The End Arrived (Lighter Than the Start)

In the beginning, there were 11 slightly/somewhat overweight and /or just-needing-to-shape-up family members, and after several slews of emails and financial motivation installed, the family competition was born.


I didn't win. (You can stop reading now if you want, but there are some pretty amazing pictures coming up.) Naturally, just as I wanted to focus on eating right and exercising, life got crazy. Plus, I just hated exercising. By mid-December, though, I cut out chocolate and most sugar, and in January I buckled down (much more regularly, anyway) to running and DVD workouts. The weight started coming off slowly, and as added benefits I developed a tolerance for exercise (i.e., I don't hate it anymore) and my back and hip problems got better/finally healed. Anyway, I ended up losing 24 pounds, and have dropped three more since we ended the official competition. (I'm less than 10 pounds away from the actual weight on my driver's license, and less than 20 from my final goal!)


Things got pretty heated, with speculation flying between two states as to who would win (people were very stingy about sharing any potentially motivating information), so I present to you now the photographic evidence of the progress of the top three Losers:



Before and After -

And the winner....

My sister, Kari! Woooooo! *throws confetti*

Pretty fantastic, eh? It's the same shirt in both pictures, and the jeans are several sizes smaller. She literally worked her butt off - running 5 miles a day, 6 days a week, adding a second workout at night, and cutting out sugar and deserts. (I've also heard a rumor that she only ate grapefruit for lunch and dinner... I haven't talked to her about that, but I do have several grapefruits waiting in my fridge now.)

The folks are wanting to start up another "contest", and incorporate the Wii Fit. (Mom says she wants one for her birthday/Mother's Day. Awesome.) This same sister is going to set up a half-marathon for interested family members when we all go visit for her daughter's baptism in June, so I have that to keep working for. Also, there's this dress I really want to fit into for an event I have in mind...

Good job everybody!