Week 4 Results- Game 4

Well I stepped on the scale today ready for this round of the game to be over. I've dealt with a lot of traveling and temptations this time around and being in NYC for the past few days has been difficult- but also very good for me to be on the game. It's so easy to recognize how different my choices would be if I wasn't.

I managed to get in another perfect point week! Which means, I am the winner of $150 for the individual with the highest number of total points. And I just made my weight goal- losing exactly the amount of weight I needed to. I was disappointed that it wasn't a bigger loss. A lot of the time it's frustrating that the number on the scale doesn't reflect all the hard work I honestly feel like I've put into this weight loss effort.

Before I started playing the Game, my weight loss attempts were all half-assed. They were lame attempts at trying to do as little as possible but expecting really big changes. I just wasn't ready apparently to put in the hard work, make the difficult decisions to see permanent and lasting effects. So when I do finally do it the right way, it is disappointing that the numbers aren't bigger.

But I keep reminding myself that this is a process. The beginning of a long process. And in the past four weeks I lost a total of 11 lbs (or 4.47%). These are numbers to be proud of. And if I hadn't been playing the game, I know my choices over the past few weeks would be much more destructive and all over the place.

The game has provided me with a lot of structure, responsibility and accountability. All things I know I need to focus on my long-term approach to getting this weight off and living a happy and healthy life.

We are taking a week and a half off the game and then start another 4-week round on Wednesday, January 6th.

For now, I'm going to enjoy a killer slice of NYC pizza!

I lost a total of 11 lbs or 4.47%

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Travel Planning & Preparation

Thursday morning Steve and I took off for the east coast. The night before I set aside a few meals to bring with me during our day of travel, leaving nothing to chance, and being completely prepared with four meals, just in case we got delayed for any reason. It ended up being an easy day of travel and I was able to feed Steve all across the country and help supply him with a protein bar when he was having a blood sugar crash moment (which is very obvious when he starts acting like a little baby for absolutely no reason). These moments still catch me off guard, and after being together for over eight years now, you'd think I'd be able to pick up on when he just needs something shoved in his mouth to take his bad mood off.

Regardless, before getting to New Jersey, I had planned Christmas dinner would be my meal off and Saturday exploring NYC would be my day off. I enlisted the help of my sister Kara to get some Game friendly food in her house so I wouldn't have to worry about not having the right food once I got there. It's gotten so much easier to do this game because I plan ahead and have no problem asking people for help. I don't worry about it being an inconvenience (even though I certainly understand it can be) so much as focusing on doing what's necessary to take care of myself. So, for example, while everyone else ordered and at chinese food for dinner on Christmas Eve, I had a chicken breast, brown rice and a salad. And on Christmas day, I was able to stay completely on program, with the exception of my meal off, because there was food I could eat.

It's hard to believe I only have one day on program left of the round of the game. I've been completely motivated by the prize for having the most points ($150). It's the only thing that's kept me completely on track points wise. Knowing I had a real shot at winning this in the beginning was fun, and then one other woman I've been playing with, Melissa, was determined to beat me and that put my competitiveness into overdrive. And then last week, Melissa lost points, and I knew that if I was able to play perfectly for the remainder of the game, that money was mine! So I have been working so hard for that perfect score. Enlisting the help of others and resisting too many temptations to count here. But it's also felt really great.

I've typically experienced a ton of anxiety before going home to see family. I've silently hoped, wished and prayed that no one would say anything about my appearance, yet knowing that I'd be silently (or not so silently) judged for it. But this time, I wanted people to notice my hard work. I wanted to be complimented and recognized for my hard work. And that did happen. My family was genuinely happy about my progress, impressed with my hard work, admired my discipline and supported everything I was doing. It felt really great and is just the fuel I need to power me through the last day!

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Week 3 Results- Game 3

My weight has done really weird things in the past week. When I (finally!) got home from Chicago, I was down 4.2 lbs from what I was when I weighed in last Monday. Then when I weighed in on Sunday morning, I was at exactly the same weight I was during last week's weigh-in. WTF?

It's insane how much my weight fluctuates. It's also really frustrating. The three of us who have been playing this game since August now (Katie & Cyrena too) have been struggling with staying at about the same weight. The time off between games clearly needs to be monitored a little better so that we're not going up and down and up and down.

Anyway, all of this to say that I was skeptical about this week's weigh-in. But am happy to say that I made goal- phew. Ended up losing 2.6 lbs.

The past week continued to be challenging since half of it was in Chicago. And I was determined to not use my meal or day off while I was there. I was dreaming about places back home that I wanted to eat at. So I prepared by making another visit to Whole Foods to stock up on food while I was there. And it helped that everyone around me knew what I was doing and helped in their own way.

It felt great to come back home and try and get back into a routine. I went to the gym the morning after I got back and ended up running for a mile and a half without stopping. Huge accomplishment for me and something that makes me really happy.

When I think of the "old me", I always go back to when I was running in high school. It's hard to imagine that I used to go out for a quick six-mile run (and enjoy it) without any difficult. I'm not sure if my goal is to get back to that exactly, but I do want to be in such good shape that running is more enjoyable. And just over 30 lbs lighter, it feels that way.

We're in the last week of this game and as much as I'm looking forward to the game being over, and even wishing it didn't go through next Monday (Christmas is going to be challenging and I have more traveling), I recognize that this is when I need to be on game the most. I have no doubt that otherwise, I would eat my way through New York City.

So instead, I'll be playing the game for one more week and hoping like hell that I go out strong! So far I have perfect points, which is rad, because if I can keep that up (which I WILL), then I'm guaranteed to get $150 for the player with the most points. And it's looking like our team will be the winning team, which is another $100. I hope I'm not getting ahead of myself, but I'm digging these rewards!

The game continues to work for me!

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Week 2 Results- Game 3

Down another 3 lbs this past week. Which is a huge accomplishment in so many ways. I've been in Chicago for a week now attending back to back meetings- for my department and then for the entire company. And I'm on the cusp of starting new hire training until Wednesday.

It's been a long long stretch here in Chicago. I've been tempted more times than I can count with open bars, popcorn, bags of candy, morning breakfast buffets filled with amazing looking croissants, more open bars, more free food, more buffets...but I've resisted it all! And it's felt amazing to be able to do it. Even more amazing is that it really hasn't been that much effort.

I've managed to keep me eye towards my day and meal off. It's been so much easier to decline all this deliciousness knowing that I had something yummy to look forward to. And I didn't over indulge, which is something I'm trying to work on too- not eating everything in sight during this small amount of time where I don't have to play the game perfectly.

Anyway, so I'm very happy about this 3 lbs. I'm still not where I was when I ended the game, but I'm getting close and I'm really proud of myself to stick with it!

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Week 1 Results- Game 3

Very quickly- this morning around 5am I had to wake up to get ready to fly to Chicago, where I'll be for the next week and a half for work meetings. I hopped on the scale and discovered that I lost 3lbs in my first week back on the game. I usually see a much bigger drop than that, but since Katie and I played last week, well, that explains that. And I still think 3lbs is great. I'm taking it.

I packed my scale, my workout clothes, made plans to do a Whole Foods run as soon as I land in Chicago to stock up on game foods, had the hotel put a mini fridge in my room and called Equinox to put me on the guest list at a gym about a mile away from the hotel.

I would NEVER have done 99% of these things before the game. I wouldn't have been thinking about myself enough to do it. I feel so much happier for being invested in myself enough to actually do all of these thing. This already feels like a major accomplishment.

I like this new Molly.

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