Biggest Loser Family Challenge Weigh-in #1

At the end of last year, my mom casually threw out the idea of a family Biggest Loser Challenge. Little did she know that I would jump on the idea and run full sprint out the door and around the house with it.

My family is heavy. None of us have chronic diseases because of it, but there's nothing to say that it isn't just a matter of time. My parents are nearing retirement and my aunt an uncle are in their 40s. Changing their lifestyles is going to be difficult. On the younger end of the spectrum is my sister, brother-in-law, husband, and me. All married for less than two years and looking to start having children in the near future. There's no way we want to pass our bad habits on to the next generation. Given that my husband loves anything competitive I knew he would be in. Now, I only had to convince the rest of the group.

The Challenge:
We broke into teams of two with one male and one female on each team. Each team lives in the same house, so there are similar support structures. The first weigh-in was January 2, 2009. Each month we weigh in as a team again with the final weigh-in being January 29, 2010. This will teach everyone that it's a lifestyle change, not a diet. We will go through each holiday and everyone's birthday and learn how to celebrate without jumping off the wagon. If we fall, we have someone there to pull us back on.

Game Play:
Each month, the team with the highest percentage of weigh loss for that month wins an extra pound off the final weigh-in. Given that the challenge is so long, we needed an incentive for people to not wait until the end to start loosing weight. Teams can use any weight loss and exercise regimen they chose.

The Prize:
Thirteen months is a long time, so a big prize was needed. Each team is tossing $150 into the pot and the winning team will walk away with $450 in cash. The challenge ends the day before our family cruise vacation, so that's a lot of party money! And we'll look fabulous doing it.

So how did we do??? Well, Team Monkey kicked ass and won the first month. Down a whopping 22.8 lbs and on our way to total family dominance!

Team Monkey: 446 - 423.2 = 22.8 = 5.11%
Team P: 464 - 455 = 9.0 = 1.94%
Team F: 588 - 567 = 21.0 = 3.57%
Team L: 436 - 438 = +2.0 = +.46%