2月20日
And now, a word from our sponsor...
We received a message the other day from Inside MSN editor, Jody Brannon, asking us to share with her our experience of MSN's Million Pound Match-Up. Her
column focuses on the content of various MSN blogs. She is currently working on an article about the MPMU blogs and we were happy to share our insight with her. We never really stopped to think about this experience before, because we were so caught up in DOING it, that this assignment was sorta refreshing and made us really appreciate each other's support, how far we've come, the awesome people we've become friends with....ok...exactly how long have we been working for Hallmark??? Truth of the matter is, this has been an AMAZING experience for us both, and I'm sure for all of you in the MPMU. Here are our thoughts on this competition:
Betsy's View of the Match-Up Blog:
Blogging about my weight loss trials and tribulations has been the
most effective weight loss strategy yet. I've tried countless "diets"
and weight loss attempts, but actually writing out how I'm feeling,
what I'm eating, and how I'm exercising has kept me on track the best.
Having a weight-loss blog couldn't be easier! Posting my current
weight and a quick summary of my eating/exercising habits a least once
a week doesn't take long, and it lets me set aside time to really think
about my weight loss efforts. I can figure out what worked and what
didn't, what I need to work on for the upcoming week, and how it all
has made me feel. Not only am I tracking this for myself, but I'm
sharing it with anybody that has access to the internet! That is
DEFINITELY a huge motivator for me. It keeps me accountable for what
I'm doing, because I don't want to post "I gained five pounds because I
ate a pint of Ben & Jerry's while sitting on the couch all week."
People are going to catch on after a few weeks if I'm not losing
weight. In the same respect, having an audience is fun! When I'm able
to fit into a skirt that hasn't fit in six years, I don't want just my
friends and family to know, I want the whole world to know!!
It's actually surprising the amount of amazingly, awesome people
we've met through this blog competition. When Amy and I signed up, we
figured "Ok, we'll do our blog and call it", but we have a whole
network of people that are our blog friends that are so cool! We're
always checking up on their blogs to see how they are doing and it's
refreshing to know that people out there are experiencing the same
issues with weight loss that we are. The comments that our new found
friends leave us are so encouraging! We once received a comment from a
woman who randomly logged onto our site that almost made me cry. She
told us that she had lost 30 pounds, gained it all back and has been so
discouraged. After visiting our site, we encouraged her to start
trying to lose weight again and that, even though she didn't have a
partner, she was going to try and keep up with us and pretend that we
were her partner. Knowing that we were someone's role models was one
of the greatest feelings!
I can't imagine doing this blog without a partner, it's just not
as fun! Yes, we're serious about losing the weight, but we still want
to have fun while we're doing it! It's a lot easier that both of us
are doing this, because we keep tabs on each other. Neither of us
wants to let the other one down, so we make sure that we're both eating
healthy, working out, and of course, staying sane. :)
Amy's View of the Match-Up Blog:The Million Pound Match-Up
blog competition is completely unlike what I thought it was going to
be. The rules and requirements are simple, the actual blogging and
managing of the MSN Space is a breeze and the overall competition has
not been a difficult undertaking (the actual altering of eating habits
has been a challenge, of course), but what has surprised me the most is
the camaraderie and solidarity that has formed among bloggers within
the competition space. I had no idea the amount of friends and the
support we would be receiving from total strangers during this
competition, and it's great! I had no idea so many people would be
paying attention. When we posted our "introduction videos," we just
thought they were funny and they would make the two or three people who
actually watched them laugh. But after the videos had been up for a day
or two, they had received hundreds of hits already! People are actually
paying attention, and that makes me want to succeed in this
competition, not only for my own health and for the sake of my partner,
but because I don't want to let the people down who have shown so much
support and given such great advice to someone with whom they might
have never come into contact if it weren't for the Biggest Loser.I'm
a writer/editor by profession and I also keep a personal blog as well
as a written diary (people still do this?), so I really understand the
value in writing things down and putting thoughts, ideas, etc. onto
paper. This blog has really helped me make some order out of the chaos
that my life is at times (not just eating habits, but life in general.
It is all connected, after all). I start to feel bad when I'm not
blogging as much as my partner or when I do feel like I'm contributing
enough to a particular blog. I start to feel like, "I hope people don't
think I've fallen off the wagon with this competition because I'm not
blogging as much! I'm just busy/had a bad week/forgot/etc.!!" So I
definitely think keeping track of my eating and exercise habits -
along with other things life throws at me - by blogging is a great way
to hold myself accountable, and to prove my accountability to our
friends and everyone else paying attention on the site.That
being said, I do not think I'd be able to do this if it wasn't for my
awesome best friend, roommate and partner in this competition, Betsy.
She keeps me motivated. She feeds me nutritious food. She reminds me to
blog. She cheers when I have a good weigh-in. She cheers when I don't,
because she knows I'm working hard and it's not easy but it will
happen. She's there for me in every aspect of life outside of the
competition, which feeds back into the competition since that's a big
part of my life now. She is doing a really great job and I'm really
proud of her, and I know she is proud of me. And now her jean skirt
fits!! 
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