Let me check. Yup. Still fat.

So, you may have noticed that the updates for my weight loss bet with the other fat guys have not been coming frequently. There's good reason for this.

As you may recall, two other fat lawyers and I started off on Monday Nov. 24, 2008, with the bet being to lose 10% of our body weight by March 9, 2009 - today. I had weighed in at an embarrasing 234.5. Thus, I needed to make 211 by today, or pay $50 into a pot to be divided by whatever lardasses actually make their weight.

Cut to the chase, I weighed in this morning at 223. So, I have lost about 11.5 pounds in 15 weeks, but less than half of what I needed to do for the bet. Thus, while I am disappointed that I lost the bet, I am pleased that I am moving in the right direction at a good, steady pace. The main reasons I am encouraged are the same as the reasons I failed. Mainly, I'm encouraged that I was able to lose some weight despite the facts that:

1. We started 3 days before Thanksgiving. I made it through the holidays without gaining weight, but actually losing a few pounds.

2. I didn't work out once. Seriously. This means that my new eating habits were enough to lose weight, and if I ever get off my lazy ass, I can make much more progress.

3. I wasn't a superstar on the diet. I would say I stuck to my healthy plan about 75% of the time, and the other 25% I went apeshit on things like pizza, booze, movie candy, alfredo sauce, brats, or shitty snacks like chips. This means that I can let loose a little bit and still lose weight, but also that a little more discipline would give me even better results.

In some ways, the bet was helpful. I probably would not have lost weight over the holidays without the bet. However, in other ways, the bet was counterproductive. For example, by mid-February, I had a pretty good idea that I wasn't going to make it, so I sort of gave up and had a couple of my shittiest weeks after making that realization. Without a bet in place and with no finish line, I would have had no reason to get discouraged and I could have enjoyed the fact that I had lost 8 pounds, rather than fretting over the fact that I hadn't lost 18.

No word yet on whether the other two fat-asses made it. There have been some rumblings about re-upping with a bigger bet requiring that we each be at or below our goal weight one year from now. This would mean I would need to continue to lose weight to get to 211 and stay there or lighter by March 9, 2010. I think I'm going to do it. That's a more realistic goal and I like the long term nature of it. Plus, we're going with bigger money to keep this on our minds throughout the year.

So, I won't be taking my shirt off in public anytime soon, but I've had a good start.