Quest to win $1,500 ... And maybe $2,500

[TheHaitian]

My company always have those weight lost contest incentives, insurance deductions etc.

This weight loss contest serve two purpose:
- if you participate and remain in it for the 8 weeks you get $27/week knocked off on your insurance premium. Our premium is 70/week so will go down to $43/week (they will back pay).

- if you win top prize is $1,500

- if you keep the weight off 6 months later and in the top, you win $2,500

Off course they are other prizes but I am going for the top ones. Also my store would win $750 for highest rate of participation (41% of teammates signed up).

[TheHaitian]

Anyway in the past couple of years with life happening I got busy and gained weight.

Since I had to lose weight anyway I figure why not join in the fun.

2 weeks in
- 10 lbs down from my scale at home
- 15 lbs down base on the scale at work (I gained an extra 5 lbs on purpose that day)

6-7 weeks to go and the goal is to increase momentum, since I basically took it easy the past two weeks and also started cardio last night.

Goal is 75-100lbs total lost to guarantee a win for my store and I.

[Jaguar]

Good for you.

[mmhmm]

Sounds like a good challenge, and a darned good idea to get folks to participate. Good luck!

[TheHaitian]

Thanks guys!!!

No gym yesterday, I decided to take a nap after work since I had a headache and when I woke up it was 11:45 (I forgot to set the alarm).

Diet was good yesterday and my co-workers tried to tempted me into eating a donut ; someone brought in a few dozen from a bakery in town.

Down another 2 lbs as of this morning
- So 12 lbs so far...

[TheHaitian]

2 days later still haven't been to the gym/
- one day I pulled a muscle at work : getting old and feeling old truly SUCK
- second : the snow storm yesterday!

Anyway got some well deserved rest but I still need to get into the gym and workout.

As for as diets, still good. I still have enough in it that I like and that will make it tolerable and something i can maintain:
- I still have a frozen pizza every morning for breakfast
- I still have cinnamon toast crunch as my snack item
Etc.

Down 14 lbs as of this morning and the race continues!!!

[NancysSummerSip]

Sounds like a fun way to earn money. But don't go all stupidly restrictive on the food. You want to take the weight off and keep it off; that's the real long-term goal here. It's nice to win the money, but that should be secondary. Primary is getting healthy, so when you become a dad, you set a great example and you can chase those babies around the house for many wonderful years.

[TheHaitian]

Feb 3, 2015 10:27:35 GMT -5 NancysSummerSip said:

Sounds like a fun way to earn money. But don't go all stupidly restrictive on the food. You want to take the weight off and keep it off; that's the real long-term goal here. It's nice to win the money, but that should be secondary. Primary is getting healthy, so when you become a dad, you set a great example and you can chase those babies around the house for many wonderful years.

I am mostly having fun with it, not really restricting (which is why I still got my goodies).

My wife is pissed that I am still losing weight eating pizza and chocolate covered popcorn

Just got to keep the momentum going!!!

[NancysSummerSip]

Feb 3, 2015 11:53:23 GMT -5 TheHaitian said:

Feb 3, 2015 10:27:35 GMT -5 NancysSummerSip said:

Sounds like a fun way to earn money. But don't go all stupidly restrictive on the food. You want to take the weight off and keep it off; that's the real long-term goal here. It's nice to win the money, but that should be secondary. Primary is getting healthy, so when you become a dad, you set a great example and you can chase those babies around the house for many wonderful years.

I am mostly having fun with it, not really restricting (which is why I still got my goodies).

My wife is pissed that I am still losing weight eating pizza and chocolate covered popcorn

Just got to keep the momentum going!!!

There's no comparison between your metabolism and hers. Sucks to be female sometimes. But we burn calories at a slower rate. Smaller muscle structure, organs and bones means we just don't use up as much as the men do. And your job is mostly on your feet, moving around, right? Her's is mostly a desk job? So add that to the reason you burn more calories.

[mroped]

Never had a problem with gain/loss so I wouldn know what to say to somebody that is trying to shed a few pounds.

i remember though reading a while back something about Romans and societal customs and trends.
there was something about how did the Romans manage to stay fit and healthy and I found that the way they were treating their meals was interesting.
It went something like this:
"breakfast, eat good and eat it alone! Lunch, share it with a friend! Dinner, give it to an enemy!"
They tended to have dinner somewhere between 5 and 7 pm so I'd say just like most people do it today. 
I'd go nuts if I'd have to skip dinner but that's just me!

[TheHaitian]

Hectic day at work yesterday so diet was not the greatest : I am an emotional eater. Managed to make it do the gym in time to do 40 minutes cardio ...

This morning some co-workers are mad because we did a mini weight in. I am down 20 lbs (15) while some are only down 5-10 and one actually gained 3 lbs.

So they wanted to know my secret and accused me of taking "pills".... Oh well; we move on.

Keep on trucking towards $1,500

[sesfw]

Yay ....... Carl

This is a life style change and I know you can do it.

Back on my soap box but now is a good time to check the sodium. Heart healthy

[Cookies Galore]

Feb 7, 2015 19:57:48 GMT -5 sesfw said:

Yay ....... Carl

This is a life style change and I know you can do it.

Back on my soap box but now is a good time to check the sodium. Heart healthy

Emphasis sorely needed.

[TheHaitian]

Spend the weekend at home relaxing/chilling:
- chinese food on Friday
- meatball and pasta on Saturday
- Applebee's on Sunday

Weight is still the same so that a good! Back on the grind....

[NoNamePerson]

Just curious but are the people who are not overweight receiving a break on their insurance already?

ETA: forgot to say good luck with the weight loss and hope you win the big bucks!!      OH and come back to YM to see how you should spend/save/invest the winning and extra money in your paycheck!!

[TheHaitian]

Feb 10, 2015 9:20:51 GMT -5 NoNamePerson said:

Just curious but are the people who are not overweight receiving a break on their insurance already?

ETA: forgot to say good luck with the weight loss and hope you win the big bucks!!      OH and come back to YM to see how you should spend/save/invest the winning and extra money in your paycheck!!

If you agree to the health screening and pass you can get $27/week credit on your health insurance cost.

At $70/week that is almost half the cost covered for a family plan (~39%).

Now the screening focus on :
- smoking
- BMI
- blood pressure
- cholesterol
- Blood sugar

In my case I was good on 4 out of 5 except for BMI. I get half now (13.5/week) and if I complete the weight loss challenge I get reimbursed for the other half and get the full $27 moving forward!

So yes being healthy you pay less for insurance than the others... Or your premium get covered by 39%.

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

They used to do these weight loss contests all the time at work, however the contests are almost always skewed for a male winner so I didn't bother even trying.  

I'm not sure how to really do a fair contest when you include both genders.  

[NoNamePerson]

Feb 14, 2015 13:33:28 GMT -5 The Walk of the Penguin Mich said:

They used to do these weight loss contests all the time at work, however the contests are almost always skewed for a male winner so I didn't bother even trying.  

I'm not sure how to really do a fair contest when you include both genders.  

Do percentage of weight loss instead of pounds maybe?

[TheHaitian]

Feb 14, 2015 13:33:28 GMT -5 The Walk of the Penguin Mich said:

They used to do these weight loss contests all the time at work, however the contests are almost always skewed for a male winner so I didn't bother even trying.  

I'm not sure how to really do a fair contest when you include both genders.  

At my job they do it by % of weight loss

Last year the winner was a woman

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

That really is more fair.  However, the bigger you are, the more you can manipulate things.