By the Skin of My Teeth

A couple of weeks ago, I talked about my participation in a DietBet.  If you’re curious about the details of the game, check out this post, but the gist of this DietBet is that I put money into a pot, betting that I could lose 4% of my body weight in a month.

I did really well the first few weeks of the bet, working out hard and watching everything I ate. I needed to lose a bit over 5 pounds to reach my 4% goal, and I was well on my way to accomplishing it.

But then I hit a roadblock.

My grandma was diagnosed with cancer. I flew to my home state of New Jersey to be with her in the hospital as she underwent a major surgery to remove the tumor. This would have obviously been enough to throw me off my game in itself, but when her health deteriorated with a case of pneumonia and the surgery was postponed, I felt like all of my energy was going towards just holding it together.

Besides being stressed out, my normal schedule was turned on its head. I spent evenings at the hospital, leaving both hungry for dinner and emotionally exhausted. I didn’t have my dog with me to push me to walk my usual 5 miles a day. And even if I did, it was damn near freezing every day I was in Jersey anyways – not exactly outdoor workout weather. While I did cook a bunch of times, I wasn’t in my usual routine of food shopping and planning out meals, which I think is a big part of my being able to shed a few pounds.

I also couldn’t trust the scale at my parents’ house. One day it would say that my weight was really low, only for it to swing 4 pounds up the next day. While my weight fluctuates a little, it doesn’t typically go up and down that much. This wouldn’t be a big deal had it not been for the DietBet. What can I say? I’m competitive and did not want to lose the game!

While I gave myself some slack, I also wanted to hold myself accountable regardless of the circumstances I was dealing with. I exercised and did workout DVDs and other sweat sessions in the  family room almost every day. Whether that meant waking up early before hitting the hospital or getting work done, or at 9 PM when I really would rather have relaxed on the couch, I made sure to get it done. Exercising not only helped me burn calories and rev my metabolism, it helped to relieve stress and just make me feel better.

Everyone deals with stress differently. While some people lose their appetite, I tend to eat when I’m anxious. A few days I definitely overdid it – i.e. drinking 3 glasses of wine instead of the 1 I intended to have – but I told myself to forget about it and start new the next day. I tried to be mindful of what I ate, and though I wasn’t always perfect (who is?), I did the best I could.

I flew back to San Diego last Saturday night, and when I weighed myself on my normal scale the next morning, was relieved to see that I was at the EXACT weight I needed to be at to win the DietBet. Knowing that this was cutting it a little too close for my final weigh-in the next day, I kept my diet strict and went on a long hike on Sunday. On Monday morning, I weighed in 1/2 pound lower than I needed to and won my DietBet. WOOHOO! I made it by the skin of my teeth, and though it wouldn’t have been the end of the world had I not made it, I felt good in knowing that I was able to lose 6 pounds in a month and accomplish my goal while going through a difficult time.

I made $45 for winning the DietBet.  I originally put in $25, so I pocketed an extra $20 while losing a few pounds. I’ll take it! I put my winnings towards a new heart rate monitor that’s currently en route to my house. After expressing my hatred for my current sport watch, I consulted with other Girls Gone Sporty ambassadors and ordered a watch that many of them recommended. I’ll let you know how I like it soon! As far as my DietBet experience goes, I think that it’s an awesome way to motivate yourself to lose weight while hopefully winning a few bucks. Go check it out! 😉