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.

Penultimate Weigh-in!

An artist's rendition of me. Honest.

You know the drill--post 'em if you've got 'em. Also share with us something you learned this week.

I learned that bellydancing has almost nothing to do with the belly. Who knew!? Not I. All the motion comes from either your hips or your--get this--knees. Knees? Never would have guessed. But it's true. You only use your abdominals to keep your back straight and chest elevated (or as my teacher kept saying, "Boobies!"--and then she'd point both index fingers up--"To the ceiling!")(cannot wait to see what google hits we get for that).

Contest Day 29: Weigh it...weigh it good.

Hello! Sorry I didn't start the thread earlier.

Post your weight! I know you don't want to, but do it anyway!

If you don't do anything else this year about your weight (though I hope you and I both do lots), at least resolve to start facing the truth.

Contest Day 22: Still time to weigh in, even if I am tardy!

Feeling a little bloated post-Christmas? Me too. I ate pretty well, overall, but all that festivity and association with relatives makes me retain water. 

Still, I weighed in this morning. I hope you did, too. If not, do it in the morning and get back here and post your weight (please). 

Did you eat 5 pounds of peanut brittle yesterday? Two quarts of eggnog? All the hard candy that was stuck to the bottom of your kids' Christmas stockings (from last year)? Oh well. Weigh in anyway. Think of the number on the scale as a reference point, rather than a manifestation of your character and worth. 

And by all means, please don't through in the proverbial towel and decide to "start over in January." That's baloney/bologna. Start now and avoid the January 1st here-we-go-again dieting fiasco with everyone else in the USA (and Canada). 

Also...Merry Christmas! I hope you had a lovely holiday. 

Contest Day 8: It's weigh-in time! Also, I'm conceited.

Post your weight in the comments section of this post (please). If you're an e-mailing contestant, send us an e-mail instead. 

Don't run away! Don't hide! We won't laugh. We won't point. Even if we get carried away and do some pointing, you won't see us because we aren't with you, so you'll never know!

Also be sure to read the previous post. It's important. (Do I sound conceited? Is it conceited if I think everyone should read what I write? Do conceited people even know if they are conceited? If I Google "conceited," will it bring me to this post? Do only conceited people Google "conceited"? Am I even spelling "conceited" correctly? You know how when you say or write a word over and over it starts to look fake? "Conceited" is starting to look like a made-up word.)

How to fail at weight loss...in 14 easy steps!

1. Refuse to ask for help or accept advice from others.

2. Assume your work will be done when you reach your goal weight.

3. Give up at the slightest sign of adversity

4. Decide you can eat whatever you want since you're exercising regularly

5. Decide that weight loss is harder for you than everyone else.

6. Make a number goal (lose x number of pounds by x date) and feel like a failure if you don't reach that goal.

7. Whine more than you work.

8. Constantly criticize yourself and your progress (or lack thereof).

9. Decide you don't need to write down or track what you eat.

10. Go into each day without a plan.

11. Rely only on the scale to measure your progress.

12. Reward or punish yourself with food.

13. Hate yourself.

14. Don't weigh in on Diet Cake today

Contest Day 6: Brace yourselves

Our official weigh-in is coming up on Friday. Are you ready? Huh? Huh? If the answer is "yes," good for you! If the answer is "no," you're not off the hook. We here at Diet Cake (I love saying that--it makes me feel important) expect all of you here. If you can't make it, you can have a make-up weigh-in on Saturday. 

Join the Contest: Contest Day 1 and official weigh-in

This is where you can post your name and weight. First names only, please.

See previous post and this post for more contest info. Don't see the information you're craving? Just ask! There are no stupid questions...only stupid answers.

If you want to e-mail your weight to us instead of posting it, still post your name and your intent to participate and e-mail your starting weight to myweightisasecret put that little at sign here gmail dot com.

Here we go!

P.S. Cut-off time for joining is 11:59pm Pacific Standard Time tonight! Join the fun now while you can!

Are you ready for some WEIGHT LOSS?

Do they still use that song for the NFL (was it the NFL?)? Do you even know what I'm talking about? I've never been much of a sports fan and I'm married to a guy who watches History Channel shows about salt (not making this up--click the link) instead of sports. So, I don't know what ditties the NFL is using these days.

Which leads me to what I do know. It's time for me and Sara and you (yes, you) to defy the odds and lose some weight. According to this study, the true average weight gain during the holidays is a mere pound. But...BUT...people who are already overweight or obese are likely to gain more. I know I'm in that group. I'm already off to a bad start. I made an 11x17 pan of pecan pie bars last Saturday for a family party and I'm pretty sure I ate at least half of them. There was a lot of butter and sugar in that recipe.

I need a contest. Perhaps you need a contest, too? We're both in luck! The Diet Cake, still-unnamed holiday weight-loss contest begins today, December 5th.

Click HERE for the rules.

To clarify a few things:

-rule number 6 requests that you don't participate in the contest if you're below the healthy weight range for your height. This means it's OK if you're in that range now and want to go lower in that range. Go ahead, enter the contest! But, if your weight is already below the lowest weight in that range, don't try to lose more! Please!

-friends and family of Sara and Holly are welcome to join in. However, we will not favor you--you have to win fair and square if you want a fabulous prize. Sara and I will be joining in also. If one of us wins, I guess we'll supply our own prize.

-You MUST weigh in to participate and you must do it today (December 5th). We understand that some of you don't want to post your weight for all to see. So, we offer you the option of e-mailing your weight to us. You still need to post to let us know you're participating, and in your e-mail make sure you tell us who you are. We promise to keep your e-mail private and your weight even privater.

-The contest winner and the two runners up will receive prizes. We still don't know exactly what those prizes are, but they will include items from Egypt! Sara, as a person living in Egypt, has access to lots of very interesting Egyptian stuff, including Egyptian garbage. There is no cash alternative to the prizes. If you win and you don't want your prize, I guess we'll just donate it to charity and you get nothing (but why wouldn't you want your prize? It's free and you earned it!)

-We'll have a weekly weigh-in. If you can't make it on the specified day(s) (TBA), just make sure you post at some point during that 7-day period (Friday-Thursday) so we know you're still participating.

Don't post your weight in the comments of this post. There will be a separate Join the Contest post after this one for that purpose.

We're excited to have you on board! Good luck!

We will post daily during the duration of the contest (December 5th 2008 to January 15th 2009) and give you tips, motivation, and plenty of drivel and poorly-constructed sentences. We're here to help!

She's plucky

I bet you're dying to know how many pounds I was down at my Weight Watchers weigh-in on Saturday? Sorry about the suspense. Can I get a drum roll? No? That's OK--but have your snare drum ready next time, please. 

I was down 0.2 of a pound! I am SO glad I plucked my eyebrows before I got on the scale.