Some Background

It is completely embarrassing to me to put this out there, but I should not shy away from the truth.  I started my weight-loss journey at 227 pounds (I am 5 foot 9 inches).  I have always been on the heavy side, but this is by far the heaviest I have been.

About Me
I am a 30-something professional living in sunny Southern California.  I have a live-in BF of about five years.  When I met him, I had just lost forty pounds on Weight Watchers and was down to about 175.  Still on the heavy side, but I had regained some of the confidence I had lost by being overweight.  Over the past five years, despite pretty steady exercise by way of a kick-my-butt morning bootcamp three mornings a week (among other things), I still managed to pack on the pounds.  That's what eating out and not caring about what you eat will do for you.

This past year, I let excused get the better of me and stopped going to boot camp.  This led to me gaining even more weight and having less energy.  In July, my mom, cousin and I signed up to do the Susan G. Komen 3-Day 60 mile walk.  I trained really hard for the walk, often walking 15-20 miles a day on the weekends.  I think I used this exercise as an excuse to eat whatever I wanted.  Despite stepping up my exercise in a big way, I STILL managed to gain weight.  Nonetheless, we did complete the 60-mile journey and, sore feet notwithstanding, my training worked and the torrential downpours--and not my fitness level--were the main challenge for the walk.

This All Started with a Bet
BF and I were lamenting the fact that we put on a few pounds (he has MUCH less to lose than me) and I suggested a friendly competition.  Whoever loses 10% of their weight first wins.  If he wins, he gets a kegerator (a giant contraption to hold his home brews, which I have been resisting due to the size factor).  If I win, he has to take me to whatever movie I want and not complain.  Thus far (since December 13) I have lost about 8.4 pounds.  That jerk (kidding) has lost way more than me even though he drinks his beers all the time and has not been working out.  Although the competition is helping, I realize I need to do this for myself and be proud of what I am doing.  I cannot beat myself up for "losing" to him over the holidays.  I should be proud that I lost 4 pounds over xmas and new years week!