Six short months ago, two people sat on the couch.
One, a woman in her late 20s, two kids down the road, feeling antsy about how to get rid of the baby weight.
The other, a man in his mid-30s, who had been stuck in a continuously yo-yoing range of chubby to walrus since the 2nd grade [his words not hers].
She asked about Lose It, one of the tools he had used on the downhill side of the waistline roller coaster in 2009. He acknowledged its usefulness and potential for success.
Inspiration was born.
A bet was made.
Fat was in the crosshairs of competition.
The Timeline:
April: They began using the free Lose It app, set goals and started competition: She wanted to lose 20 pounds, he wanted to lose 30 pounds, all by October 1. Both would get paid per pound for their weight lost, and the winner (by percentage of weight lost) would get to choose the celebration dinner.
May: Combined weight loss of over 30 pounds – 15.2 for her, 16 for him. And she was killing him on percentages.
June: Combined weight loss of almost 40 pounds – 19.2 for her, 20.4 for him. Once they realized that they actually WOULD be able to meet their goals (something they thought was impossible), they set new goals: She wanted to weigh 130 (26 total pound loss), he wanted to weigh 180 (42 total pound loss).
August: She exceeded her new goal and weighed in at 128.6. He exceeded his original goal and lost 31 pounds.
September: She kept using Lose it, but quit losing weight. He kept losing weight, but was doubtful that he would meet his goal of 180. Their weight loss percentages became eerily close.
Leading up to October 1:
It became apparent than unless she did something drastic, he was going to beat her by the slimmest (no pun intended) of margins.
She considered forcing the baby to go on a nursing bender. But then she remembered those two new teeth. That feel like needles. And how many times those two new teeth had already punctured her. So she decided against having the baby do a boob kegstand
She considered eating an all raw vegetable diet for a week. Okay, no she didn’t.
Really, when it came down to it, she realized that she was…actually…OKAY if he won.
And, in perfect Hollywood Timing, He hit his goal of 180 on September 29, and then 179.8 on September 30, a mere 24 hours before the end of the time apportioned. She was quite impressed, actually, at how he managed to time out his six month weight loss journey to the EXACT moment of perfect drama.
But she knew she was toast.
Then Friday rolled around. She stood on her feet all day baking delectable treats for her Vault Denim party, and was so rushed all day that she didn’t have time to eat (except for tastings, of course).
So she had hope that she could pull off a miracle the next morning.
October 1: The Weigh-In.
The dust had settled. Two nerdy iPhone app dieters put down their proverbial pencils in the SAT’s of nutrition. After 6 months of broccoli instead of potatoes, coffee creamer measured in tablespoons, ground beef patties measured on a scale, and many home recipes analyzed and divided by portion, it was time for the big reveal.
There were no sob stories, no confetti, no teary-eyed hugs of Bob and Jillian, but this was it, nonetheless. Just cold hard numbers. No drama, just numbers. One winner.
They weighed in…
And then they ran downstairs to input the data into their spreadsheet.
And so it was that he won, by the most microscopic of margins.
Only 0.8 pounds, and she would have had him.
You can chalk it up to her peaking too soon and switching to a prevent defense. You can say she let him win to stroke his ego, but in any case, the celebration of their diet will occur in the near future over Bob Baumhauer’s Wings and a giant plate of cheesy fries.
The Photographical Evidence:
28.8 pounds…
41.8 pounds…
For a combined loss of 70.6 pounds.
FAQs:
Are y’all discontinuing the use of Lose It? Absolutely not. We’re so accustomed to entering in our food now that it doesn’t take hardly any time or effort, and this program has worked for us. Why would we quit? And plus, it’s free!! Chris still wants to lose some more weight, and I just want to stay on it for the accountability (and possibly lose a couple more pounds, preferably in my midsection).
Speaking of midsections, did you tone your abs like you committed to do in August? Sadly, no. I ordered Jillian’s Six Week Six Pack Video
What’s with the terribly shadowy “after” shots? Are you trying to hide something? No, those would be quick photos taken due to Noah attempting to eat rocks and Ali climbing on a precarious rock wall…parenthood is an impediment to good photography, and that’s just the way it is.
Great Job!!!
Awesome job you two! You both look incredibe! I love weight loss success stories from people who actually put effort into it and try instead of a quick fix. Congratulations!!!
Thank you so much!! It was really fun to do it together.
love it!
Ya’ll look great! Congratulations!
CONGRATULATIONS to you both. You have more will power than me and my hubby. We have been wanting to lose pounds for about 3 years and all it ever gets is to the discussion stage…so big congrats to you. You both look wonderful but I don’t know that either of you should lose any more weight.
Wow!! I am so impressed!! Maybe, after baby #2 is born, I can get some motivation to rid myself of the baby belly!
The baby boob kegstand is hilarious!! Landen got his first teeth super early, but since he only bit down twice, I was still able to nurse him until he was 1. Aparently he is a bit more thoughful than many other babies (in the chomper catagory, at least)!
