Runner-Up

It's official! If for some reason, the winner of the Reinvent U bootcamp of Summer 2008 is unable to maintain her workout and nutrition routine, I will take her place as the winner!

On Friday I participated in the closing ceremonies of the Boot camp. This included a fashion show featuring the boot campers (not a terribly flattering outfit on me, but I did not get to choose), and a keynote address by a local radio personality (horrible at best.) She talked for 30 minutes about all of the different weight loss trends she has tried over the years that failed, and then went into detail about how she now is working out at Curves and has lost 8 lbs. Woo hoo for her!

The rest of the evening was much more positive with all of us women taking a "walk of confidence" up to the mic to give a quick word about our own feelings about our individual accomplishments, a funny slideshow of our photo "outtakes" from the past 12 weeks, and a beautiful solo performance by one of our own.

The finale of the evening was the awarding of prizes. The top 5 women were all within 3 points of each other after adding up the number of pounds lost + inches lost + body mass percentage points lost. In the end I was the runner-up to the winner who beat me by 3 ounces. Yes! If I had worn lighter pants to the weigh in I would have won! I lost by the weight of a travel size bottle of shampoo!

The winner, of course, won $1000, a white diamonds watch, and a 1 year membership at the fitness center. I won a spa day at a local day spa, and a gift bag of assorted stuff. Yet amazingly, I am not bitter!

The woman who won was my workout partner Jeanette. 3 weeks ago, our group voted unanimously to have her make a speech at the closing on our behalf. She is a spirit filled woman who embodies the mission of Reinvent U. I joke with her all of the time about her smile which is one of the most amazing I have seen, and which gets bigger and bigger the harder she works! She will be an excellent spokesmodel for the program, and able to inspire others to take the challenge.

Meantime, I lost: 26 pounds, 5 inches around my waist and hips, and 6% of my BMI in 12 weeks! I feel great, and I have been to the gym twice since Friday. I am determined to make it to the gym on Monday and Wednesday evenings and Saturdays after Shul for my "me time," and to continue keeping my portions small and well balanced.

The next boot camp starts mid October (during sukkot) and is an 8 week maintenance program before the next 12 week starts. Frances has asked me to be a mentor for the next one, but I am worried about having too much on my plate already! (pun intended) We'll see after the mentor's meeting on Monday!

Sorry I haven't linked anything up, but I am stealing time right now. Maybe later I'll come back with the photos and links...