Day 94 - 100, THE END of the First Challenge

Net loss - 8.0, total loss 80.6

Feel free to read that last number one more time. I will wait.....that's right, in 100 days, I lost just over 80 pounds. I really did not think I could do this well. I thought I would do ok, I thought I would lose some weight, but I did not think it would be that much. First off, thank you so much to everyone who supported me on this and to all the people who answered my many, many questions (DM, that's mainly you).

I learned quite a bit on this diet about myself and what I can do. I realized that when I really focus on something and care about it, I will succeed at it (Granted, it was called 100 pounds in 100 days, but losing 80 pounds is still pretty impressive). I learned that I need to make better decisions when it comes to food (fast food is NOT the way to go). I make really good eggs (I knew this already, but it was reinforced). And the most important thing I learned is that I am a lot happier and more confident when I am exercising and losing weight, and those are 2 things I want to maintain.

One interesting thing about my diet that I learned from RM is the last thing I will share. He kept trying to get me to watch The Biggest Loser. I would try, but I am just not that into Reality TV, but I would still ask about the show as I was still interested to see what they were doing. I am not sure if I mentioned this in a previous blog, but I auditioned for this most recent season of the show, and obviously, was not on the show. For those not familiar with the show, there are about 16-20 adults who go to live on this compound and workout and people get voted off the show every week. Of those who started, 4 people stayed at the compound through the whole thing, with no job, with a personal trainer, with special chefs teaching them how to cook healthier food, working out several hours a day for 101 days. Of those 4 people, over 101 days, with all that, they lost between 75 and 85 pounds. While I was on my diet, I worked full time, had no personal trainer or chef, cooked my own food (of course there were days I went up a lot too, like after Thanksgiving) and was on it 100 days and still lost 80 pounds. No need to clap, I just patted myself on the back. But seriously, I was blown away when RM told me that. I was surprised that I did that well on my own and I wished I was on the show, because I would have won.

And on that note, here are some pics:

Face pic the 1st day

Face pic at the end

Body pic the 1st day

Body pic at the end

Random pic of me sleeping the day before the diet

Please continue to read my blog, as I try to maintain for 25 days and start another 100 Day Challenge in 2009. Happy New Year.