I Am A Loser

First off I want to congratulate all of my co-workers who entered the “Biggest Loser” contest. Any amount of weight that was lost during this contest is an accomplishment. It just shows you can do anything you set your mind to. So for that I think everyone should be proud of themselves for losing whatever percentage of weight they lost over those six weeks of torture.

This was the second time my coworkers decided to attempt this contest, my first. I did not enter the first contest due to the fact I didn’t want to lose any weight at that time. About four months before the second contest started I decided to put myself on high protein diet. I increased my protein intake daily and changed my weight training routine from a more toned routine to a muscle building routine. This steered me away from my cardio routine, as I needed to focus more of my energy to lifting weights five days a week. After a short period of time I started to pack on the weight. I found that I did not feel comfortable and that I preferred my cardio routine maintaining muscle tone instead of muscle building. This is why I decided to enter the contest. I figured being challenged to lose weight would get me back on my cardio track and maintain a normal weight for my comfort zone. There were other perks of entering the contest such as the competition and the cash prize. I enjoy good competition and being the biggest loser was my motivation. The first place winner received seventy five percent of the prize money and second place twenty five percent. Not a bad purse right before the holidays.

For those who thought I was not overweight and had no reason entering this contest my initial weight was 227.2 lbs. This is well over my BMI (body mass index weight), which should be in the 180 lb. range. People think I carry my weight well but my answer to that is I wear baggy clothes. So this is why I wanted to shed a few pounds especially before the holidays.

The contest stretched over a six-week period. As I mentioned in my blog “One Pork Chop” I used the first week to slowly wean myself off the junk food. At the start of the second week I geared into cruise control. I was doing cardio six days a week. I even stopped lifting weights for the six weeks as I did not want muscle to weigh me down. I bought a big steamer pot. I was eating better than Jack Lalanne. I didn’t even eat half of an M&M. I steamed chicken, fish and vegetables. At first steamed food wasn’t bad, in fact, I was having fun experimenting on how to make steamed food taste good. After a short time I knew I was not going to be successful in flavoring steamed food without adding calories. At that point I knew I had to take one day at a time and that it was going to get tough. I am a firm believer in eating small meals throughout the day, approximately five to six meals a day. My meals included fruits, vegetables, steamed chicken/fish and egg whites. I continued this for the next five weeks, which brought me to the end of the contest. I have to tell you, the toughest days were the last two. I felt like I saw more good food in those two days than in the entire six weeks of the contest. I never wanted to rush a weekend as much as the last one. The weigh in was Monday morning and once I weighed in I felt relieved it was finally over. I was then ready for the holiday menu.

In conclusion I must say this had to be one of the hardest things I was ever involved with. If this was the first time I tried to lose a substantial amount of weight I am not sure I would have been as successful but being that this is the fourth time losing forty pounds and more, experience was on my side. I’ve been called many things in my life but being called a loser never sounded so good. Remember, you can do anything!!