Monday Motivation: Scale Back Alabama

If nothing else can motivate me to lose weight and get back in shape, I'm sure money and the threat of public humiliation will.

And so I've signed up for Scale Back Alabama. This annual statewide weight-loss contest is in its seventh year, but this is my first time to participate. Participants are to be in teams of four. If each member of your team has lost at least 10 pounds at the end of the 10-week contest, your team is entered in a drawing to win cash prizes. The top prize is $1,000 per team member!

Show me the money!

On Saturday my team and I weighed in Medical Weight Loss Solutions and then I went for an hour-long jog as soon as I left. I'm determined to shed at least 10 pounds because I don't want to be the jerk who made her teammates miss out on $1,000!

When I posted on Facebook that I had just signed up for Scale Back Alabama my cousin/BFF replied with this comment: "Javacia, you have no weight to lose."

I get this comment a lot when I mention I want to drop pounds. But I know something they don't: the number that stares back at me when I step on the scale. Most people would have a hard time guessing my weight by looking at me. The last time I was weighed at the doctor the nurse in charge looked at the number and exclaimed: "Well, that can't be right! You're so little." My response: "Well, apparently not."

There was a time when I didn't care about my weight or my BMI. In the past I've always been pretty muscular and since I know muscle weighs more than fat, I didn't give the number on the scale a second thought. Plus, I wore a size 4 or 6.

Those days are long gone. Most of that muscle has morphed to fat and I now wear a size 10 or 12.

Now, I'm not all depressed and rocking back and forth in a dark room over this. I know my weight and my dress size don't measure my worth as a woman. And I know my husband doesn't find me any less attractive. (In fact, he seems to be excited that I've gained weight. Southern men like 'em thick.) But my BMI has me on edge because it tells me I'm officially "overweight" which means I could be at risk for more health complications.

This is the part of the post when I do something I've never done before and share my weight with all my readers. I won't even tell my husband how much I weigh when he asks, so this is a big deal.

That's what I weighed yesterday afternoon and thus my BMI is around 29. The scale at the weigh-in center put me at 168 pounds. I doubt I lost half a pound in 24 hours, but just in case I did I'll be going for another hour-log jog today.

And let's hope that in 10 weeks I'll be 10 pounds lighter and $1,000 richer!