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The last few years my weight has been crazy high. I was always thin – often a size 2, never more than an 8, then “suddenly” I was looking at plus size clothing. I was self-conscious about my weight and not happy. A few years of life events causing extreme anxiety and mild depression, coupled with moving to an area that had 50+ restaurants within 1/4 mile of our apartment = I gained A LOT of weight. (My husband and I are foodies to the core. I often joke that this – as I motion to my body – was *very* expensive to come by, lol.) I decided I needed to lose somewhere between 60-90 pounds. I also decided I wasn’t going to be nuts about a specific scale number and instead base my final weight on how I felt on the inside, how I felt in clothing, and how I looked in photos. The photo in my About Me is older as I do not have any current photos and I am still a bit insecure about my weight. Soon I will update it! 🙂
In September of last year I was searching the internet for weight loss motivation and discovered a company called “Healthy Wage” touting getting paid to lose weight. I was intrigued and looked into it. Healthy Wage has a system that pays you to lose wight. They have a calculator that you plug in your gender, age, waist measurement, height & current weight, then you choose how long you would like your challenge to last and the monthly amount you would like to wager. The minimum number of months to participate is 6, the maximum is 18. (You can sign up for another round once you complete the first one.) The minimum monthly wager for Healthy Wage is $5 and the maximum is $995. The highest prize you can win is $10,000. Yes, I said $10,000. You can play with the calculator to see what the combination is for you to win more/less money.
I signed up for Healthy Wage and chose to lose 40 pounds in 6 months, wagering $100 per month. My prize based on my gender, age, weight height, was to be $1856. I invited a friend to participate and when she joined using my referral code we each had another $40 added to our prize total, making my prize $1896. (The $1896 includes my $600 in monthly wagers.)
How does Healthy Wage work? Well, in a nutshell, the people who fail to complete their weight loss goal and earn their prize fund the ones who meet their goal and win their prize. The monetary losers fund the weight loss losers.
My final weigh out after 6 months was March of 2018. And I did it. I lost 40 pounds and received $1896, which is a profit of $1296 after my investment of $600.
I. Am. So. Thrilled!!!!!!
I’m not gonna lie, it was HARD WORK. As I said, my husband and I are huge foodies. And we LOVE craft beer. And we moved to a lake house last summer, so we have guests every single summer week/weekend and with visitors comes a lot of snacking and a lot of drinking. I fully intended to hit the 40 pound mark ages ago, but I got off track over the holidays. Then I fully intended to hit the 40 pound mark before we went on vacation, but then we left for vacation and I had about 1.5 pounds to go. Let me tell you, that last tiny bit almost killed me! I almost gave up because my weight was fluctuating so badly- I was up TEN pounds after the 17 hour car ride from Chicago to Daytona. TEN POUNDS! I must have gotten on and off the scale 42 times in disbelief. Fortunately I drank a ton of water, went for a couple long walk/runs on the beach, did my YouTube high impact aerobics routine and ate sensibly and I was back to normal in a couple days, but still… it was a scare, for sure. $600 is a lot of money to lose when you are so close to your goal. I ended up weighing in 4 days early. Whew!
So, how did I do it?
In addition to Healthy Wage, which gave me the financial motivation to lose weight, I started counting calories and exercising on an almost daily basis. I used the app “My Fitness Pal” to document my meals, snacks and exercise. I stopped drinking (so much) craft beer, limiting myself to Miller 64 and the *occasional* craft beer – and when I drank beer I factored it into my daily intake in the morning so I could stay on track. Same with pizza, since we have a weekly “pizza and game night” with the neighbors almost every Friday in the cooler months when we don’t have as many guests.
