Competition Moves

My gym recently had a "Biggest Loser Couples" type contest. I talked Jeff into entering. I'm not sure why, because honestly, I didn't really like the first individual one I did, so I have no clue why I wanted to do another one. Temporary insanity, probably.

Let me clarify...I didn't like the first one just because I felt so restricted. Restricted by the competition. If I wanted to indulge in a glass of wine or whatever...no freaking way...I'm in the competition. And, I need another scheduled weekly event like I need a huge chocolate bar on my kitchen counter. THAT is why I didn't enjoy the first one.

So, off we go for 8 weeks of competition. Here's where I must confess. I am competitive...just a little. But the hubby...well, he's got some serious competition moves...he's gonna take you down, no matter who you are. He's competitive. And, after 15 years of wedded bliss...I know this about the man, so who better to team up to lose some weight and win some prize money...right?

Ugh...did I mention I don't like restriction???

He was good...oh, so good. No drinking...no eating badly. He dropped his daily caloric intake down to something less than it takes to keep normal humans alive. But he's in competition mode, so he's all over it. He's dropping pounds left and right. I'm just humming along like usual. I'm losing weight slow and steady, but I've done my kamikaze time and I'm ready for a little tortoise living. Slow and steady, baby....slow and steady.

Then we were out of town for a week for work. He was still good. I got enough exercise, but I ate and sometimes not the best choices. It's a crazy week and there were nights that if I didn't grab a slice or two of pizza then I wasn't eating, and as we've covered here before...I NEED to eat. If I don't, I'm gonna binge. Then, there was a dinner meeting...business stuff...you know. Yeah, well, red wine. That's all I'm saying on that matter.

So then we get back from that and we have 2 weeks of competition left. Time to dig deep, get serious, and see if we can win this thing. The team in 1st place was losing at a nice steady rate. We did the math and it was gonna take some serious commitment from us and some slacking from them. Commitment I can do...the other team slacking was looking doubtful.

Well, the day of the final weigh in, the husband on the 1st place team gained .5 pounds. Jeff and I both lost again, and that put us over the top. It was CLOSE...way close! They lost 6.65% and we lost 6.99% of our combined body weights. WOW...that was really close!

And now, we're out of competition, so I can get back to my wicked ways! I say that very tongue-in-cheek, folks. What I mean is that if I want to have something that's not particularly diet-friendly, I'm going to have it, but I'm going to have to get back on track with my eating and work out a little more to compensate for eating something more caloric than normal.

We took the kids to the state fair. I had some of Avery's snow cone...a fried tenderloin...some of the kids ribbon fries...some of Avery's ice cream...and a bunch of other fair food junk that I normally would not eat. My burn that day was high due to exercising and then walking all over the fairgrounds. But I don't even want to venture a guess as to how many calories I ate that night! But you know what? That's OK...and it's only OK because on Sunday, I went back to clean and healthier eating choices. I ran 4 miles. I did not let that one extravagance define my downfall. It was just a choice I made that day and then I got back on track the next day.

That's where success lies...it's not in NEVER falling off the wagon; It's dusting yourself off and getting right back on it the next day.

If you've been doing less than you expect from yourself lately, tomorrow is the day...make tomorrow the day that you re-commit to your goals and to yourself. Getting healthy is something we all deserve. Tomorrow is YOUR day!