**singing** "Meet me in the gym...it's going down!"

The Biggest Loser competition is afoot! I am soooooooo excited. Here's the deal:

- $100 buy in
- 8 competitors
- 12 weeks
- Winner (person who loses the greatest # 0f pounds) takes 75%; other 25% goes to the person who has gained back the least amount of weight 4 wks later

I am in it to win it folks. Here's my plan/schedule:

Yoga: Monday & Wednesday
Swimming: Saturday & Thursday
Weights: Sunday

Now...I might switch up the workout schedule a bit if I find that I am not getting enough cardio in. I might substitute swimming in on Sunday as well, since I am doing strengthening exercises on Monday & Wednesday. We'll see, but as I think about it now...I'm leaning more towards cardio 3 times a week.

Ok the other BIG point is food (of course). I am going to the grocery store this weekend, and it is going to be a serious haul. I cannot afford to eat any junk food due to cravings, so I will need to have ample healthy meals and snacks. Essentially I need to really commit to packing breakfast and lunch each day and cooking dinner each night. Whew this is gonna be a lot of work. I think that I'll be alright if I stick w/my few staples:

Breakfast - oatmeal/fruit/yogurt/applesauce
Lunch - salad/soup/frozen meal w/in appropriate calorie range/healthy dinner left-overs
Dinner - grilled/baked chicken or fish w/steamed veggies or all veggie plate w/good carbs (brown rice/black beans/etc)
Snacks - fruit/100 calorie packs
Beverages - Lots of water

Now I am going to deviate from my standard philosophy a little bit. Normally, I don't believe in cutting any one item from my diet completely. However, in this case I am going to have to let go of alcohol, soda (which was getting cut anyway), sugary sweets and red meat. It really isn't what I prefer to do, but I do think that it is critical to the competition. This will have to be 3 months of zero splurges or cheats.

So what am I really hoping to get out of this? Well I am primarily hoping to get back into the same mindset that I was in 6 months ago. I want to get back to where making healthy choices and working out are the norm, rather than "me on a good day". I am not really expecting to win the pot (not for lack of determination, but rather sheer lack of available pounds to lose). However, I definitely want to provide some stiff competition for the rest of the folks. Plus, if I do win, then I can use the money to furnish my new wardrobe b/c I will definitely need it.

The formal weigh in is this afternoon. I will let you know the results, but I am expecting to come in at my usual 170-172. If the fruits of my labors pay off, then I think that I could lose btwn 15 and 20 lbs. However, no matter what...if I give it a good effort, stay disciplined and truly do my best, then I'll be happy. The competition kicks off this Saturday am w/my 1st trip to the gym in more than a week. Wish me luck!