Weight loss challenge at work - Success!
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jrh_this_better_work
Posts: 92 Member
Back in January, our school nurse asked if people wanted to do the annual weight loss challenge to last through spring break. Today was the final weigh in. I'll tell you what happened in a bit.
Last year I signed up for this challenge as well, and completely wasted that $20. I didn't lose a single pound, but couldn't really complain as I did nothing towards that goal. This year, I figured I was in weight loss mode anyway, so why not gamble on it!
On the first weigh-in on 1/7/21, I wore boots, jeans, didn't go to the bathroom before, all the tricks of the trade. That day on my own scale, I weighed 180.5 but the school scale showed 186. Fine. My intent was to over-weigh so that the loss would be more dramatic.
Today I worked out in the morning, only drank coffee before coming to work, didn't eat breakfast, and wore the least amount of clothing as seemed appropriate for a work environment. Before weighing in I went to the bathroom and took off all my jewelry. My scale at home read 173.3 (which is a new low for me, btw!) and at work it read 174. So for realsies I lost about 7 pounds, and I'm completely comfortable with that rate of loss over the 9 weeks between 1/7/21 and 3/11/21.
For the official challenge, I recorded a loss of 12 pounds! To keep things fair, the school nurse uses body weight percentage lost rather than actual pounds, and he recorded mine as 6.45%. I'll take it!
Now, it matters not a wink to my own personal weight loss journey that someone else might have lost more than I did. I still lost about 7 pounds and that's great! But someone else in the challenge probably lost more recordable weight while using weight loss medication. I should be happy for her for getting to her goals however she can, but I'm a wee bit irked that I'll likely not win the challenge because it feels like she's cheating. I'm petty and awful, but there you go.
Last year I signed up for this challenge as well, and completely wasted that $20. I didn't lose a single pound, but couldn't really complain as I did nothing towards that goal. This year, I figured I was in weight loss mode anyway, so why not gamble on it!
On the first weigh-in on 1/7/21, I wore boots, jeans, didn't go to the bathroom before, all the tricks of the trade. That day on my own scale, I weighed 180.5 but the school scale showed 186. Fine. My intent was to over-weigh so that the loss would be more dramatic.
Today I worked out in the morning, only drank coffee before coming to work, didn't eat breakfast, and wore the least amount of clothing as seemed appropriate for a work environment. Before weighing in I went to the bathroom and took off all my jewelry. My scale at home read 173.3 (which is a new low for me, btw!) and at work it read 174. So for realsies I lost about 7 pounds, and I'm completely comfortable with that rate of loss over the 9 weeks between 1/7/21 and 3/11/21.
For the official challenge, I recorded a loss of 12 pounds! To keep things fair, the school nurse uses body weight percentage lost rather than actual pounds, and he recorded mine as 6.45%. I'll take it!
Now, it matters not a wink to my own personal weight loss journey that someone else might have lost more than I did. I still lost about 7 pounds and that's great! But someone else in the challenge probably lost more recordable weight while using weight loss medication. I should be happy for her for getting to her goals however she can, but I'm a wee bit irked that I'll likely not win the challenge because it feels like she's cheating. I'm petty and awful, but there you go.
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Replies
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Congrats on the weight loss. That is a win in its own right!2
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Congrats on the healthier YOU!
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Congratulations on working hard and making progress!2
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good for you!1
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Congrats on your loss. 7lbs is a good solid number.
Don’t feel cheated.
Cheers, h.0 -
I'm doing a weight loss challenge at work, too - but ours runs until April 15th. I also gamed the scales upwards by intentionally bloating myself on initial weigh-in day - and was doing the pee-pee dance during weigh-in. They did note whether I was wearing shoes, so that I'll match on the final weigh-in day. I didn't wear my boots, even though I have heavier footwear. I'll even wear the same outfit on the final weigh-in.
I won't win ours, either - even though I'm near the top of the list for %bodyweight lost. I'm only aiming for the $50 automatic prize for anyone who loses the "Covid 19" pounds. According to my home scale, I initially weighed 146 (work records 154.6 - boy, do I know how to bloat!) and more recent readings indicate that I will need to weigh about 2 lbs. lower at home than work will record. This prior week, I weighed 141 at work - so I still need to lose 5.4 lbs. in 5 weeks. I'm trying very hard to keep it up, but this is more aggressive than I wanted to go, and it's only getting harder. For my final trick, I intend to fast the last day of the contest, and intentionally dehydrate a bit. I still worry that I will not hit the 19 lbs. mark. I look forward to the contest ending, though - I will have a diet break immediately following.
I do not see weight loss medicine as cheating, and I have no idea if my closest competitors are taking any. I feel very strongly that *I* am cheating. The rules were pretty sparse, though, and I am manipulating my own weight - it's only a scale weight competition, so doesn't water weight count? If the rules forbid carbs and bloat on initial weigh-in (and how do they even determine that sort of thing?) then I would have not participated. I didn't expect to be on the winning end of the rankings. I am only after the automatic $50.
It's a stupid contest. I was already in weight loss mode, too. The extra-aggressive stance I've had to take makes me cranky. I still might fail. In terms of weight loss? Yeah, I'm a winner. Is it worth the mental health hit? Probably not. Even for $50? No. I value my happiness more than that little bit of cash. Why, then? Because I'm already involved and I get competitive. I knew this was stupid before I signed up!
Umm. Sorry. Congratulations on your weight loss contest. I'm happy for you that it's ended and you can carry on with whatever you were doing before. I'm petty and awful too. Arguably more so than you. I hope you feel better to know that you're not alone.0
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