Blogger Weight Loss Challenge: Paul vs Tyler Final Results
So, today was the final day of the Blogger Weight Loss Challenge I did with Tyler Cruz.
For anyone just tuning in right now, the challenge started on March 11th, 2010 and went on for 10 weeks, ending today on May 21st, 2010. Each of us set a target to lose 6% of our body weight, or suffer the humiliation of having to pay the other guy $600 if one of us didn’t hit their target.
My starting weight was 212lbs and my goal was to lose 13lbs. So my final target weight was 199lbs or less, otherwise I would have to pay Tyler Cruz $600 cash.
So, did I make it?
Here’s my final weigh in video for the challenge:
Final Results
So, as you can see in the final video weigh in, I weighed in at 197lbs which means I lost a total of 15lbs during the challenge.
Even though the challenge was 10 weeks long (70 days), I actually didn’t really do anything seriously until the challenge was half way done. In fact, on day 35 of the challenge I was still 212lbs, so what’s exciting for me is that the 15lb weight loss really all happened in the last 35 days.
Here’s is my daily weight chart for the 35 day period of time.
This chart was based on weighing myself each morning between 9-10am. My weight would fluctuate during the day usually by 0.5-1.5lbs throughout the day in either direction. Even though I weighed 200lbs yesterday morning, I actually hit 198.8lbs at one point during the afternoon yesterday before hitting my final weight of 197.0 today at 10pm.
Here’s a chart of my body measurements as well:
As the chart shows, I lost inches all around my body. Since there is no such thing as spot reduction when it comes to losing fat, the chart shows how fat melts off your body in sheets and not in spots.
My waist at my belly button actually went down by 2.5 inches which is awesome and my waist at the belt and my hips both went down by 1.5 inches as well.
Overall I’m very happy with the results so far.
The Challenge and Tyler’s Results
I spoke to Tyler shortly after my weigh-in and he also hit his target, so the bad news is that I didn’t win $600, but the good news is that I also didn’t lose $600. What I did lose though is 15lbs of excess weight that my body didn’t need, so I’m super happy with that. I’ll link to Tyler’s post with his results here, as soon as he publishes the post.
I actually had a blast doing the challenge. Tyler and I constantly kept in touch via chat and text messaging and either egged each other on or trash-talked each other throughout the whole challenge. It was great.
I would be out for dinner with my wife, and my phone would buzz with a new text message from Tyler after he set a new record around the lake. Or I would hit a new low weight record and I’d message Tyler to piss him off, because I knew he would have no choice but to go for a run around the lake. It was actually a lot of fun doing this, and I’m a little bit sad that it’s actually over.
The other funny thing is that a lot of my family and friends got to know about the challenge, so everyone’s been asking me how it’s going. Some people thought I was nuts to stake $600 on a challenge like this, but most were really excited.
I think doing challenges like this is a great way to build your Blog audience too, and give people something to talk about, so I think I’m going to consider looking into doing other challenges like this in the future. They may not be weight loss related, but it’s fun competing against someone.
My Before an After Photos
Here are my photos from before and after the challenge.
BEFORE
AFTER
I still have a ways to go, but I feel so much better than before. My face especially feels thinner and my double chin is pretty much gone. My legs around the thigh area feel a lot skinnier, and even though the belly seems to be the last place that men lose weight I have noticed that my belly doesn’t hang over my belt anymore when I wear my jeans which is awesome.
What do you guys think based on the pictures?
Where to From Here
Yes I did have a bowl of ice cream after the weigh-in. I just wanted to celebrate with a bowl of ice cream after achieving my goal. It actually didn’t taste as good as I imagined it would.
I’m going to take a few days off from pushing myself so hard to hit my target and I’m also going to think about where I want to go from here with my weight. Obviously I don’t want to start gaining weight back, but I need to figure out what percentage of my time/energy do I want to devote to losing weight versus putting that time and energy into other projects I have going on such as getting my Blogging course finished.
I’ll have to meditate on this for a bit.
I do plan on writing a Blog post soon, sharing some more details of what I did exactly to lose the weight. My main strategy was based on 80% dietary changes and 20% exercise, but there are some really cool things I learned on the diet side while doing this that I think people will benefit from.
I’ll save that for another post though.
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Nice work Paul, congratulations on the weight loss brother.
.-= Rich artichoker´s last blog ..The Tao of Weight Managment Part 1 =-.
Congrats on making the weigh in… I thought I actually stood a pretty good chance of winning $600 after your weight was 199.8 in the morning before you had eaten. And about halfway through the challenge when you weren’t losing anything I thought I had this in the bag and was pretty much guaranteed the money. Damn!
I made the challenge too, but the last 2.5 days were absolute hell for me. I didn’t exactly starve myself by not eating anything, but I went on a very/extreme strict raw fruit, water, and veggie diet which I had never done anything like in my life before, and my body was NOT used to it.
Anyhow, I’ll have the post up soonish.
The first thing I noticed was that your face seemed thinner in the video, and in the before/after photos you can definitely see an improvement in the side portrait.
