HARD WORK IS NO LONGER AN OPTION

As you already know i had to lose a lot in order to catch up in the competition. So how did i do on Friday during weigh in? I felt really proud of myself i lost exactly 3 pounds weighing in at 189.6, but still didn't meet my weekly goal. Now i have to lose 5 pounds to catch up.

This is when i asked myself what do i need to do differently? Why am i so far behind if i weigh the most in the competition? I usually hear that its easier for those who weigh more to lose larger amounts and i wasn't pulling my weight like i should have been. And then it came to me, hard work. I was trying but not as hard as i could. I was hoping that by doing the minimum of counting calories and working out 3 times a week would cut it. I'm not going to argue with the method it obviously works well. It was definitely working out the first two weeks but not as much as i would've liked. I needed to work harder and it no longer was an option because i had to catch up with the rest.

I began the Atkins Diet last week but I wasn't completely following the steps on Monday and Tuesday as well as i should have. I considered it my "transitional stage". I was still eating carbs but at least it was healthier carbs, such as whole wheat bread on Monday for lunch and baked potatoes on Monday for dinner and bean salad on Tuesday, but then i weighed myself Wednesday morning and saw i was still in the 190s and i really wanted to break through that wall as much as possible, so i stepped it up.

Officially began the Atkins diet on Wednesday. All i did was cook recipes in the back of the book, ate under 20 grams of carbs a day and exercised every day for at least 1 hour since Wednesday, no excuses. I found that Wednesday i got stuck in a meeting at work way past my usual work hours and didn't have the time to go to the gym. Instead i remembered i had P90X dvds at home and decided to do one, to at least get in 45mins of a work out.

Thursdays i usually get out of work at 5pm and dont have class until 7pm, so i go to the gym which is located near Hunter College making it convenient for me to pass time and get a good work out, but with my bad luck i forgot my sneakers at home and didnt even realize it until i was the gym. This really frustrated me because it was the day before weigh in and i had to get a work out one way or another, but i also knew that class wouldn't end until 9:40, ugh! The issue was that if i wanted to really weigh in at 186.5 like i had to in order not to pay i had to work out no matter what! I got home at 10:30 that night and put on my P90X dvd. Painful?... Yes. Tiring?... Yes. Worth it?... YES! i had finally broken down that wall of 190, even though if it was by .4 it still meant a lot to me! Although i still had to pay the weekly fee and didnt meet my goal i was happy and know i knew more than ever that i wanted to continue. I never want to reach 190 again!

I even worked out on Friday, Saturday and Sunday which i don't ever do! Fridays are my "date nights" with my fiance, Saturday and Sundays are my "relaxing" days, but not this weekend. I went to the gym on Friday with my fiance (who as i mentioned before has also decided to lose a few pounds with me and has been a huge support), i went jogging outdoors both Saturday and Sunday, did P90X on Saturday morning and then later in the afternoon did 30mins of Zumba, 30mins of belly dancing and 30mins of cardio sculpting, and Sunday i only did P90X. Monday I didn't work out but i weighed myself today to see how far I was from this week's target goal and i was 186.8! Exactly 2 pounds from what i need to be this week! I have to weigh in at 184.8 to not have to pay. I can definitely do 2 pounds in 3 days! Wish me luck! :)

MAKING FOUR GROWN GIRLS CRY...

Bring Girl Scout Cookies into work. Every year, one of the guys at work sells cookies for his daughter, but this year he had competition from another guy doing the same thing for his daughter. Well turns out yesterday was the day of distribution and one guy alone bought 100 boxes. He decided to give them away and left the bag of boxes on the desk between myself and Pudge Muffin. I guess he figured that leaving it there was easy for anyone to see, since many pass our desk to get on the elevator.

The Temptation...

This became an unfair challange for myself and Pudge Muffin. At least the other two are the floor above us so wouldn't be as tempted, although i  must say Tons of Fun does comes down often she felt the pain just as much as we did and if anything she seemed to be the most affected.

Avoiding Temptation...

Like I said before I'm not often tempted by sweets unless its a soft baked chocolate chip cookie, that will melt my heart. So I guess I didn't feel as tempted as they did on top of the fact that i weighed myself yesterday and say i had lost one pound and knew i still had five to go before friday so that kept me motivated. I was now 191.6 and today i weighed myself again and lost another 1.4lbs so now i'm 190.2, although i did just check the spreadsheet and i must weigh 186.7 by this Friday to not pay. I highly doubt I'll lose another 4 pounds within the next two day but i'm just happy to know that i'm at least losing and getting closer. I hope to at least weigh in at 188 and break that 190 wall.

The Chatroom...

As part of the competition I made a chat room for the four of us geared towards helping each other through dieting, temptation like yesterday's, and just weight loss topics in general since food is all we seem to think about nowadays. So, just to prove how badly the cookie situation was yesterday; I've decided to copy our skype conversation below, you can make your own judgement as to who was the weakest link.

