If you check any list of the top New Year’s resolutions, losing weight always occupies the number one spot. After over-indulging during the end of the year holidays, I always want to start the New Year fresh with resolve to eat better, look better, feel better, and be better. My 2014 diet (or as I call it, The Hunger Games) has begun and I again vow that this year will be different. This year will be THE year I succeed in shedding those extra pounds and keeping them off. Having never been truly “overweight” except in my own twisted self-image borne of years of media-fueled pictures of super-svelte-super-models photo-shopped to lean perfection, dieting was never something I “had” to do. However, like the millions of women way too influenced by what we were told to think of as fat, I began dieting. I would say that during the 53 years of my life, I have gained and lost several hundred pounds in increments of 5 lost, 7 gained, 8 lost, 4 gained and so on. Even now, during my mid-life highest weight ever (not counting my two pregnancies), I am a size 6 but for some reason, I still feel the pull to lose a few pounds and once again, I have embarked on a New Year/New Me diet. This time, I have my husband of less than a year along for the ride and I believe having a calorie-counting-companion will help us both succeed. After all, misery does love company. Bob’s office does its own 22 week version of “The Biggest Loser” challenge and when he participated last year, he was the overall winner…or should I say loser? The competition itself was a great incentive for him to keep going and his desire to win became all consuming. (This after all, is the same man who prefers to not play Scrabble with me because I beat him too often and the guy who insists on finishing Monopoly even after I have sold off every property and hotel and even forfeited the game in an effort to try to get to sleep prior to 3am.) As the winner of the competition, he won $300 plus the bragging rights and a big trophy for his efforts. While he was pleased at the weight loss, I believe he was even happier to be crowned the King. In total, Bob lost over 40 pounds and 13.4 % of his starting body weight and while he happens to be very good looking at any size, he was quite dashing in our June wedding photos wearing his smaller sized suit. He has successfully kept just about all of it off but now wants to lose more so he joined the competition again. Knowing I always want to drop a few pounds, he suggested we do this challenge together at home while he simultaneously does it at the office. It’s been 4 days, and we have both lost a couple of pounds. Neither of us has strayed from our self imposed calorie counts and we are both seeking out new recipes to try. Cooking low cal meals together, sharing tips about cutting calories, and strolling the aisles at the Rochester Public Market for fresh fruits and veggies has already made this feel far more enjoyable than doing it alone. According to exercise physiologist Adam Shafran, “Most people put all their effort into finding the right diet or exercise program but don’t put any energy into creating a support and accountability system, and too often, that’s where the devil lies.” So, if you, too, are trying to shed a couple of pounds, the answer may be as simple as grabbing the hand of someone who will walk alongside you during your shared journey, and of course will make sure you walk right on past the pizza joint opting for the salad shop instead. After all, even Katniss Everdeen, the very strong, very determined heroine of The Hunger Games needed to team up with someone to ensure her victory. And to that I say, “May the odds be ever in your favour!”