I took my photos last night too but didn’t compare them side to side yet as I was exhausted and also had to go get a big ass meal from Burger King as a reward for losing 17 pounds!
.-= Tyler Cruz´s last blog ..$600 Weight Loss Challenge: Day 64 of 70 =-.
wow.. Congrats on winning the challenge.. It is much more than the weight loss.. Looking forward to the next post.
.-= Ananth´s last blog ..Neeve Neeve Lyrics – Darling =-.
Congrads on your weight loss Paul : )
.-= Lisa´s last blog ..Cranberry Almond Muffins =-.
Congratulations Paul! It’s great to help celebrate successes. What are you going to do with the $600 that was “set aside”?
.-= Angela´s last blog ..Cha-Cha-Cha-Cha-Cha-Changes =-.
Thanks everyone. I had so much fun doing this. I’m really learning that I thrive under pressure and in healthy competitive situations. When I was trying to win my Apple Laptop I had the best month in my affiliate marketing career. When doing this challenge I lost a lot of weight very quickly.
There’s just something about using the Ego for healthy competitions like this. When the Ego is focused on something constructive it can be a very powerful force.
@Rich: Thanks man, I appreciate that.
@Tyler: Thanks man. This competition was a lot of fun. Our messages back and forth made this so much more interesting. It’s cool how we each had a totally different strategy, but in the end each of our strategies worked for us.
I knew at the halfway mark that you thought you had the competition in the bag since I was still 212lbs, but I had full confidence in my diet plans. I actually overestimated the effectiveness of it a bit thought and almost got caught short on he weight loss. In the end it came down to the wire, just like with the affiliate marketing challenge I won. In both cases I could have started my strategy much sooner! I’ll need to explore why I do that to myself.
Congratulations on hitting your target too. I know it’s not easy to do this, especially since you took the 80% exercise / 20% dietary changes path. It’s interesting to note also that at the last part of the competition, I resorted to more exercise to lose the last few pounds before the weigh-in and you resorted to dietary changes. Funny how we added in that other component at the end.
Looking forward to your post/video so I can see how your weight loss changed your appearance.
@Ananth, Lisa: Thanks! Lisa, now I want to go and eat those Cranberry Almond Muffins you have a recipe for!
@Angela: I will be totally honest with you. I didn’t have $600 set aside. Even at the halfway point when I was still 212lbs, I had no money set aside. I never considered losing this competition as a possibility.
My wife asked me about where I got the $600 for the competition, around the halfway point and I said “I don’t have $600, I’m not planning on losing.” I wasn’t being cocky, I just honestly didn’t plan for it at all. It wasn’t an option in my mind, I thought I would be able to hit my target weight easily because at one point in my life I once lost 16lbs in about 2 weeks, so I thought 13lbs in 35 days would be a cake-walk for me.
Unfortunately, it was a lot harder to lose the weight this time compared to last. My diet wasn’t as “perfect” as things in my personal life got in the way of that, and I had to resort to second-best alternatives such as Veggie Pizza from Domino’s on a few occasions. In the last few days my wife was actually getting really stressed out over this, lol! I didn’t realize it but it really stressed her out.
After the weigh-in yesterday she felt so relieved and more relaxed. She was WAY more worried than I was, heheh.
Woo! I think it’s awesome that you both won, and you did, since you both lost weight and are now healthier than before.
What interesting to see is that neither of you took the same path to get there, which just goes to show that everyone’s body and mind works differently.
Now how about another challenge, who can keep it off the longest?
.-= Jonathan´s last blog ..In With The New And Out With The Blue =-.
Congrats Paul! It’s been fun!
Way to go Paul. Any step you make towards health is a win. Looks pretty good, and yes, you can even do better. I know it’s easier when you have a target, you can put a little money on it, and a time frame gives you added inspiration to take action.
The challenge will be to encorporate these changes into your lifestyle. It’s not about deprivation as much as every moment moving towards your desired intention. When it aligns with your highest values, it’s not something you will have to work hard towards up stream. You’re just moving downstream.
.-= Nima´s last blog ..Being careful what I wish for… =-.
Which software do you use to create the intro part of your videos? They look really nice…
@Sam: Thanks. I use Adobe After Effects and Adobe Premiere.
Way to go son, I thought I was going to have to leash you up to my truck and run you on the side streets a bit. I knew you’d do it.
@Pop: No need, I have a treadmill and the humiliation of losing to Tyler is plenty enough motivation for me to use it. Well that and $600.
Hats off to you, Paul, and to Tyler too. You are both winner’s in my book … and by the scale as well.
Losing that weight around the middle is particularly impressive, becuase according to the experts, as we males age, that “belly fat” is the most dangerous for the heart and other health areas .. so this is one of those “gimmicks” or hobbies that is really good for you, no matter what the actual tale of the scale or the tape.
I’m working on losing myself .. with ome success over the past few months, inspired in no small part bit by your very public contest. Be well.
.-= Dave Starr´s last blog ..Philippines and Submarines =-.