It's no secret that I'm a bit competitive. Recently, I took part in a different kind of competition.
I was in a weight loss competition.
My office had a weight loss competition in which 24 people participated. Each one of us paid $10 and the money was paid out to the three people who lost the highest percentage of their body weight over a 10 week period.
Of course, some people stayed the same. Some people gained weight. Some people lost a whole bunch in the first few weeks. Others did not officially weigh in, so no one knew how they were doing.
I was doing the slow-and-steady loss (with a slight slip for vacation).
In the end, I lost 5.6% of my body weight, or about 10 1/2 pounds. That was enough to finish in 3rd place. The winner lost 9.6% of her body weight and the second place person lost 7.6%. When it started, I figured I was planning to lose the weight anyway, so why not see if I could make some money doing it? It worked (for a princely sum of $48).
As of today, I'm 178.6 and 19.2% body fat. I had mentioned before that I could make it to 177 before I go to the conference in two weeks, and now I think it's almost a certainty.
How low can I go? I don't know. Since I'm sticking to the 12-week at a time strategy, it's hard to say.
I'd like to be 170 for my 39th birthday at the end of January. I might even like to be in the lower 160's by racing season. If I could stay in the 168 to 172 range, which I have often fondly referred to as my "skating weight", I'd be really happy. Even better, if I could stay at that weight for a full year until I turn 40, then I would have built the habits to stay at that weight.
I can't imagine a better 40th birthday present to myself than being really fit when I turn 40.
PS: I also set two new personal best power numbers:
Best 5:00 329 watts
Best 10:00 306 watts
