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I didn’t have it in me to do it alone. A few months earlier, a friend and I had begun a friendly housekeeping competition. Reporting to her each day held me accountable to my cleaning schedule and helped me actually develop the habits I needed for keeping my house clean on a regular basis. A lenient point system helped each of us not get too discouraged if we fell behind, but competing against each other for a piece of cheesecake kept us in the game. I thought, why not do something similar for losing weight? I didn’t want to just “diet” and lose a lot of weight only to put it back on later. What if I led a similar competition with friends who wanted to not only lose weight but build habits that would later maintain the loss? I came up with a list of rules and posted them to Facebook, hoping three or four women would join me in accountability. To “qualify” for my competition, participants had to be at least 20 pounds overweight according to the Body Mass Index, be transparent with their weight, and be willing to donate $10 toward a prize pot. Over a period of 15 weeks, we would earn daily points for drinking 8-10 glasses of water, eating six servings of fruits and vegetables, posting a detailed food journal, staying within a daily goal of calories or Weight Watcher points, and recording every 10 minutes of exercise. Every Monday, we would weigh in and earn points for each pound lost, and the person with the highest percentage of weight loss that week would earn extra points. We would also have opportunities to earn points by answering bonus questions and reaching a weekly individual goal. At the end of the 15 weeks, the woman with the most cumulative points and the woman with the highest percentage of weight loss would split the prize money. To my surprise, not just three or four, but 21 friends committed to the competition we named Girls Getting Fit. These friends, from all different seasons of my life, bonded and cheered for one other for each pound lost, each goal reached, and each new pair of skinny pants. We supported each other through moments of failure, pulled muscles, job changes, deaths in the family, and cancer treatments.
Building Healthy Habits, • Drink 8-10 eight-ounce glasses of water a day. If you don’t like water, try adding a little lemon or lime juice for flavor. If you use a 32-ounce cup, you will only have to refill it once.
• Aim for at least six servings of fruits and vegetables daily. Start your day with a smoothie or eat a salad for lunch. Make it a goal to fill half of your dinner plate with non-starchy veggies or salad and then fill the other half with a quarter protein and a quarter carbohydrate or starch.
• Know how many calories your body needs. Websites such as sparkpeople.com, weightwatchers.com, or the phone app “Lose It” will take your weight and activity level and help you determine how much you should eat daily to maintain your weight or to safely lose one to two pounds a week. 16 December 2012/January 2013
We didn’t take any magic pills or perform any quick tricks. We lost weight through good old-fashioned hard work, one small change at a time, and we had fun doing it together. The eight women who persevered to the end lost a combined total of 165 pounds, an average of more than 20 pounds per person. Lynn, my friend battling cancer, was the winner of the most accumulated points. After incorporating exercise and healthy eating into her life, her blood pressure significantly lowered, and her recovery after radiation treatments went from three weeks to ten days, amazing her doctors who had been encouraging her for a long time to get healthy. Rachel, the winner of the highest percentage of weight loss, lost almost 17 percent of her body weight and went on to run two 5Ks. Lori’s ratio between “bad” and “good” cholesterol improved dramatically. And after three years of being on antidepressants, Deanne was able to wean off medication. I might not have been the Biggest Loser, but at the end of those 15 weeks, I had lost 23 pounds and more than two dress sizes. I learned to eat smaller portions and to view food as fuel instead of something with which to stuff my stomach when I’m bored or stressed. My husband and I discovered a love for kettlebells, which somehow helped eliminate the back pain I had long experienced. Our family became more active, taking hikes on Saturdays and joining the YMCA to work out and swim. My weight loss and healthy lifestyle rebirthed self-confidence and a sense of beauty in me that had been missing for many years. The healthy habits I learned and the support of my friends in Girls Getting Fit played an important role in my journey toward emotional healing, too. I know I am not the only mom who has let her health take a back seat during the early years of parenting. Eating healthy foods and exercising is a challenge for busy parents, but if we’re not setting an example and teaching our kids about good health, who will? Why not make a small change toward a healthier you, or better yet, start your own competition like Girls Getting Fit? It might just be one of the best decisions you ever make for you and your family. Sandi Haustein lives in Crestwood with her husband and three sons, ages 8, 6, and 4. She is a frequent contributor to Today’s Family magazine.
Girls-Getting-Fit Style
• Keep a detailed food journal. According to a recent study published in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, maintaining a food journal leads to greater weight loss success. Be honest about every bite. If you log your food as you go instead of waiting until the end of the day, you’ll be better able to plan what you eat and not go over your daily calorie goal. • Exercise. Start small if you need to, but start. Commit to taking a walk as a family every night after dinner. Meet a friend early in the morning or during your lunch hour to work out. Try different forms of exercise until you find something you love, be it walking, jogging, cycling, rollerblading, kettlebells, jump rope, swimming, Zumba, or something else. The possibilities are endless.
• Set measurable, realistic goals each week. If changing your eating habits and finding time to exercise feels overwhelming, pick one healthy, attainable goal each week. Your goal might be to drink 32 ounces of water before drinking anything else, to walk for 30 minutes three times a week, or to only eat second servings of vegetables.
• Be accountable to others.
In Girls Getting Fit, we shared everything from our daily food journals and exercise choices to our weekly weigh-ins. Seeing each other’s successes encouraged us to keep moving toward our own goals, and seeing each other’s failures helped us not to feel alone.
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