How to win a weight loss competition

I love weight loss competitions because it keeps us motivated and accountable. In the past when I dieted and tried to keep it a secret I was doomed to fail, but when I was confident and told my friends about my weight loss plans I was much more likely to stay on track and succeed. Well a weight loss challenge is just like that, you are proclaiming your desire to many and once you start there's no looking back. You need to see it through. Most of us are very competitive people, and once you begin you really want to win, and the desire to be the champ will keep you motivated.  Which leads to the best part about these challenges, everyone loses weight, therefore everyone is a winner.

SPIKE84 is running a weight loss challenge at Anytime Fitness in Elk River & Rogers, and it has me pumped.  After the first weigh-in we had 9 of the 14 contestants lose 9+ pounds and one guy lost an amazing 22lbs in just 28 days! This is the third such challenge I have overseen and this one is our most competitive.

Here's several tips that will give you an edge in your weight loss challenge.

1. Prior to your first weigh-in, have a couple of spike days. You will gain a few extra pounds of water from glycogen storage to give you a higher starting number, and also get your metabolism cooking at the start.
2. Log everything! The competitors who win, log their food, log their workouts, and log their moods. The data you collect will help you when you need it, and knowing your calorie goals will keep you honest.
3. Follow a plan, this year our competitors are using SPIKE84, and simply having a plan to follow is helping everyone stay on track and move forward with confidence.
4. Don't be afraid of lifting weights. it's difficult to actually add pounds of muscle while losing weight, and the boost of fat burning through weight training is important.
5. Don't worry if you see someone jumps out to a huge lead, neither of our past winners were the top losers in the first month. It's how you finish that really matters.
6. Drink plenty of water in the week leading up to your weigh-ins, this will help you lose extra water weight.
7. Avoid carbs 24 hours prior to weigh-ins to burn up glycogen and flush out water weight.
8. I've known of some who spend 20-30 minutes in a sauna right before weigh-in to drop water weight.

I have many more weight-loss tips in other blog posts, but I wanted these to be specific to a weight-loss competition. When your dealing with pounds, water weight is a big factor.

Good luck, and you have nothing to lose but weight