So many people have a special kind of hate for Valentine's Day. Although I personally think it's a gross manipulation of consumerism, I do believe in what good ole V-Day represents at its core: LOVE. For me, that means love of self, love of others and love of the life you make for yourself...which, of course, means accepting the good with the bad...and the ugly.

Before this DietBet began, but not before I had stopped playing volleyball (a sport I love) and lost a chunk of my social stamina, I made a commitment to myself to get off my hiney and get back in shape! I stopped eating meat for health reasons which, while it virtually eliminated my MVP symptoms, it did little to "help" me lose weight. I joined a super fancy gym with so many amenities it was almost overwhelming. I started (but never stuck with) Shaun T's Insanity program. All with little or no results. Believe me, I am well aware that I am the reason those attempts crashed and burned. It wasn't until I bought a Groupon for BODI, a HIIT-style  workout with Nike Master Trainer Nikki Metzger, that things really ramped up for me. Hallelujah! I finally found something that whoops my ace and still keeps a smile on my face! Given all my failed attempts at bringing my sexy back, I had a LOT of lost time to make up for! As soon as my Groupon ran out, I signed up as a member...and got so much more than just your typical gym membership.

I've lost 25 pounds so far and I've seen more than just physical changes. My confidence is soaring, my skin a little brighter (thanks to all that H2O!), my smile a lot bigger and my clothes just keep looking better and better (who doesn't love that?!). Several friends have said "You look so happy!" and the truth of those words really hits home. Such a small statement carries such huge weight behind it. Nobody wants to believe that they are unhappy, let alone that they LOOK unhappy. Looking back, I can see how that extra weight (and the subsequent discontent) played into my every day life. I drank more, ate more crappy food and was outwardly jealous of things others had that, truth be told, were well within my grasp. I was too caught up in my own self-loathing that I couldn't see how transparent I was. Shedding pounds really wasn't just that...it was shedding the unwanted weight of all that self-doubt and negativity I carried around for way too long. More and more, it feels amazing to hear someone tell me that I look happy. I look at it as a marker of my hard work paying off in dividends. It's the love of self I've rekindled that's shining through for the world to see. Now here we are, at the end of the first week of this DietBet and I am primed and ready to finish this off and lose these last five pounds!

Cheers to loving yourself and your journey!