The Biggest Loser.

3 1/2 weeks ago my sister asked if i wanted to participate in a biggest loser competion for 12 weeks with her, my nieces and a smattering of cousins. i agreed.

i got my wedding dress a few weeks before that, and after having tried it on, was a little overwhelmed with its snugness. it wasn't tight. just fitted. i cant stand fitted clothes. i'm the baggy t-shirt, loose jeans and over-sized sweatshirt girl. so i decided i'd try to lose a bit of weight before the wedding in august.

the chance to play biggest loser with my family then was the spark of competion that i needed to get going. i weighed in. 210lbs. i've never weighed so much in my life. i decided a good goal would be 180lbs. last spring i had gotten down to 185lbs and felt amazing! so 180lbs, should be incredible!

i didn't really have a plan. i knew i needed to be accountable to someone, but i didnt really know where to start off. i decided to start emailing an old friend back east, and make her my accountability. daily, i email her my trials and tribulations about eating and exercising. as i love to do the former and loathe the later. she metnioned sparkpeople.com. i checked it out, and though usually hate such websites, i actually started committing to it. i used it for recipe ideas, i posted my food intake daily and kept track of fitness. that last part was pretty easy because i wasnt getting any fitness done.

i needed more accountability. i found a walking partner on craigslist. i meet her as often as our schedules allow (this week she's on spring break, so 4 meets!), and we walk for 60 mins. i also ride my bike to meet her, 25 mins roundtrip and ride my bike to school, 25 mins roundtrip - per class. slowly i've been sneaking in exercise and not hating it.

although i had been keeping track of my food intake, it was a ton of calories, because i wasnt doing anything to change it - just being conscious of it. slowly i started tweaking things... i stopped putting butter on my vegetables, i use a sprinkle of parmesan cheese now. i started eating half portions of meat and starch at dinner and doubling my vegetable portions. doing these couple of small things, my calorie counts dropped 400-700 calories a day! and needless-to-say the fat count has dropped dramatically too. i dont feel hungry all the time though. which is good. because i wouldn't do this if i did.

tracking the progress on sparkpeople and seeing the changes i've made and being able to weigh in weekly with my family and actually be losing, feels good! today i am down to 200lbs. not bad. 10lbs in 3 1/2 weeks. i'll take it. my mini goal/reward is that i get to try my dress on again when i reach my halfway mark - 195lbs. thats just 5lbs away!