“The Biggest Loser” is such a success, that many corporations have their own weight loss competitions every year. I even entered such a competition on 2 separate occasions at an old day job. Now, I was told that anyone could enter and I had my reservations at first. I didn’t really need to lose weight. I am by no means obese and I’ve always fluctuated around my high school weight. Then they mentioned there would be a cash prize – hundreds of dollars would be at stake. That sealed the deal for me and I entered the competition.
The one advantage I had over the rest of the field was that I used to box and wrestle as a teenager which means I know how to cut weight. The 1st time I entered, I lost 23 pounds over the course of 8 weeks. It wasn’t that hard once the initial discomfort set in. I ended up winning a couple hundred dollars and simultaneously ruffling a few feathers amongst coworkers. They felt I really didn’t need to lose the weight and took advantage of the competition. It probably didn’t help that I sent a company wide email thanking everyone for the money with a picture of me holding the prize money and my victory meal.
The company held another competition the following year and I decided to enter again. Lots of people dropped out at the start but there was still several hundred dollars at stake. I ended up losing 17 lbs this time and yes, I did send another company wide email thanking them for the money. Probably not the classiest thing to do. But these photos still make me smile every time when I think of those days.
Tags: weight loss money classy
