April 2, 2022

My April DietBet Weigh-In


Like last week, I forgot about trying out a new recipe to post about today. So, I'll do that tomorrow.

If you missed Wednesday's weigh-in post, it was not a good week as far as the scale goes. I had gained nearly five pounds, bringing my weight up to 154.6. Considering I gained that much so quickly, I knew most of it was water weight, but it was discouraging to see that.

Knowing that my DietBet weigh-in for April 1st had to be 150.3 or lower, I realized there was pretty much no way that I would hit my goal.

If you're not familiar with DietBet: You basically make a bet on yourself that you'll lose X amount of weight in a particular amount of time. There are 4-week bets that are usually $35-100 to lose 4% of your body weight, and there are 6-month bets that are $175 (or an option to pay $35 monthly). I won't get into the math here, but you place a bet that you'll lose the weight and then if you do, you split the pot with everyone that met their goal. You are guaranteed to win your entire bet back if you meet your goal. (DietBet takes a large cut of the pot before paying out, so your winnings aren't as much as you might think in the beginning.)

I've said before that I'm not a big fan of DietBet in general for a few reasons--mainly that they take a HUGE portion of the pot--but I've been using the site since last May when I started losing weight. The monthly "official" weigh-ins have helped me. (You have to take photos to prove your weight.) I'm currently in the middle of a 6-month bet that started on January 1st. I have to weigh in at a particular goal on the first or second of each month in order to win. The final goal is to have lost 10% in 6 months.

Anyway, my official starting weight for DietBet was 163.4 pounds. (Keep in mind that I wear light clothes for the weigh in photos, so the official weight is slightly over my usual naked weight in the mornings.) I hit my February and March goals, and until my weight gain last week, I was on target for my April goal. DietBet gives you until midnight PST on the 2nd of the month to do an official weigh-in.

Jerry did his weigh-in yesterday and hit his goal with a little room to spare. Last month, he had to work HARD to drop the weight within a week's time because he slacked off the first three weeks. I told him to make sure he doesn't wait until the last minute to lose the weight again. Well, that came back to bite me this month, because I was in that same situation.

Weighing in at 154.6 (154.2, really, but holding my phone for a picture adds 0.4 to my weight--this is relevant, I'll get to that soon) on Wednesday, I wasn't even sure if I should try to hit the DietBet goal or not. Getting down to 150.3 (with clothes and holding my phone), I would have to be just under 150 or so--naked--at the most for my weigh-in. That's a five-pound drop. Highly unlikely!

On the 31st, I was at 153.6. Yesterday, I was again at 153.6. I was super bummed that I was going to lose this month's bet--not just because of the money, but because I was under that goal just a week ago.

I ended up deciding on a Hail Mary effort--drinking lots of water and fasting all day yesterday. I was so sure it was impossible that I had a hard time deciding if it was worth it.


This morning, no matter what the scale said, I planned to eat like normal. I wasn't going to try to fast all day and weigh in tonight. Anyway, I got up at 3:30 (yes, my wake-up time seems to be getting earlier and earlier) and stripped down and hopped on the scale. I was at 151.4. Naked. I put my pajamas back on and did the Wordle for today and read my book for a little bit. Was able to pee just a little before trying the scale again. 

(Yes, I realize how stupid this whole scenario is! It reminds me of the days at Weight Watchers when I'd see women remove all of their jewelry, shoes, belts, anything they possibly could before stepping on the scale.) 


I put on the absolute lightest clothes in my closet (a pair of pajama shorts and a tank top--no bra or underwear, hahaha) and tried again. It was 150.2! I was under the goal by just 0.1. HOWEVER... when I pick up my phone to take a picture of the scale, it adds 0.4. So, I needed to get my clothed-weight down to 149.8.

By this time, it's 5:00-ish AM and I just went about my usual morning routine feeding the pets, hoping I'd be able to pee once more.

And it worked!! I was able to weigh in at an official 150.0--0.3 pounds below the goal. I couldn't believe it.

This is another reason that I have reservations about DietBet, though. It's super common for people to drop as much water weight as possible just before weigh-in. If I hadn't been at goal just a week ago, I wouldn't have even attempted it. But since I knew most of the gain last week was water weight, I figured I could try it and see what happened.

Next month's goal is 148.7, and I know I can do that. I feel really motivated having lost the weight I gained last week. I'm expecting it to be back up a little tomorrow now that I've eaten, but I don't feel the pressure anymore. At this point, I feel like it would be nice to lose half a pound a week!

I've never had a DietBet weigh-in that was such a close call; usually I have at least a couple of pounds of leeway. I definitely don't want to let that happen again. I'm going to work hard on consistency this month; March was all over the place as far as my eating habits go. One of the benefits of the last few days is that I got in the habit of drinking a ton of water again!

Here is today's random fact of the day:


I think this is so cool! A quick Google search brought me to this:
"Back in 1964, The Beatles made a career-defining decision to aid fighting racial segregation in the United States by refusing to play a concert at the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, Florida.

The gig in question had been segregated without the bands’ knowledge. Upon discovering that the racial segregation was taking place, The Beatles threatened to cancel the performance."  (source)

6 comments:

  1. Perhaps a silly question: do you have to take the scale photo yourself? Why can't Jerry take it for you so you don't have to hold the phone?

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    1. Definitely not a silly question! If he had been home, that's what I would have done. But he was at work and I *really* wanted to drink some water! So I wanted to get it done as soon as I could.

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  2. I caution anyone thinking of doing dietbet it truly can mess with ones health and mental health. It works without any negative impact great, but be careful.

    I love reading your post,but this one had me shouting NO dont do it.

    Keeping being true to yourself

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    1. I agree with you! It has positives and negatives--it helped me to get back on track and feel accountable, but I definitely don't want to do it again. It can be stressful and I can certainly see how it would cause disordered eating in some people. I felt stressed just writing the post! Hahaha.

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  3. That is so awesome! I call that a McGyver.

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    1. Thanks, but it was definitely a one-time thing. If I can't do it while eating "normally", then I will just forfeit the money!

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I used to publish ALL comments (even the mean ones) but I recently chose not to publish those. I always welcome constructive comments/criticism, but there is no need for unnecessary rudeness/hate. But please--I love reading what you have to say! (This comment form is super finicky, so I apologize if you're unable to comment)