Holy. crap. It’s been a whole month. The two DietBets I participated in are officially done, and I’ve lost 7 pounds. SEVEN. POUNDS. I didn’t even exercise! (Well okay, I did P90X with Daniel like twice, but it was with about as much enthusiasm as a lion getting its teeth pulled.) I had hoped at the beginning of this DietBet that I would meet my goal, but I didn’t expect to surpass it! I’m in shock, honestly.

I won’t lie, last week was rough. I traveled for work every day and had little control over my lunch options – but I still made it work! The tips I mentioned in my last DietBet post – especially not snacking at work, MyFitnessPal, and meal planning – have made a HUGE difference in my day-to-day choices.

I had several people ask me, so I decided to share my meal plans for the last four weeks! I stuck to these pretty strictly, minus three or four days when our plans changed or I forgot to wake up early to make breakfast.

I tried two Pinterest meals during the month: Chicken Lazone and the Chicken/Potato/Green Bean bake. (These links take you to my “successful recipes” board with my own notes about how the recipes turned out.) They were both major wins, minus the green bean fiasco. A little on the unhealthier side because of the butter in the chicken bake and the cream sauce for the Chicken Lazone, but soooooo delish.

As I mentioned before, I didn’t intentionally cut anything out of my diet because I knew that would make it easier to cheat, get discouraged, and give up, especially in the very beginning. That’s why I allowed myself to see have some breads and pastas, as well as the occasional spoon of Nutella. :) My biggest changes were (1) eating less of the unhealthy things, (2) adding more fruits and veggies, and (3) hardly ever going out to eat. Some of you who are ultra health-conscious might be cringing and/or laughing and shaking your head in pity at my cute little attempt, but for my very first try at planning healthier meals for an entire month? This is nothing short of miraculous.

Let me do something maybe-conceited-but-mostly-lazy and quote myself:

“I don’t think you guys understand how big of a deal this is for me. I am the most unhealthy person ever. I love fried food and I hate working out, and I will come up with every excuse in the world to eat terribly and never exercise. I am that person that’s like, “Aww…I forgot my headphones…I can’t work out today, I’ll just have to do it tomorrow.” So for ME, of all people, to have made this change, is something truly supernatural. I’m doing things that I would never have chosen to do on my own without God changing my heart.”     –– DietBet: The First Half

If you’ve been putting off getting healthy but my posts have been stirring up interest or conviction from the Lord, there’s something you need to know. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter how much advice I give you. I could post a play-by-play of every single day, chronicling all of my food and water intake and recording exactly how many calories I’m burning. I could give you my workout routines and my weekly shopping lists. I could even get down on my knees and beg you to at least start thinking about taking care of yourself. But unless you have a serious heart-to-heart with God and let Him show you the truth about you, nothing will change. You will continue to maintain bad habits, and they will catch up to you. I say this with all the love in the world and absolutely NO judgment, because I have been you. I still am you. I’m still an incredibly unhealthy person inside a starting-to-slowly-get-healthy person’s body. I know very well how impossible it seems to break such well-established habits. But you can do it. You can.

SO. In an effort to keep up my new habits for a much longer period of time, as well as encourage someone to get off the fence they’ve been sitting on for awhile, I’m trying something a little crazy. I’m done flirting with the diving board; I’m straight up jumping into the deep end of the pool. DietBet just created a new beta game called “Maintainer.” It starts September 8th and lasts for a full year (YIKES), but you can pay up at the beginning of the month and cash out at the end, just like in a regular game. Each month, if you “win” by meeting your weight goal, you earn at least your $25 bet back, plus more if others lose that round. Then, you pay up for the next month. Essentially, your investment is only $25 unless you lose a round. If you make it all the way until the last month, you compete with everyone who’s left for a bigger pot. Unlike the Kickstarter and Transformer games, you aren’t required to lose any weight to win, although you’re allowed to lose up to 10% during the year. You’re only allowed a 2% margin for weight gain per month to account for normal day-to-day weight fluctuations. The goal – obviously – is maintaining where you’re at and either staying healthy or keeping yourself accountable for being healthy.

I started to hit a slight weight loss plateau during the last game, which means I probably shouldn’t intentionally keep trying to lose lots more weight. This game will be perfect for me simply because it’s a great accountability booster. I will continuously be encouraged to eat well, and if I do end up losing a few more pounds when I kick up my exercise regimen, it’ll be just fine and dandy.

Am I terrified? Duh.
……….but am I also pumped? Duh! I’m in this for the long haul! (Unless I get pregnant, in which case I will undoubtedly gain at least 15 pounds because I’ll be carrying a Hendrickson.)

If you’re interested in joining the game and participating with me, click here! And – pretty please with cherries on top – connect with me and let me know you joined so we can hold each other accountable. Cheers to the next year of not only getting healthy but staying healthy!

If you have been following my posts on this topic so far, do you have any interest in occasional updates on the Maintainer game? Let me know in the comments.