[1:38:57 PM] Tons of Fun: i need to do something to kill time

[1:39:12 PM] Fatty Cake: me too

[1:39:20 PM] Fatty Cake: i've been trying to do work

[1:39:28 PM] Fatty Cake: but that obviously isn't doing the trick

[1:39:30 PM] Tons of Fun: me too but i am not really motivated

[1:39:56 PM] Fatty Cake: i was fine until i got tired all of a sudden

[1:40:05 PM] Tons of Fun: i could also eat a whole sleeve of girl scout cookies if i had some

[1:40:19 PM] Fatty Cake: haha don't give in Tons of Fun! don't give in!

[1:40:20 PM] Tons of Fun: i am eating my chili right now

[1:40:25 PM] Fatty Cake: yum

[1:40:40 PM] Tons of Fun: i dont have cookies ;(

[1:41:45 PM] Fatty Cake: awww

[1:41:51 PM] Fatty Cake: dont cry Tons of Fun

[1:42:12 PM] Tons of Fun: but i want to

[1:46:14 PM] Pudge Muffin : omg rick bought literally like 100 boxes

[1:46:19 PM] Pudge Muffin : and hes handing them out

[1:46:21 PM] Pudge Muffin : he doesnt want them

[1:46:32 PM] Pudge Muffin : theyre sitting in a ginat ass bag by our desks

[1:46:37 PM] Pudge Muffin : and tarras trying to get rid of them

[1:46:40 PM] Pudge Muffin : and i really want some

[1:49:33 PM] Pudge Muffin : Fatty Cake went to the bathroom

[1:49:36 PM] Pudge Muffin : to kill time

[1:49:39 PM] Pudge Muffin : and i really have to pee

[1:50:51 PM] Tons of Fun: haha

[1:50:59 PM] Tons of Fun: she is weighing herself

[1:51:05 PM] Pudge Muffin : haha

[1:51:31 PM] Tons of Fun: i am coming down

[1:51:36 PM] Tons of Fun: peanut butter please

[1:52:51 PM] Pudge Muffin : i have to peeeee

[1:53:11 PM] Tons of Fun: she is still in the bathroom sorry

[1:53:30 PM] Pudge Muffin : ok

[1:53:32 PM] Pudge Muffin : :(

[1:53:45 PM] Pudge Muffin : ((sweat))

[1:55:59 PM] Chunky Monkey: im trying so hard to eat healthy but i cant resist girl scout cookies

[1:56:07 PM] Pudge Muffin : i know!!

[1:56:16 PM] Pudge Muffin : theres a giant ass bag of free cookies by my desk!

[1:56:21 PM] Pudge Muffin : and its killing me not to take any

[1:56:27 PM] Pudge Muffin : but i know if i do, ill eat a whole box

[1:56:31 PM] Chunky Monkey: haha

[1:57:21 PM] Chunky Monkey: part of me will probably eat 1 or 2 cause damn i turned down pasta again yesterady

[2:18:26 PM] Tons of Fun: i just stuffed 3 pieces of gum in my mouth

[2:18:30 PM] Tons of Fun: to avoid eating cookies

[2:18:35 PM] Chunky Monkey: SHE IS SNIFFING THE BOX!

[2:19:24 PM] Fatty Cake: haha

[2:19:30 PM] Fatty Cake: Tons of Fun its not that serious

[2:19:34 PM] Fatty Cake: i'm sure you can have at least 2

[2:19:41 PM] Tons of Fun: no

[2:19:45 PM] Fatty Cake: its 140 calories for 2 right?

[2:19:57 PM] Tons of Fun: 110

[2:20:09 PM] Tons of Fun: wait a minute shouldnt you be supportive

[2:20:15 PM] Fatty Cake: yes i am

[2:20:16 PM] Tons of Fun: not trying to sabotage

[2:20:23 PM] Fatty Cake: but i also dont agree in depriving yourself

[2:20:29 PM] Fatty Cake: to the point where you are sniffing a box

[2:20:33 PM] Fatty Cake: sounds pretty bad

[2:20:43 PM] Tons of Fun: tell her not to weigh

[2:20:59 PM] Fatty Cake: huh? tell her what?

[2:21:43 PM] Tons of Fun: Chunky Monkey went to weigh herself now

[2:21:58 PM] Tons of Fun: but at first she weighed herself here with her clothes on on the carpeyt

[2:22:08 PM] Tons of Fun: i just dont want her to get down on herself

[2:23:30 PM] Fatty Cake: haha, wow Chunky Monkey

[2:23:33 PM] Fatty Cake: she just couldn't wait

[2:23:36 PM] Fatty Cake: and she just ate!

[2:23:39 PM] Fatty Cake: she's insane!

[2:23:42 PM] Tons of Fun: i know

[2:23:46 PM] Tons of Fun: !!!!

