Confess and Assess: Part 2

Waaaay back in November of aught eight, I posted my measurements and other general information about my health and weight loss efforts. Since three months have passed (wow!), I decided to do it again. I LOVE putting personal information on the internet! (Almost as much as I love sarcasm!)

Today's information:
*Weight: 182.5
*Height: still 5'9"
*Exercise regimen: finally working on it
*Best thing I eat regularly: oatmeal
*Worst thing I eat regularly: chocolate
*Husbands who weigh less than I do: Joel
*Nights per week I get enough sleep: one or two
*Number of aches and pains: three
*Water consumed daily: around 64-80 oz.
*Measurements:
-Upper arm: 14 inches
-Neck: 13 3/4 inches
-Bust: None of your diggity dang business
-True waist (smallest part): 33 3/4 inches
-Waist at belly button: 35 inches
-High hips (at hipbone): 42 inches
-Largest hip measurement: 44 inches
-Thigh: 26 inches
-Knee (just above kneecap): 17 inches
-Calf: 15 inches
-Ankle (why not?): 9 inches

Compared to last November:

-Weight: 3.5 pounds down.
-Upper arm: same
-Neck: 1/4 inch smaller (be gone, neck fat!)
-True waist: 1/4 inch smaller
-Waist at belly button: 2 inches smaller
-High hips (at hipbone): 1.5 inches smaller
-Largest hip measurement: same
-Thigh: 1 inch smaller (per thigh)
-Knee: same
-Calf: 1 inch smaller (per calf)
-Ankle: 1/4 inch bigger (why?)

Overall progress. My most annoying trouble spots--my hips and arms--haven't budged yet. Considering most of the positive changes I've made over the past 3 months have been food-related, and I've only just started exercising regularly, I'm pleased with the results. Not gaining weight over the holidays was a thrilling development.

I think I'll do this monthly from now on. I need the accountability.

Dum, dum, dum, DUM! And the winner is...

Sun Productions! (Do you want me to reveal your real name Ms. Sun Productions?)

She lost a whopping 6.1% of her body weight. 

We're ever-so impressed. And also awestruck. 

In second place is dcfullest, who lost an amazing 4.23% of her body weight.

In third place is Patty, who lost an outstanding 4.07% of her body weight. 

Will the three of you please send your contact info to myweightisasecret at gmail dot com ? Thanks! The most amazing prizes in all the land are coming your way. Eventually. 

Kudos to Hannah, Sweet Escape and Katie who all lost more than 3% of their starting weights during the contest. 

A big old hearty pat on the back to Rachel, Maureen, Rachel R., Heather, Wendi, Marie, Renee, Sara (yes, that Sara), Holly (that's me!), Amy Lou Who, Joolee, Tiffany and Gina Lee for persevering and making some positive changes over the past couple of months. I am impressed with how many either lost weight or maintained at a tough (and delicious) time of year. 

A less hearty, but equally sincere pat to Kelly, Katy and Diane, who all weighed in the week before last, but didn't show up at the final weigh in on Friday. All three of them lost significant amounts of weight!

(If any of you want to know what your final percentage was without having to do actual math, send us an e-mail at myweightisasecret at gmail dot com. 

Thanks for all your comments, insight and good humor. 

Thanks to those who kept reading even though the contest got away from them somehow. We'll expect to see you next time. (cue menacing music)

And last but not least, a huge lump of thanks goes to Amy Lawson of Amy Lawson Inc. for writing about the contest on her mostly-famous blog and bringing many of you to us. She may have thrown her scale down the basement stairs, but she'll always be a winner to me. Also a quitter, but a quitter in the best way possible. Thanks, Amy Lawson!

Keep fighting those pounds, folks. It's worth the effort. Honest! And please come back for more Diet Cake anytime. 

What now?

Bring on the cookies! Yee haw!

Nah. Just kidding. (Kind of.)

First of all, if you didn't post your final weight and you should have, please do it! It's not too late. 

Once we've figured out who is who and what is what, we'll announce the winners of the First Annual Diet Cake Holiday "Ho Ho Ho We're Fat" Weight Loss Contest. Then we'll send those winners some sort of fabulous prize, which will include, but not be limited to, Egyptian trash. 

All of you, winners or not (oh gosh--you're all winners, but you know what I mean), figure out what's next in your battle to get/stay slim, strong and healthy. 

We'll keep posting here at Diet Cake. Maybe some of it will be helpful. (It could happen!) I hope you'll keep reading and letting us know about your successes and struggles. 

I'm thinking another contest is in order...maybe sometime in the spring. Won't that be fun? (Answer: of course it will)

This is it, folks!

Just as all good things must come to an end, so must all great! things like this great! contest. (I emphasize great! just in case you didn't know how truly great! it is.)

The great!est part about it is how many of you stuck with it! Really, Holly and I are totally impressed. Thank you for sticking with us.

And now for the fun part--weigh in! Post your weight in the comments, and tell us what you're most proud of from the contest.

"It's Cairo. It's always the battery" and fleas and stuff

I'm blaming what is sure to be a really lame post on the fact that we're leaving for the airport in 3 hours, and we still need to go grocery shopping (which is a long, involved process here) and do so in a borrowed car, because it turns out ours is dead (when dh called the mechanic he said, "It's Cairo. It's always the battery."), and even though the mechanic actually came to our house after going to buy the new battery for us, it turns out something or other in the car is something something (I am a mechanical genius!) which means he has to come back tomorrow with different tools and another guy to help him.

Have I mentioned that I like run-on sentences? I really do.

So anyway, I found a good article on sparkpeople.com called Lose Weight Over the Holidays! (enthusiasm theirs). I don't think it has a whole lot of groundbreaking information, and most of the tips in it are likely things you've already heard or read, but it's worth reading anyway. For the same reason I like reading magazines and blogs about fitness and weightloss, I also like reading articles about fitness and weightloss, because it keeps me in a fitness-and-weightloss mindset. Reading things like this not only reminds me (have I told you that I have both the attention span and the memory of a flea?) about some of the tips and tricks that help me lose weight, but they also remind me that I actually want to lose weight. Sometimes I forget that. This is most likely to happen when I'm either doing really well with my diet and exercise or when I'm just kind of cruising, not losing but not gaining, and I convince myself that I'm just fine where I am, thank you very much. It's also been known to happen when I'm doing nothing but sitting on my duff and eating fried cheese and chocolate. Basically it happens a lot. But it becomes less likely to happen when I read magazines and articles and the like, because it keeps it closer to the forefront of my mind. And if anything is going to register in my consciousness enough to do any good, it needs to be as close to the forefront as possible.