Losing weight for me has been a lifelong battle. I remember cinching the belt tighter on a home-sewn dress my mother had made for me when I was eight years old, trying to look thinner. There's even a picture of me in that dress, and I can see how that tight belt really made my belly pop out above it. I still have that muffin top, but today it's mostly just excess skin. In December of 2009, I started on a journey to get healthy by losing some of my excess weight. I had weighed in at 328 lbs. at my doctor's office earlier that year, I myself didn't own a scale of course. I had constant issues with breathlessness with any movement, and heart palpitations. Numerous heart tests showed that no damage had been done....YET....but I knew it was just a matter of time. My mother had died from an undiagnosed heart problem, suddenly when she was just 65 years old. I was quickly approaching 60, and knew I needed to do something. (I am 63 today.) So with no goal weight in mind, just the goal of being healthier, I started on a journey that continues today. In 18 months I lost 168 lbs., getting to my goal of 160 lbs. on April 15, 2011. I re-discovered a world that I had shut myself off from with my morbid obesity. I was no longer restricted in what I could do by my size, I could once again walk anywhere, fit in anywhere, and do anything I wanted. In fact, walking was my only form of exercise. My arthritis restricted me from doing much else, but I could walk. At first, at 280 lbs. when I began, walking hurt everything, my hips, my back, my knees, but as I persevered and went a little further every day, and the pounds came off, the pain lessened. Before long I found that I could walk with little pain! Walking remains my exercise of choice. For over two and a half years I maintained my weight below 160 lbs. But last Thanksgiving, I started giving into my desire for holiday food, and even though I resolved to lose the excess weight when the New Year began on Jan. 1, I did not follow through. As I had done so often in the past, my resolve melted and I continued snacking on "healthy" snacks. I never returned to my old habits of eating bags of potato chips, cookies and candy and frequenting the fast-food drive-thru's, but I bought low-calorie snack bags, those 100-calorie bags of cookies, and those 160-calorie granola-type bars, and I would binge on them. Without some restraint, I could have easily gained 100 lbs. in those seven months I was off-track, so at least I am grateful for that.
In June, I decided to try one of these Dietbets I had been hearing so much about. I joined one that was run by my friend Brooke Birmingham, who had lost approximately the same amount of weight as I had, starting at about the same place (she was 327 lbs. when she started). Although Brooke is decades younger than me, I identified with her since we were so close in weight. I lost those first seven pounds (4%) and got my money back plus a little more. For some reason that $25 I bet motivated me more than anything else had been able to do since my regain. I started Brooke's Dietbet at 182.6 pounds. I knew I was on my way back to 328 lbs. if I didn't stop, and it's such a relief to once again have my weight-loss mojo back. Immediately after Brooke's Dietbet ended I joined a HUGE Dietbet, run by Chris & Heidi Powell. Once again, I was victorious, losing almost 10 pounds and ending at 165 lbs. I am closing in on my original 160-lb. weight loss goal and am determined to get there. I couldn't find a reasonably priced Dietbet starting immediately after Chris & Heidi's ended, so I had to wait about a week. During that week, I babysat for my three grandchildren. They like to snack on crackers and cookies, and I found myself sampling some of those during that time, so when my current Dietbet started, I weighed in at 167.6 pounds. But as of this morning, I am back down to 160.4 and that is a thrill. To once again be back so close to that goal weight is such a relief. I feel like I am in control again, and that is a wonderful feeling.
I feel like I owe getting my weight-loss mojo back to Dietbet. What a great invention! I wish I could find a way to bottle this mojo I have now, I know I could sell it and be a millionaire. Maintaining a weight loss is harder even than losing the weight, but it is so worth every bit of effort it requires. I just have to remember, I can never lose my vigilance and my determination, or I will lose my focus. I am so happy to be back on track!