Bullet points from the first week of the team weight-loss contest I started Monday at the Muscatine Community Y with three friends include:
* Eating three meals a day all week AND not snacking in between meals. Five days up. Five days down. This will be really challenged for the first time as I head into the weekend.
* Exercising 6.8 hours in five days and burning 5.438 calories, according to my heart-rate monitor/watch.
* Eating ONLY four cookies out of the six boxes of Thin Mints that arrived Friday at work in a press kit from the Girl Scouts. Damn Girl Scouts.
* Walking by the pizza set out for Family Night as I left the Muscatine Community Y tonight.
I feel really well about Week 1. I’ve decided not to weigh myself for at least two or three weeks so I don’t know if I’ve lost weight since Monday. My teammates — Project Body Slam is our team name — all claim to have lost anywhere from 2 to 7 pounds on the first day, and I’m happy for them. But one of them also deliberately packed on 14 pounds in the two weeks before the contest began. That’s not for me. My goals are:
1. Win the contest. Did I mention the winning team will get $800?
2. Lose at least 50 pounds by July 25, the first day of RAGBRAI.
3. Keep the weight off for good and make a healthier lifestyle permanent. NO GIMMICKS.
On to Week No. 2.
Brome Hill 