Dietbet #1 officially began yesterday!  Losing six pounds in a mere month is going to be a real challenge for me.  That's a very lofty goal!  I am usually lucky to lose a pound a week so I know I can't go into this without a solid strategy.  My plan of attack looks this:

EAT - I know from plenty of past experience that skipping meals, starving myself or any kind of deprivation leads me directly to binge eating and weight gain.  None of those shenanigans this time, folks!  My plan is to follow Weight Watchers "Simply Filling".  I have calorie counted for years and I'm tired of it.  When I lost a bunch of weight before it was with the old "Core" plan which is similar to "Simply Filling".  It couldn't be easier - eat from the approved foods list when hungry.  Stop when satisfied.  Done & done!  There is so much flexibility with the list that I don't feel deprived and that's key for me.  If the weight doesn't come off fast enough (hey, I have $$$ on the line here!) I will have to re-evaluate.  I am definitely in it to win it, but I don't want to resort to unhealthy behaviors. 

EXERCISE - Exercise is my nemesis.  Ugh.  I am the first to admit that I STINK at sticking to exercise.  Mornings are typically the best time for me to get it in, but frankly I am pretty bad about getting out of bed early.  I will work on this, and plan B is to fit it in somewhere else if I can't make the early bird thing work out (sleep is important too!).  I know that exercise is going to be absolutely necessary for me to get a big enough caloric deficit to lose this weight in time.  I am definitely not losing 6 pounds this month without it!  The important thing for me is to commit to moving every.single.day!  No excuses!

WEIGH IN - I don't want to weigh daily because the fluctuations will make me a crazy person, but I do plan to step on the scale every 3 days or so.  I need to keep an eye on the number so I can adjust as needed.  I don't want to get too close to the end of game with too much left to lose.  That is just a recipe for disaster!  I have been indulging a lot over the holidays so I know I will see a nice loss at the beginning due to water weight/sodium but once that's gone I will be fighting for each and every pound.

ACCOUNTABILITY - I think this one is the most important for me.  Sounds crazy that it could be more important than my eating or exercise in my weight loss efforts, but it is!  Why?  Because I've already shown (over and over and over again) that when I'm only accountable to myself, I fail.  I give up, I give in and I promise to do better next time.  Clearly that's not been working out for me.....  When I was successful before, I was part of a very close knit/active online community and that really helped me stick to it.  This time I plan to be involved in the dietbet community, publicize my unofficial weigh-ins and continue blogging.

I can do this!  I WILL do this!  Good luck, everyone!  We're in this together!