Down 23.6 lbs! :)

Posted on February 15, 2015

On Jan 13th of 2014 I weighed 316.2 lbs. I entered (and won) a 12 week weight loss contest by dropping 72 lbs in 12 weeks. The first and last week of those type of contest mainly consist of a lot of manipulation and would not really constitute legitimate weight loss so, i checked my weight 1 week after the contest and found myself at 260 and for the remainder of last year I was looking to maintain a decent range (+/- 3%) of that 260 weight.

Back in December, with 2015 looming near and, perhaps due to all the extra activity inherent with the holidays my weight climbed back up a bit. On Jan 26th of this year I signed up with HealthyWage at a weight of 292.0 and upon starting with Dietbetter.com I weighed 284.8 lbs.

This morning I found myself at a weight of 268.4 :)

so, I'm down 23.6 lbs from my starting weight on Jan 26th and down 16.5 lbs from starting with Dietbetter.com I don't have facebook or twitter to share the little badge thing I got from dietbet but was still excited about the progress so I thought I'd share it here :)

HealthyWage.com isn't as good as dietbet in terms of community and forums, it's kind of cold and lonely in that regard but you can set your own terms with your wager in terms of how much you want to lose and the time frame (6 to 18 months) and exactly how much you want to wager. It's pretty easy to enter a bet that will double your money.

My goal weight with HealthyWage is 212 lbs and I've given myself 18 months to be at this weight. Even if the weight loss is achieved early, you still need to be at your goal weight in the last 2 weeks of your final victory date.

Through trial and error, I learned that any bet above $750 doesn't give any greater payoff amount, it's essentially $16 per pound I'll earn and since I'm looking at losing 80 pounds the winnings amount to $1,280. The HealthyWage website allows you to pay all your bet up front or to split it into monthly payments. I opted for monthly payments of $42 per month which means I'll be investing a total of $756 and, once the 212 weight is confirmed next year, I'll get back the money I put in plus that $1280 for a total prize of $2,036.00 :)

If anybody wants to try out the HealthyWage challenge, in addition to DietBet and wouldn't mind boosting my motivation then please click on the HealthyWage Referral Link below. As a participant, I'll get an extra $20 added to my final prize for every person I refer to the site :)

HealthyWage Referral Link

Part of the Reason I picked the 18 month time frame was due to DietBet. I'm thinking I can go through 3 of the 6 month transformations which should put me within striking distance of my 212lb goal weight. I was originally pondering a weight below 205 but, that weight was pretty darn close to my high school weight (eons ago...) and a bit much for my mind to accept. I know a little over a decade ago I was weighing 222 lbs. So, 212 is closer to that and easier for my mind to accept. :)

Comment Now!

Katie

02/15/2015 6:13PM

Okee dokee, Dr. Scott, I followed your Referral Link and I really hope it worked. Can you tell if you got a referral bonus? I don't know if you'd be able to see it yet...I've thought about doing Healthy Wage before and even made an account, but opted for DietBet instead. However, I find these games so motivating that I figured it can't hurt to do both at the same time. I wagered $25/month for 6 months to lose 35 pounds. I have the opportunity to add $118 to that when I reach the goal weight (I'll probably have to spend it on new clothes!). On top of that, I'm doing the Transformer AND monthly 4% DietBets. I'm locked in and ready!Thanks for posting this, it was very encouraging!

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Dr Scott

about an hour ago I got a Congratulations email from HealthyWage indicating someone w/ an email that started as "frankthebutcher" accepted the invite and I did have a $20 referral added to my HealthyWage account. I'm almost glad that the annual weight loss contest I usually do ended otherwise I would have never found any of these sites :) I'm doing two of the 10% and 3 of the 4% challenges also :)I hope we both hit our mark! :) ...you aren't frank the butcher, are you? :)

Katie

Oh, um... yep. Hehe, that's me. It was a rash decision that I made many years ago when all of my primary choices for an e-mail address were already taken. Bad choice, in retrospect. :)

Work-Of-Art

02/15/2015 5:41PM

I just realized that I sent a reply to a fellow participant that was actually intended for Scott to receive. Still trying to figure out the most effective way to communicate here. if you happen to be the person who read my long post...please bear with me as I deal with these game communication challenges.

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Suze

02/15/2015 4:49PM

Awesome! This weight loss/maintaining is such a challenge. Lifelong for me, but I'm seeing the light- now have 6 months "clean & sober" eating with a lifestyle plan I feel I can live with. I am curious how you drop the pounds so fast. My first 40 lbs seemed to fly off. The last 12- through the holidays- much slower. With less than 20 to go, and much more activity -trained & ready for a half marathon next weekend- the lbs are dropping at a painfully slow rate. I'm grateful in a way as the maintaining part is a whole different mindset for me.. Congrats and thanks for your post and info!PS DB has been a great accountability tool

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Dr Scott

I'll be honest with you Suze, I don't really lose anything on my own. In my blog, icanrunaminute.com I've tracked my weekly weigh-ins for over a year now and the only time I lost weight was during a competition at the beginning of last year, the rest of the time I was happy to maintain my results in a reasonable range. For me, forcing awareness of my weight seems to be part of the key ...wish i wasn't limited to 1,000 char here because there's so much more I'd like to say...CONGRATS on the 1/2! I'm registered for two in April and recently signed up for one in Sept in Washington DC!!! It will be my first time there! :)

Suze

I feel maintaining is often harder than losing - a different mindset for me. But tracking & connecting are surely key. Along with the obvious including moving more and often. Grateful that I've re-discovered mynlove for hiking/power walking. I'll check your blog,

Jenn

02/15/2015 12:37PM

I'm tempted to try it, but it seems like the bet rates aren't great compared to dietbet. It might be because I only want to lose another 15-20 pounds, but it looked like I would probably make $30 over 6 months. I mean that's still pretty nice, just nothing compared to here.

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Work-Of-Art

Sorry Jenn thought I was replying to scott. Oops...my bad

Dr Scott

@Work - I spent a lot of late nights in the cadaver lab learning about those tendons & ligaments (I'm a DC) One study I remembered learning about compared Couch Potatoes to Runners. The prevailing assumption was that the runners would suffer wear & tear sooner - probably looking at osteoarthritis. The results were surprising because it was the couch potatoes that wore out quicker and suffered faster degeneration. Kind of part of that use it or lose it philosophy. there isn't a great blood supply to cartilage & ligaments and movement - compression, decompression, etc, helps to diffuse nutrients and waste into and out of those tissues. So - great job on the exercise and I wish you the best of luck.

DownsizingAaron

02/15/2015 9:42AM

I played HealthyWage as well and won. I agree that DietBet has a much better game play!