[2:23:51 PM] Fatty Cake: food sits so heavily right after eating

[2:24:06 PM] Fatty Cake: makes you think you gained 2lbs

[2:24:08 PM] Tons of Fun: unless you poo right after lol

[2:24:15 PM] Fatty Cake: true, lol

[2:26:37 PM] Chunky Monkey: haha i'm not down

[2:26:40 PM] Chunky Monkey: it's exactly 2 lbs

[2:44:45 PM] Fatty Cake: ok, its official today i'm blogging about girl scout cookie day

[2:45:08 PM] Pudge Muffin : guys, this competition has turned us against one another

[2:45:14 PM] Pudge Muffin : we have become paranoid

[2:45:17 PM] Pudge Muffin : and neurotic

[3:37:58 PM] Tons of Fun: who is going to breakdown and have a cookie?

[3:50:10 PM] Pudge Muffin : DONT GIVE IN TONS OF FUN

[3:50:15 PM] Pudge Muffin : DONT LET THE COOKIE WIN!

[3:50:22 PM] Pudge Muffin : YOU ARE STRONGER THAN THE COOKIE

[3:50:44 PM] Pudge Muffin : you look at that cookie and you say "NO!"

[3:52:27 PM] Tons of Fun: lol

[3:52:30 PM] Tons of Fun: thanks Pudge Muffin

[3:54:25 PM] Pudge Muffin : just trying to motivate

[3:55:02 PM] Tons of Fun: now motivate me to go to the gym

[3:57:26 PM] Pudge Muffin : that i cant do

[3:57:32 PM] Pudge Muffin : bc im not motivated to go

[3:57:32 PM] Pudge Muffin : haha

THE REASON

What is my thinspiration? Well like many i want to feel better about myself and look better in a bathing suit. Although part of it also has to do with working in a industry which is predominately male and feeling like im always being looked upon my appearance. Also the fact that the few girls that do work there are not Hispanic nor overweight. I don't think any of them weigh more than 150. All these things are good reasons for me but what really was the motivation was the competition.

How it started...

It all started with four guys at work; "Glazed Ham", "Muffin Top", "Pork Chop", and "Swollen Asian". They began a weight loss competition that involved big money. My friend "Tons of Fun" is a Senior Compliance Analyst and one of her responsibilities is to do email surveillance on all salesmen and traders. While reading emails she came upon the spreadsheet of the weightloss competition between these four guys so she decided to propose that us girls also have our own competition which would follow the same rules.

The rules...

The rules remain the same but the prices vary. Initial buy in to the competition was $50 for us and $200 for them. To start the competition each person was to choose their own 10 week goal, basically how much you hope to lose by the end of the 10 week competition; mine is 20lbs. In order to reach my 10 week goal i need to lose 2lbs a week. Which brings us to rule number 2, you have to reach your weekly goal or else pay a fee; ours is $5 and theirs is $100. Rule number 3 is, at the final weigh in you must pay a fee for every pound that you were off from your end goal. Our fee is $5 and theirs is $50, so say I only lost 15 instead of 20 I'd end up having to pay $25, but no worries I'm sure that wont happen. Rule four states that we are not allowed to weigh ourselves the day before or else pay a $2 fee and rule five says if you miss weighin you pay $6 the guys pay $50. All of us had to come up with fat nicknames for the sake of the competition and those are the names I'll use. The girls are Pudge Muffin, Tons of Fun, Chunky Monkey and me; Fatty Cake.

My progress...

Now this brings me to week 3 weigh in, which was on Friday. My start weight was 194.6, during my first weigh in I lost 3lbs and week two I lost 1.4lbs so this brought me down to 190.2. Not to mention that a week before my initial weig hin I began to prep myself and lost 2.4lbs; i was weighing 197, so in 3 weeks I had lost 6.8lbs. By the end of this competition I hope to weigh 175 but it won't end there! :)

The screw-up...

Although this last weigh in threw me off my game; bumping me from second place to last. On Friday I weighed in at 192.6. Luckily I wasn't alone in gaining this week. Chunky Monkey was the only one that didn't gain nor lost nor met her weekly goal meaning she still had to pay just like the rest of us. Now In order to not pay this week and to meet my goal i must lose 6lbs, shit!

What really screwed me up was my brother visiting me and all those days we went out to eat. If you notice the food journal you'll see how each day I let myself go a little more. I'm not a sweet tooth person, salty foods and carbs are what most attract my taste buds so when my brother suggested that we go to places like our favorite Colombian restaurant, Johnny Rockets, BBQ, and our favorite pizzeria it was hard to resist. *sigh*

The plan...

Well the same day that he left I went to Barnes & Noble and picked up a bunch of different diet books. I've decided each week I'm going to read up on a different diet and try it out. I'll follow through with each diet for a full 7 days until I find one I like and can stick to. My fiancé has decided to join me as well.

Well, bottom line is that my weakness screwed me up this weak and I must say that I'm truly embarrassed because as the heaviest in the competition I should be pulling bigger numbers when it comes to weight loss not bigger numbers in gaining. I've got the most to lose this week.

I've decided to go traditional, counting calories and excersizing every day this week until Friday, while I read up on The Atkins Diet which I will begin next week. First I've gotta do my research and know what I'm getting myself into before I get started.

Please feel free to comment and give me tips along the way. I need to win this for me, not the money and not to gloat, although a few extra bucks never hurt anyone. :)