Loser

We had our final weigh-in for the Biggest Loser contest at work yesterday and I've lost six pounds in the last two weeks. Yay me. I think I've lost a total of thirteen pounds in the contest, NOT counting the twenty or so pounds I lost before the contest started. Double YAY me.

I don't know who the winner was but I don't think it was me. Regardless of whether I won the cash, I learned a few things along the journey:

1) Size is relative. I have everything from a size four petite to a regular twelve in my closet. They all fit. Oh, and even a boys' size eighteen shorts that I just inherited from my thirteen year old nephew because he outgrew them. Most of my clothes are size six or eight, but they all fit differently. Rather than focusing on the number on the scale or the clothes tag, I'm going to focus on the way my clothes fit and how I feel.


2) Exercise is relative. Dan and I both work out on the treadmill for one hour. I was doing a combo of running and walking at an incline of 1.5. Dan was just walking but his incline was 5.0. He was burning MORE calories than I was in that hour. Last night I decided to try his plan and raised my incline to 5.0 for part of the time and then lowered it to 4.0 halfway through. I walked (only walked, no running) for 3.21 miles and burned 431 calories. When I was walking/running the same distance I only burned about 378 calories.

3) Taste is relative. I didn't like raw carrots until this contest. When you're extremely hungry and the only thing you brought for lunch is a bag of carrots and sugar snap peas, those veggies are so delicious.

4) Relatives will sabotage your best-laid plans. My husband is the devil. He brings cookies, chips, brownie mix, ice cream, and did I mention cookies ? into the house. But at least he does some of the grocery shopping and buys me grapefruit, so he's forgiven.

5) Losing weight is harder when you're almost thirty-nine and have a thyroid condition than it is when you're in your twenties. Add the stress of a graduate school class, dealing with the state licensing office, interviewing for jobs, getting passed over for jobs, creating costumes for two different kids' plays, looking for a house, and trying to put your own house on the market and it's very hard to avoid comfort foods.

6) Get your thyroid checked. Unpacking clothes you haven't worn in four years and finding out that they fit again feels great. Before my thyroid decided to wig out four years ago I'd just lost about thirty pounds. Mom bought me a bunch of new, cute clothes for my birthday. Life was good. Then, out of the blue, I promptly gained twenty pounds back. I was eating and exercising exactly the same, but instead of losing weight I was gaining. I would get so tired that I needed a nap after checking the mail. My hair and nails were brittle. Lots of other symptoms, no explanation. FINALLY my hypothyroid was diagnosed and I was put on medication.

But I still struggled. Long, personal story short--I was severely anemic. A quick surgery two years ago took care of that and I've been working my way back since then.

Baby...I'm back.

Those clothes fit again. I have energy.

Life is good.

Carrots are good. Well, relatively speaking.