Setting Goals for the Contest

It’s just 10 days away from The Biggest Loser Contest and it’s all I can think about these days. I think about the schedule I’m going to take on for my workouts, the food I’m going to eat, and the stress it’s going to put on my family. Above all I think about winning it though. I have put in my mind that I can do this, but at the same time I can ONLY do this because I have God on my side. He is my encouragement, my strength, and my guidance in all of this! I’m so empowered by the feelings that this contest has brought up in me. I want to share this excitement with everyone I can. So, let’s begin with sharing my goals!

1. Lose 50 pounds overall in a 9 week period – 5.5 pounds a week!
2. Workout 4 hours a day, 6 days a week
3. Eat a 1,200 – 1,500 calorie diet, including a 4 day cleanse to begin with.

These are pretty steep goals I’ve set for myself. So, let me break it down for you. The 50 pounds is how I’m going to win this event. The winners are based on a % of weight loss or % of body fat loss. Last contest I lost a little over 5% body fat and only 16 pounds, and was very close to winning. With a weight loss of 50 pounds I will have a 20% weight loss, and who knows how much of a body fat loss. In the past I’ve seen the winners lose approximately 10-12% weight loss, so I wanted mine to be much higher to account for this skinny ladies who inevitably join the contest to get a cheap rate on training (the less you weight, the high your % will be with every pound lost, so someone 100 pounds lighter then me would only have to lose 30 pounds to have the same percentage as me).

Now, everyone I talk to about the 4 hours a day of exercise tell me I’m crazy, but when I watch contestants on the biggest loser I see them working out 8 hours a day every day! They are loosing double digits some weeks, and other times barely any! So, in order to really keep my momentum going I need to prioritize my lifestyle to include a lot of exercise! As we are still in winter time conditions (no snow yet though) I’m planning my time at the gym and am very blessed to have daycare available for the daytimes for Julia, and a husband who is fully committed to me winning this contest in the evenings. So, my general plan is 2 hours in the daytime and 2 hours in the evening, and doing so Sunday though Friday with Saturday being a rest day. Having 1 day where my body does not have complete fatigue will give me a chance to recuperate my muscles and allow for them to relax.

The diet is where I am going to have the hardest time. Not because of the obvious reasons either, I’m concerned about the cost of food. Those who say it’s cheaper to eat healthier are really not living in today’s lifestyle of a family on a budget. With me couponing and stockpiling foods for our family we manage to keep our budget averaged $350 a month, sometimes lower and sometimes higher. But, this doesn’t always allow us to eat the healthiest of foods or the worst either, but just not the best! So, I’m trying to come up with a plan of making mini meals for me, and stockpile/pantry style meals for the family. I’ll be using “my fitness pal” Ap on my IPhone to keep track of my calories, along with a diet book called Flat Belly Diet.

I’ll post a weekly update on my progress, along with a weigh in to keep me on track. I will be using the scales at the gym, so I’m not sure how accurate they will be. I’ll attempt to post a couple of times a week outside of the weigh-ins. Keep me in your thoughts when you workout each week, and remember this is when we get stronger, when we think we can’t keep going!