I am a single mom of 2 grown sons. I've been overweight all my life. I hit 275 pounds when I was pregnant with my first child, and then a number of years later, I reached 275 without being pregnant. Obesity is definitely a genetic factor for me: I had a grandmother who weighed 350 pounds, a sister who weighed almost 400, and my mom was in the 250-pound range. My grandmother had a saying, "You don't get Pekingese from Great Dane stock," which is true, of course. But one day I realized that just because that's true, it doesn't mean I have to be the biggest Great Dane in the pen.

I started working on health and fitness goals in May 2013. By March 2014 I had lost about 60 pounds, but I was really stagnating because I had lost motivation. I tried Weight Watchers, but just didn't find motivation there. What really kept me going was reading other people’s success stories. One week the person they profiled was a DietBet success story (I just looked up the story—it was about Sara Lugger). I was psyched about getting paid to lose weight! Within two weeks I had joined my first bet, and I've never looked back.

DietBet worked for me because I'm very competitive and expect the best from myself. So that means that when I'm involved in something that's within my control, I should succeed at it. Losing weight is in my control, so I should be able to win the challenges. Plus I am stingy—I don't like losing money. As much as I love the money won at the end of each game, without doubt my favorite part of the game is the sense of community, and even friendship, that builds between the players. That's especially true for the 6-month Transformer games, when the group can really get to interact. I wish more people would take advantage of the social aspect!

Since I'm just about at my goal weight, I'm eagerly looking forward to the start of maintenance games. DietBet is a tool, not a magic pill. What you will get from DB is motivation and support from people who are walking the same path as you, no matter what size you are and how much weight you have to lose!