Anyway, Congrats!!
Noah only bites when he gets bored and starts talking. Then it’s ‘da da da (chomp) … da da da (chomp)’
You guys did amazing! Good for you :)
Two words: HOT STUFF!
Congrats on such a close race. You both look great. I’m inpsired and totally jealous!!
Congratulations to both of you – that’s awesome :)
Many congrats! I think you look great! I would treat myself to some more of those jeans:)…..
Yes, those jeans were definitely part of my reward!! :)
Wow…great job to both of ya’ll!
Yay! So happy for you two, you are both winners…right? :)
Oh definitely!! At least that’s how I’m choosing to look at it :)
You both look amazing!! Congratulations!!!
you both look fabulous! for reals. and with my babe now 3 months old, i’ve decided that it’s most definitely time to do something about this extra baby weight. i’ve downloaded lose it and think it’s time i give it a go. thanks for the inspiration!
Noah was 3 months old when I started. That must be the point at which a mother gets her inspiration back!!
Good luck!!
Congratulations to both of you! You look fantastic and even younger than you did before! Way to go!
Amazing! So, did you go to a gym or do any type of a workout?? Could you give us links to any recipes you used that helped? Or did you just eat less of what you would’ve previously eaten? Anyway, you both look fantastic! Congratulations!!
Chris runs two times a week. I did very little – a walk here or there, Jillian for a week… my key was nursing – 500 calories a day by just sitting there (with just a few puncture marks) – totally worth it.
The main changes to our diet that we made were potatoes – we still ate french fries every now and then, but majorly cut down on them. I also quit drinking coke – hard at first, but now I actually like Coke Zero. And just the act of keeping up with calories made us more aware of what we were putting into our mouths and was half the battle.
Congratulations! You guys both look wonderful. I love your maroon top in the first after picture. Great color on you.
Just out of curiosity, how tall are you guys? I feel like you and I might be around the same size. Your current weights mirror mine and N, which is kind of funny.
I’m 5’5″ and Chris is 5’9″ I believe… how about you?
You both look great! Congratulations on exceeding your goals!
Congratulations, you two look great! This is super-inspirational for me! My husband has already agreed to doing something like this once baby #2 arrives in the spring. :) Weight loss has always been so much easier for him, so I’m thinking a little ‘friendly competition’ will be helpful for me.
Men always have it easier, don’t they? So not fair. But baby #2 can really help you – 500 calories a day by nursing was my hugest weapon in the competition!!
Awesome work and very inspiring! I’m still chugging away on My Fitness Pal – aiming to lose 20 pounds (10 kg). Lost a bit over 6 pounds in the last 3-4 weeks but it’s really hard work to keep going through massive stress and busy-ness!!
Congrats!!
I agree – stress and busyness make dieting SO much more difficult!!
Outstanding!!! Sorry you didn’t win (being competitive myself) but wow – that is impressive!!
You guys look amazing and don’t think you need to lose anymore!
You both look great! Congratulations!
I think huge congratulations are in store for both of you. I am so proud of both of you but must admit I am so glad for Chris, after all he is an Olson way back there.
Yay…..Congrats!!!That is awesome! I told you that you were my inspiration. :) Lance is 10 weeks old and I weigh less than I did when I got pregnant with him, which is awesome, but am still 25 pounds from my ideal weight…yuck. Oh well..I’m working on it.
You look great!!
That’s wonderful!! You’re on a great start for sure!! Congrats!
You both look great! You did a fabulous job on the weight loss. Enjoy your celebration dinner.
Wow, well done to the both of you! My boyfriend and I discussed having a competition to reach our goal weights but that’s as far as it got. We couldn’t figure out a prize that would work, nor how to judge a winner.
You guys look great! I’m going to have to check out this app!!!
Holy Moly! I am way impressed with your achievement!!! You guys look amazing! And I’d say you are definitely both winners! Wow, that’s awesome.
I really need to figure something out. I cook way too much for the Lose It to be convenient. I am not really a recipe cooker so I never know exactly what is going into what I’m making. I think T and I need to have a little friendly competition to get us motivated. And my reward could be having a Vault party. Haha:)
But seriously, way to go!
Jeans were part of my reward for sure! :)
I did figure the calories in everything I cooked – it’s not too hard to guess based on estimates of what you’re putting in…
Congrats!! I may need your help after my little boy arrives this December. That is an amazing weight loss weight for 6 months and I would love to be back in the 120’s too.
Tell Chris congratulations too :)
That is really impressive for both of you! And that you stuck with it and made lifestyle changes instead of a crash diet for bikini season. Definitely something to be proud of =) Congrats to both of you!
It was all the goodies you ate at the Vault Denim party that did it for you.
So impressive! Congrats, you both look A-MAZing.
good job yo!
You guys look amazing! The Lose It app should pay you guys to advertise for them :)
Well, since it’s a free app and all, I am assuming they’re not paying spokespeople!! :) But they should totally charge for the app – it’s worth it!