On September 22 I joined a Dietbet hosted by Jillian Michaels. The bet was $30 to lose 4% body weight in 4 weeks. If you are successful you split the pot with the rest of the winners. If not, hopefully you've gained some insight into what is needed to be help you accomplish your goals. Below is a screenshot of the amount of the pot and number of players. If everyone is successful, we would break even....but that wasn't the case. More on my winnings after the game is finalized.
Social weight loss.....
This platform was totally new to me. The financial aspect was the driving force at first, but then you post whatever you would like to talk about and other people respond. It can be a quick update or you could post that you are dying for a donut or that you are having an emotional trial. Whatever it is, someone was always there to try to snap you back on course. If you didn't want the world to read your response, you could post a note on someone else's personal board. How awesome is that?! The biggest part is learning that you were never alone. Participants had the opportunity to post via smartphone, iphones and a general internet browser.
The process....
You can join a dietbet, but you are unable to post until you process your payment. After you join you complete your assessment which includes your starting weight, a few quick facts about yourself and the required pictures. You must submit a full body shot picture with you on the scale and a picture of your feet on the scale with the secret word that is given to you. So, you can not use a picture that you took earlier this year and claim that as your winning weight...nope! You can lock your pictures if you don't want anyone on the boards to see them.
You can also invite people through facebook to join in on the dietbet. I only joined facebook for coupons so I didn't have anyone to invite.
As the days go by you are encouraged to submit a non-official weigh in. It seems this is done to help you be aware of your progress or lack thereof.
My weight loss method.....
I learned about intermittent fasting by way of a youtube podcast from the Hodgetwins. Now, before you go off looking for them on youtube just know that they have several channels and one of them is dedicated to intermittent fasting and and there's another for their gym workouts. They are cut throat, use profanity, but mostly helpful. From their channel I went out and learned a little more about intermittent fasting. The format I chose is a 16 hour fast and a 8 hour eating window. I did not calculate my calories, but I did eliminate certain items like soda, fried foods, breads, and most junk food. My diet was not low fat or low carb. I did make a point of eating mostly nutritious foods and by the end of my eating cycle I was full.
My take on intermittent fasting is that I wish I would've learned about it a while ago. It is most definitely one of the most valuable tools I've come across in losing weight. I feel that it allowed my body to thoroughly process the food that I gave it throughout the day. TMI WARNING.....I was not gassy at all, bowel elimination was very productive and I didn't feel bogged down. I could also tell when I didn't drink enough water as I felt not quite right.
My workout.....
I don't know about the masses, but calorie reduction along with exercise is the key for me in my body releasing its fat storage. I took daily long walks at work. I finally started using my gym membership and took advantage of the many classes that are offered. I went about 3-4 classes a week and each are about 50-60 minutes. Ok, more 3x's a week than 4. I burn mad calories during these classes...between 700-1000 calories.
My results.....
I started with a weight of 201.8 and finished with a weight of 191.8 in 4 weeks time. My goal weight was 193.7, but I passed that! My bmi went from 32% to 30%...woohoo!
Would I do it again....
It is nice to be involved in a stream where everyone has a common goal. It is beneficial when people make use of the social function of the board and take the time to post. You can mark people as friends or make personal notes for their eyes only. I really liked all of these features and I think this helped in keeping me focused. I would surely do it again in the near future. Many other bets have been started by some of the members of the dietbet that I was in, but I feel I need a time to relax a bit. The dietbet is indeed a bit
stressful because if you slack too much before you know it time is up and you've not lost anything. I do highly recommend it for anyone that's on the fence of testing the waters.
My winnings.....
I'll complete this later when the game finalizes. People have until midnight to post and they have 48 hours which will be by Friday-Saturday. I guess if weekend days aren't counted then its by Monday.
For a bet of $30 my total winnings are $49.32! So 49.32-30.00=19.32
Out of 7,625 participants that joined the bet 3,624 won and 3,999 lost. Dietbet will get a cut of the overall bet as well as the host.
I've already joined another bet for November using my winnings!!
