a diet coke. I swear those cookies are laced with heroin--they are so addicting.


I lost 13 pounds and I'm wearing my normal clothes again. I am happier than I've been in a long time.

Some tips: I believe in rewarding yourself along the way. I bought new work-out shoes and work-out tops. I am a big believer in shelling out the dough to get cute workout clothes. If you don't feel cute at the gym, you won't go. I also believe the right gear makes all the difference. I started Spinning at my gym and bought myself some cycling shoes and padded shorts. My bum was much happier with the new shorts!



Since I couldn't eat treats, sometimes I would buy myself a really great lunch--like a salad at Rumbi's. That helped me not feel deprived. I also stocked up on Sobe beverages (low calorie drinks)--having one at night made me feel like I was having a treat.

I also think weight-training is the most important thing you can do to change your body. I had to do barbell classes because there is no way I would push myself on my own with the weights.



I ended up coming in second place in the contest and I won $125.00. I was thrilled I got a little spending cash to get a new outfit--I will show you what I bought in my next post. The winner only lost 8 pounds which made me feel extra good. I knew I worked hard and I'm proud of myself.

Now, I promise to never talk about Club Phat again.

Club Phat

Buster

So Buster is 9 months old and he isn't the only one with a little extra chub around here. I still have 10 pounds (15 cough cough) to lose to get back to my normal weight. Usually, I'm not an all or nothing gal. I believe moderation in all things. But guess what? The weight hasn't been coming off and I'm tired of not wearing my normal clothes.

Last Sunday night, my friend Mandee emailed me about a Biggest Loser type competition called Club Phat that started the next day. And I agreed to it for several reasons.

1. I've got a solid 10 pounds to lose.

2. What I've been doing ain't working.

3. There is prize money at the end...the kitty may well get up to like 400 bucks.

Also, I like that this competition is not about just weight loss. You can't starve yourself and win this thing. You get points each day for doing a bunch of healthy stuff like:

no soda/no alcohol
no treats
getting 7 hours of sleep
no eating within 2 hours of bed
taking a multivitamin
drinking 48 oz of water a day
eating three servings of fruits
eating three servings of veggies
a point for each half hour you work out up to 3 points a day

You also get three cheat points a week to use if you mess up on one of the above things except you can't use cheat points for working out. I messed up twice and ate within two hours of bed.

At the end, the person who loses the greatest percentage of their body weight in addition to having the most points wins.

I already work out about four days a week but I've had to kick that up to 6. I also hate veggies but I'm not about to give up a point a day for that (did i mention how competitive I am?) So Sam has been buying me these big relish trays. I also chug V8s to get a couple servings there.



So here is the deal. I've been on the program a week and the first few days were the worst. I thought the no diet coke thing would be the hardest but I was wrong.

The no treats has damn near killed me.

But you know what? That is what is going to make me lose the weight. I will never O.D. on real food. Until I started this, I didn't realize how much garbage I was eating during the day. In fact, now that I'm doing this, I have struggled to find real food to eat. My biggest temptation came Friday night when I took my kids to Mrs Field's at the Mall. Oh how I LOVE those little nibblers with a big Diet Coke. That was a tough night but I pulled through. I have already lost a few pounds.

I even worked out every day this week except today (Sunday). I'm determined to win this thing. To be honest, if I lose the weight, I will feel like a winner regardless of the money.

I promise not to talk about this all the time. Is there anything worse than hearing about someone else's diet or workout plan? In the meantime, I'm going to go chew a piece of gum and look at all the veggies I don't want to eat...5 more weeks...