If you just want the quick overview, you must commit to a plan and stick to it to succeed.
If however you want to know more details then sit back, relax and enjoy the following…
My Success:
In 2015 I was highly successful in losing weight. DietBet provided the platform that worked for me. The following Blog post does a really good job of describing my attitude near the end of my first run at losing weight with DietBet. It does a fantastic job of describing how I succeeded.
October 20, 2015 Blog Post - My Testimonial: What is my driving force behind my weight loss?
At this point I had lost 96 pounds and I was PROUD of it! I felt that nothing could stop me and that I would not be derailed… or so I thought.
My Failure:
October 28, 2015 BOOM! I had gained 4 lbs. and I experienced my first Runner-up on a challenge. In other words I failed. I was no longer a 100% Member of the Blue Dot Club. (Don’t know what Blue Dot Club is? Go back and read the Blog.) Several other players had lost their challenges, but NOT ME. They kept telling me it was okay, but I wasn’t okay with it. I had to accept that failure and try to move on. I gained 2 more lbs. but still won a Transformer challenge that I was totally killing it on. Then I lost 8 lbs. to win one more Kickstart to get to my lowest of 206.4 lbs. on 11/11/2015. Then by 11/14/2015 I had gained 3.4 lbs. and won another Transformer Round.
My wife had told me to be careful and that I wouldn’t be able to keep it off if I ever expected to be able to eat again. Of course I refused to believe anything she was trying to tell me, because of my Pride. But my pride had been bruised. I had lost a challenge and now it was Thanksgiving 2015. I looked good, I even ate very little at the Thanksgiving meal, but my attitude sucked. By Thanksgiving I had lost 3 Challenges and I started to not care. I didn’t even socialize anymore on DietBet anymore. I felt embarrassed that I didn’t do what I had set out to do.
I had also promised to enter that Maintainer once I got to my goal weight, but I never got there. I kept entering challenges thinking I would get motivated again. Instead I just kept gaining weight. Eventually I got so far away from my Life Goal Weight that a Maintainer was the furthest thing from my mind.
By Jan 4, 2016 (less than 2 months) I had regained 32 lbs. and it didn’t stop there. 2016 was a BAD year for me emotionally, physically and in my job. My father and business partner for the last 15 years has battled a lung disease since 1997. In February he was transported to Denver with pneumonia. This was his 1st of 4 trips to the hospital in 2016. In April we almost lost him with a popped & collapsed lung. After his last trip to the hospital in October with pneumonia again, he decided that being involved at the office was no longer an option for him. While we do have caretakers come into their home to tend to my parents care, it still takes a lot of my time, and is stressful. To top 2016 off, my lead secretary had a stroke in March 2016 and was unable to come back to work in a full capacity. I was also informed in October 2016 that my 2nd secretary needed to quit as well, so that she could run daycare to take care of her youngest. And my 3rd secretary has needed to retire for several years, so in the transition of hiring new staff and the implementation of new software programs that she wouldn’t be able to use, I decided now was as good a time as any. Then I had the joy of training all new staff, and I’m still training them. Needless to say, my time was spread very thin and I couldn’t find a way to spend any time exercising on a consistent basis. That’s my excuse and I’m holding to it.
So by Jan 1, 2017 I had regained all the weight and added some more to a max of 313.2 lbs. I thought I could devote the time needed to make my trek down the scale again. That lasted about 75 days. I got busy again and by Sept 4, 2017 I found myself back up to 309 lbs.
Bottom line is my Failure is 2 Part: Part 1 is I allowed myself to not accept losing. Once I lost a challenge, it crushed my spirit, and I began to not care anymore. I should have entered that Maintainer once I decided to not pursue losing weight, even if I wasn’t at my Goal Weight. I was not in a healthy place, and I didn’t know how to get out of it or have a contingency plan to get out of it.
Part 2 is I allowed life circumstances to distract me. Granted, they were valid reasons to give pause to the fight of weight loss, but I didn’t need to allow food to be my crutch again. Had I been in that Maintainer, I believe I could have in the very least not gained the weight, even if by diet alone. Granted exercise is always recommended for both weight control, and mental health.
What is different this time?
- Since Labor Day 2017 I have become highly motivated again. The Blue Dot Club is once again my driving force in the weight loss. However I will allow a loss along the way if it happens.
- Being involved in the Challenges socially takes some time. But the benefit is that I feel accountable to those around me.
- I will continue to be in 3 Kickstarts staggered every 10 days and 3 Transformers staggered by 2 months or so at all times.
- I have found the $10 Shame Games to be fun place to check into. While they don’t motivate me to exercise, they are a way for me to laugh and to stay tuned in to DietBet.
- I’ve started the Spin & Swim Series. By happenstance I needed a game 10 days away from the Shame Games, but there were none available. So I created a game and invited other players. I never expected the wonderful group of players that joined me to be a group of highly motivated players much like myself, that go out of their way to encourage everyone. Being that I enjoy this group I will continue the Series as long as there is interest for $10 a game starting on the 11th of every month.
- By staggering my games I plan to lose 4 lbs. every 10 days. By doing so, the next Kickstart challenge due for weigh out should only require about 2 lbs. to complete (at my current weight) however I will shoot for the full 4 lbs. This will become more and more difficult as I approach my Life Goal Weight, and if I need to adjust it I can.
- With this aggressive approach I plan to be at my Life Goal Weight by mid-May 2018. This would be GREAT because I have 2 big trips planned. My business rewards trip at the end of May and BAK www.bak.org the 2nd week of June.
- And last but not least, I will enter a Maintainer when I am done losing weight regardless if I make my Life Goal Weight or if I just need to give pause. I intend to be a Lifetime Member of DietBet, but not with the rebound I experienced thus far. I’d like to use this platform to control my monthly weight fluctuation to be in the 4 to 8 lbs. range - MAX.