Finding Fitness

When I was in college, I was the skinny girl who could eat whatever she wanted and not gain a pound — bottomless chips and queso, huge bowls of pasta, bloomin’ onions — you name it, I ate it. But 10 years, three pregnancies and three dress sizes later, I struggled with my self-image for the first time in my life. 

My overeating and obsessive soda-drinking were damaging my body, but I didn’t know how else to deal with the grief. I needed to exercise, but in my depression, the last thing I wanted to do was put on my running shoes. I couldn’t start eating better, losing weight and feeling healthier unless I made a change, but I knew that I didn’t have it in me to do it alone.

I decided to develop a competition with friends who wanted to not only lose weight but build lifelong healthy habits. I came up with a list of rules, hoping for three or four women to join me in accountability. To “qualify” for my competition, participants had to be at least 20 pounds overweight and willing to donate $10 towards 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 calorie goal and recording every 10 minutes of exercise. Each Monday, we would weigh in and earn points for every pound lost, and the person with the highest percentage of weight loss that week would earn extra points. At the end of the 15 weeks, the prize money would be split between the woman with the most cumulative points and the woman with the highest percentage of weight loss.

I posted my competition rules on Facebook, and to my surprise, not just three or four, but 21 friends committed to the competition, which we named Girls Getting Fit. These friends, from all different seasons of my life, bonded and cheered for one another with each pound lost, each goal reached and each new pair of skinny pants that fit. We supported each other through moments of failure, pulled muscles, job changes, deaths in the family and cancer treatments. 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 total of 165 pounds, an average of over 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 recovery after radiation treatments dropped from three weeks to 10 days, which amazed her doctors who’d been long encouraging her to get healthy. 

Rachel, the winner of the highest percentage of weight loss, lost almost 17% of her 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 may 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 myself when I’m bored or stressed. My husband and I discovered a love for kettlebells, which somehow helped to eliminate the back pain I had long experienced, and our family became more active, taking hikes on Saturdays and joining the YMCA to work out and swim. 

My weight loss and healthy lifestyle gave me a self-confidence and sense of beauty that had been missing for many years. The healthy habits I learned and the support of my Girls Getting Fit friends played an important role in my emotional healing, too.

I know I’m not the only mom who has let her health take a back seat during the early years of parenting. Maybe you’ve struggled with making healthy food choices or fitting exercise into your busy life, and you feel like you’ll never be in shape. Why not make a small change towards a healthier you, or better yet, start your own competition? It might just be one of the best decisions you ever make, for you and your family.