Day: December 31, 2013

Diet Bet

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I’ve been talking a little bit about Dietbet.com and how it is to be one of my motivating tools this January. Today I headed over to the website to check in on the bet I’m joining and to learn more about the process.
The downside, to me, is that the rules and how to’s don’t always seem clear. I suppose that over time it will become a little more obvious what is happening and the how will become a little less mysterious. But in my ‘curiosity killed the cat, fly by the seat of your pants’ kind of philosophy, I paid for an additional bet just to see how it works! So now, I am signed up for the original 4% in four weeks bet and I also paid for and registered to be a part of a 30 day challenge. I’m not sure what I’m supposed to do in those 30 days, but I figured if I just keep moving forward that hopefully the bet will pan out with something positive. My goal will be to lose about nine pounds. I can do that.
I tell you what, though. As soon as I laid my money down my game face came on. It may be a very good tool, indeed, if that is the instant way it made me feel.
If you want to join in, here are the links:
4% of Weight Lost in Four Weeks (Starts on 1/3, though you have a few extra days to check in late)
30 Day Challenge (Starts on 1/1)
If you actually join, let me know so we can cheer one another on!
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De-Mystifying the DietBet Check-In
I’ll admit right now that if something seems technologically complicated I will bypass it. In that vein, I was skeptical of the dietbet photography upload business that on some websites can be such a frustrating pain. You see, to verify your weight you submit two photos- one on a scale in front of a mirror and the other of the scale with your weight and a special word that, I suppose, is the equivalent of holding a newspaper in a spy film. You are supposed to wear ‘airport security’ clothes- whatever that means. I just wore workout gear that didn’t weigh much.

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Yep. 223. I can’t even… Seriously.
Anyhow..
To make things even easier, Dietbet has an app for your smartphone that makes the process go from easy to simple. And to be clear, I edited these photos together for this post. Diet bet does not make you do that! Cheers for simplicity!
So, here’s to me losing 8-9 pounds in January!
Happy New Year!

Happy New Year Resolutions!!

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First: SQUEEEEE! I figured out how to embed a YouTube video! It was all the fault of these mobile sites on my iPad. Tsk tsk.
Anyhow…
I have always been one for resolutions. Every year for the past two decades I’ve made a resolution to lose weight, become more active or eat healthier. Sometimes a combination of two or three, but always this trinity of choices.
Last year I made my resolution, kind of tongue in cheek. I had made the same resolution, to continue to lose weight on the slowest diet in the world by shedding between 1-2 pounds per month, as I had the previous three years. Then, late in January, I ‘met’ Katie from runsforcookies.com and realized I needed to take my resolution a little more seriously. So I did. You know the long story, but the cliff notes version for newbies is that I started moving a lot, very intentionally, making smart food choices, lost around 60 pounds and gained a whole new sense of self.
This week I have been thinking a lot about my diet bet, and how my friend who I am doing it with pointed out that every person she knew who was involved in the bet actually lost weight, thus ‘won’ the bet. I’ve been thinking resolutions are similar. Even if you don’t make it the whole year or meet your goal, most likely you made headway. This year you may not have made it past the planning phase, but next time you try you will be better prepared. This year you may have succumbed after 20 pounds and two months. This year you could do that again. Small goals. Baby steps. Small successes. Which brings me to the video.
Dr. Mike, from the video, points out that New Years resolutions absolutely work for a percentage of the people who adopt the practice. In fact, of the 41% of the people who made the resolutions, 46% of them were still working toward their resolutions six months later, as compared to 4% of the people who chose a random time to make a goal. With this study group, there was a ten times greater likelihood that they would be successful! He suggests that this is due to the feeling of community and the reflective nature of this unique and hopeful time of year. If you ever needed motivation as to why you should commit to your goals now, that seems proof enough to me! If I even have a smidgen of a greater chance at success simply based on when I declare my intentions, that seems like a pretty easy step to take. But ten times better chances? Sign me up.
So take a risk, make a goal, and jump. You never know, it could be the start of a brand new life.
Happy 2014!
Cheers for health and happiness!
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And if you liked what he said there…