I did not cut anything entirely out of my diet because I know me and I know I am not going to live the rest of my years without pizza, beer, chocolate, the occasional onion ring, etc. so I began to learn what “cost” what in terms of calories and factored it all in. I am also sure to drink LOTS of water every day – at least three 32 ounce bottles. (In fact, I don’t allow myself lunch until I’ve finished a bottle.) Drinking water helps a ton. I don’t drink pop or fancy coffee drinks (very often), nor do I go out to lunch at work, so I didn’t have those hurdles to cross. I made it a point to start eating breakfast every morning and I chose my carbs carefully, ie: You’re having pizza tonight, how about no toast with your egg whites, and protein for snacks? (I have a friend who works out like a machine and is super fit, and she will down three bratwurst like she hasn’t eaten in days – but only has a bun with one because she’d rather have some potato chips than two more buns. I am trying to think like her.)
For exercise, I started by walking on our dead-end country road, which is very hilly and was a bit of a struggle at first. I walked/ran 45-60 minutes almost every day for September and October and into November. Then I got off track and stopped completely. And then the snow came, and came, and came some more. As it is a country road there are no sidewalks and it is not plowed regularly. Once I got back on track in February <hides> I joined a gym because this is our first winter in Michigan and I honestly think it might snow until May at the rate we’re going. I love the gym (huge surprise) and go Monday – Friday. I take advantage of the machines and also the aerobics, HIIT, yoga, barre and pilates classes so I don’t get bored.
If you have been wanting to give yoga a try, or have time to squeeze in an additional workout before bed, check out Yoga with Adrienne on YouTube. She has all kinds of videos to choose from and always gives options for beginners through advanced. This yoga kit has everything you need to get started. Working out from home is convenient and inexpensive!
Do I recommend Healthy Wage?
Absolutely. I also recommend wagering an amount that makes you cringe slightly so you have some real skin in the game. The friend I mentioned earlier who wagered $20 a month did not succeed and only lost 5 pounds. Most of us can give up $20 a month, but $100 or $200 probably stings a bit. (Look at it this way, you won’t be going out to dinner as much so you can shift that budget into this one, lol!) In the end I didn’t want to lose $600, even though I would have paid $600 to lose 40 pounds. I wanted the extra $1200, too.
And guess what? I cashed out $1296 and left $600 in my Healthy Wage account because I signed up for Round 2: $100/month for 6 months with a goal of losing 35 pounds. That will be a total of 75 pounds, which is smack in the middle of my initial thought of wanting to lose between 60 – 90 pounds. If WHEN I succeed in Round 2 I will determine if the last 15 pounds (or more) is something I want to do. I stand to earn $840 this time around!
Stay tuned for my Round 2 update in September!
Want to bet on yourself with a Healthy Wage bet? You’re worth it! Please use my affiliate link to sign up and I will earn a small commission to help keep the lights on for this blog. Thank you..and good luck – you can do it!
LOOKS LIKE HAPPY’S FAVORITE WORKOUT THINGS:
- I love this fun workout tank! For one, it’s not super tight. For two, it’s cheap. For three, it’s super cute! (Other prints available.)
- These workout leggings are available in a few different colors, but I am partial to the pink!
- After literally ripping apart one of my husband’s t-shirts to fashion a headband during a particularly horrifically day of sweaty yard work, I finally saw the value in these performance bands. I like that they come in different colors and can be thrown in the wash with the rest of your gear.
- Have I mentioned I am a complete klutz? My husband thinks it’s because I don’t watch where I’m walking. I think it’s because I am trying to do 8 things at once. Either way, the headphone cord is a source of constant annoyance for me. It gets caught on everything! The treadmill, doorknobs, my hyper dog. Wireless ear buds are the solution, and for less than $50 these are great.
Ready for more tips to take care of YOU? Check out these posts, and also our Self-Care 101 Pinterest board for hundreds of ideas from other awesome bloggers!
10 Healthy Breakfasts to Kick Start Your Morning
Do This Now To Lose 5 Pounds This Week
6 Amazing Uses for Ginger + How to Grow It Year Round In Any Climate
Do These Things On Sunday and Have An Awesome Week!
The 7 Habits of Truly Happy Women
Happy health!
Allison
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