December 16, 2021

Six-Month DietBet : Weigh-In vs. Weigh-Out Pictures


Things are going well with Duck being home! I definitely bother him too often while he's napping to see if he feels hot, but so far, he's been about 70% back to his usual self. I still don't have the results from his FUO (fever of unknown origin) test--hopefully before the weekend!--but for now, I'm just trying to keep his fever down. I have to give him an anti-inflammatory and antibiotic once a day, and check his temp three times a day. (Also make sure that he's eating and drinking.) I'm so happy to have him home--I missed every little quirk about him!

Six months ago, just a couple of weeks after I started counting calories, I decided to join a six-month DietBet. I liked the idea of a long-term one so that I would have the weigh-in accountability as I lost weight. It started on June 14th and ended on December 14th. I did my final weigh-in (a.k.a. "weigh-out") yesterday.

I wasn't worried about whether I'd met my goal; I exceeded it by quite a bit. But I was curious to see how much the payout would be because I'd never done a six-month bet before. You can pay monthly or pay up front; I chose to pay up front because it's $35 cheaper, but you still get to split the pot evenly if you win. So, I made an initial bet of $175. All I had to do was lose 10% of my body weight in 6 months, and I'd at least win my money back.

There were 466 people who participated; and in the end, there were 144 people who reached their 10% goal. It was exciting to be one of them!

The results were finalized and the final payout was $394.84; after my initial bet of $175, that means I profited $219.84! I was shocked by this. I was thinking it would be closer to $20-30, because the four-week bets pay out practically nothing (in my experience, anyway).

Six months of working on my weight and it paid for Duck's FUO test and about one dose of his antibiotic--hahaha! (Hey, every little bit helps, right?) And most important to me was the weight loss; that's the whole reason I did the DietBet in the first place.

I hadn't planned to share my actual weigh-in photos. (I always feel awkward taking the "official" DietBet photos--am I supposed to smile? It's kind of like getting your picture for your driver's license at the DMV. You want to smile, but it feels embarrassing when there are 7,387 people in line watching you. And it's only for an ID, so a smile isn't necessary.)

Anyway, my point is that the official DietBet photos are awkward! But I thought it would be fun to do a side-by-side of my initial weigh-in versus my weigh-out. I'm cringing inside at the thought of sharing my "before" pic, but I'm excited to see the change in the area that bothered me the most... 

I usually tend to gain weight pretty evenly, but after having the lower body lift to remove my excess skin (10 years ago, can you believe it?!) the scar doesn't allow fat to form underneath it. So, I gain fat above and below the scar, which gives me love handles and saddle bags at the same time. See the big indentation just above my hips on my before photo?

Now, it's almost completely smoothed out! (It's not very noticeable in the picture from yesterday, but when I'm naked you can still see it. My weight has to be in the low 140's for it to be totally smooth.) But I'm ecstatic that it's not very noticeable now!

My total official weight loss for the six-month DietBet was 34.6 pounds. I had really hoped I would be in the mid-140's by the end of this year, but as you know, I've been going two steps forward and one step back for a couple of months!

I'm actually three weeks into a four-week DietBet, but there is no chance that I'll win it. After the last two weeks of emotional hell I've been through, I'm actually really surprised that my weight isn't higher than my starting weight was, haha. I'm going to do my best as far as counting calories and getting back to a good routine, but I'm not going to go to extremes to drop six-ish pounds in five days.

I have to say, after seeing the results of this six-month bet (and how helpful I found it) it's tempting to do another! It would be extremely difficult at this weight, though--I'd have to weigh roughly 135 by July 1st. That's essentially my goal weight, so it's definitely tempting. The Bet starts on January 1st. Maybe I'll see if Jerry wants to do it with me; his weight is the highest it's been in years, and I know he wants to lose the weight he's gained.

I think I'll see how the next couple of weeks ago as far as my eating patterns and then I'll decide if I'll join the Bet or not. Regardless, though, I'd love to see my goal weight again sometime!

9 comments:

  1. I'm pretty sure Duck doesn't mind you checking on him, and I bet he really loves it that he's home and you care so much. I was wondering what the weather is like up in Michigan. Here in Iowa, no snow so far, and we hate winter. My husband's son is a lineman and lives in Kentucky. They have had the horrible tornadoes, and he is working 24 hour shifts to restore power after the storms.

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    1. The weather hasn't been too bad lately! We did get a couple of big wind storms--I was working in the garage during one of them and the wind tore the entire two-door garage screen off and threw it into my front yard! Our power went out for a few minutes, too, but other than that, nothing notable. My younger brother (Nathan) is a lineman and I know he works crazy hours when we get back-to-back storms.

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  2. Awesome job, Katie!!!! So glad Duck is feeling better too. ❤️

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    1. Thank you! Duck's test results are in and I'm waiting for the vet to call me right now. But he's definitely feeling better!

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  3. Replies
    1. Thanks! I'm still kind of amazed that I've actually managed to lose 40 pounds this year.

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  4. That is quite the profit! Amazing! Great job!!

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    1. Yeah, I was pretty excited about the winnings on this one!

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  5. I am terrible at looking at myself from an outsider's perspective! ALL I COULD SEE before losing this weight was that indentation where my scar is. It's interesting how my body distributes fat differently post-surgery. That was something I never expected or even thought to ask about!

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