Wednesday, December 3, 2014

I Got Paid To Lose Weight

One day last May I was cruising the internet and saw an ad about being paid to lose weight.  "Right!", I thought but I clicked anyway.  I ended at at the HealthyWage page and I read it pretty throughly.  They have a few different programs but the one that interested me was the challenge to wager on my weight loss.

At that point, I was at least 75 pounds overweight.  I'd tried lots of different programs and sometimes lost up to 25 pounds in the course of dieting.  But I always got discouraged and quit and eventually regained all the weight - and then some.

So I was frustrated and discouraged and pretty much willing to try anything - except maybe surgery.  The way the HealthWage challenge worked was that I input how much I weighed and how much I wanted to lose in what time frame.   I decided I wanted to lose 50 pounds in 6 months. They came back with a challenge: I would pay $50 a month for the 6 months and if I was successful, they would send me my $300 back PLUS another $588.55.  I don't know how they came up with those numbers but I was willing to give it a shot.  I was 90% sure it was a scam and that I'd never see my $300 but I was 10% hopeful I'd get the money and lose the weight.  And even if I didn't get the money, I decided I was willing to pay $300 for yet another diet program.

So I set out on my 6 month challenge. I had to submit a before picture and a video verification of my weight and was accepted to the program.  I decided I wasn't going to "diet" but rather make my new mantra, "Eat Less, Move More" though I was sad ELMM didn't resonate as a fun acronym. I ate whatever I wanted but I limited my calories to 1200 a day.  I wasn't obsessive about the calories but I looked things up and rounded up.  I did limit some things; rice, pasta, potatoes, bread and wine.  It wasn't easy but I do think the money was an excellent motivator.  Every time someone offered me goodies or whenever I thought about cracking open a bottle of wine, I thought about that money and I kept my willpower.

Coincidently, about that same time, our prevention program sent me a notification that because my BMI was too high, I was being sent a Fitbit Flex for free.  Who could say no to that?  That arrived in June and I started my 10K steps a day and have been pretty consistent with that.  As it turns out, I'm a bit more competitive than I ever knew and as soon as I saw my friends' step totals I ramped up my game to catch up with them.

And it worked.  I started losing weight right away and I kept it up for 5 months.  I lost 55 lbs and I'm still losing but just not as quickly, probably because of the holidays and vacations I've been taking.  I allow myself to enjoy the good stuff when I'm out with friends.

Once I met my goal, I made my claim with HealthyWage.  I submitted all the information they requested and got an email that said I was a winner and "the check was in the mail."  And it was!  It arrived last week and I deposited it.  The bank cleared it!





I'm on maintenance until the year end but then I might enter another challenge in January to take some more pounds off.

Here are my before and after photos that HealthyWage required:



I know not professional and all, but not edited either.  I'm wearing clothes that are 2 sizes smaller than before and I've donated a huge pile of things I can't wear any longer.  And I feel great. Thank you, HealthyWage.  

6 comments:

Jenny Greene said...

Wow, great job! Your before and after pictures are really great!

I have been losing weight, too, but not ready to put any money down on it! Probably 15-20 lbs. since the beginning of the year. You are a good Fitbit friend -- I am always in awe of your numbers!

Anonymous said...

I'll say it again. You look mahvelous!

Unknown said...

You look great! And I am sure you feel great too. Now enjoy that trip to Italy.

Susan said...

Thanks guys. I do feel good.
I'm going to try not to devour Italy.

Jenny, good job!

JohnnyB said...

Yay for you! It really does feel good, physically and mentally. That money can pay for new clothes!

Karen B. said...

I had no idea! I am so thrilled for you, Sue. You look fantastic!