Diet: week 19

We had our 20th and final group meeting of Optifast dieters on Monday. I label this a report on week 19 because, of course, the actual dieting didn't begin until the day after meeting number one. So this week I am still on "transition" into real food. At weigh in I found I had only lost .6 pounds. My total so far is 64.5 pounds. I was hoping for a more exact 65, but I still have hopes of reaching or surpassing that mark when I weigh in for the final de-briefing next Monday. That will be the actual end of 20 weeks of dieting, so that number will count more than any other.

We actually held a graduation ceremony, complete with verbal rendition of "Pomp and Circumstance" as we individually strolled to the podium for our diplomas. With a calculator we determined that as a group (only 8 of us persevering to the end) we lost an average of 19+ pounds per week. There were no TV cameras, and producers of "The Biggest Loser" couldn't care less about what we had done. But we were feeling pretty good about our accomplishments (an about finally finishing this ordeal). So I remembered to bring my camera, and the photo below is the result.

A few hardy souls are continuing another 8 weeks to lose more. I found the 20 weeks more than expensive enough. If I haven't learned how to lose weight on my own by now, I never will. I hope not to bore you silly with too much about dieting in posts yet to come, but I will report some.