weight lost challege at work

No sorry, I would not participate. Of all people, our office nurse ran a weight loss challenge and the winner was based on the percentage of total bodyweight lost. Everyone not losing in a week had to pay a certain amount of money. Great! Apparently she has no problems with water gain due to menstruation or didn't take it into consideration. I refused to take part, and seeing the unhealthy measures some colleagues took (one was only eating apples!) I'm glad I didn't. You learn nothing from that, really.

We have a challenge where all who wanted to participate put in ten $1.00 bills. We weigh every other week. If we lost weight since the last weigh-in, we get a dollar for each full pound. Gained, had to throw in an extra dollar for each full pound. Anyone can quit at any time, but can't take what's left of their original $10.00 back. The end point is when all the money is gone, if that ever happens. I know I will probably have to kick in a couple of dollars this week. It's fun and there's no pressure because it's based on the last weigh-in, and not overall weight loss.

cali30 wrote: »

I need to lose as much weight by Oct 2, 2015!! I need as much advice possible on how you lost weight.. thanks

Set a reasonable goal of losing between .5 and 2 lbs a week. If you have a lot to lose then you might go with 2 lbs a week. If you have less than 50 lbs to lose then 2 lbs a week might be too agressive or uncomfortable and you might do better with setting your goal to 1 lb a week.
Give MFP your info. Eat the calorie goal you are given. Don't do weird, intensely restrictive things to try to lose weight fast. Don't go below 1200 calories. Eat food you like in appropriate portion sizes. Log everything you eat and drink as accurately as you can. Eat a portion of any calories earned from exercise.
Be patient and healthy about this.

ncboiler89 wrote: »

cali30 wrote: »

I need to lose as much weight by Oct 2, 2015!! I need as much advice possible on how you lost weight.. thanks

Stop eating. Just don't eat another bite. You win.

That's basically what my father did for weight loss challenges at his work. He'd stop eating for a few months, win and then gain it back as soon as the challenge was over. He won every challenge they had. Eventually they stopped doing it after they realized he was losing and gaining the same weight over and over to win the prizes.

we have these too at work and it's usually men who win. If you can team up with a group of coworkers to encourage and account for each other to be healthy. share food logs, walk or exercise together. It is fun. But don't try to win by starving yourself. We have seen good success stories of people changing their lives and the way the way they take care of themselves, but we have also seen the last week of the challenge get a little scary.

Having won a workplace competition in the past, the best advice I can give is to find a good plan and stick to it. As Lounmoun said earlier, follow a sound and practical weight loss plan based on calorie counting and make sure it's sustainable, since you should really plan on continuing after the competition until you reach your goal AND after that since it should be a lifestyle change to really make it worthwhile and healthy.

However, and especially if it's a longer term competition, just stick to it. Most people who join those are not in it for the long term. Make that commitment and show that dedication and you'll likely win long after the guy who only eats apples and the girl doing the lemon juice cleanse have given up and gorged themselves to make up for lost time. Don't think of it as a game but a kick start to help motivate you into doing something you should do for yourself. Any prize is simply a reward that's subsidized by your company instead of you.

I don't like the weightloss challenges. Instead, I do step challenges with my fitbit friends. It's healthy. It's motivating. And I still want to kick butt!