the biggest loser comes to locust point, sort of.

I'm getting ready to do something mildly insane and I couldn't be more excited about it.

Gold's Gym is about to start a contest called The Gold's Gym Challenge on January 19th. The "Challenge" runs for 12 weeks and it is frightening, to say the least. Before it begins, they measure you, weigh you, and take a picture of you in either a two-piece swimsuit or shorts and a sports bra a la "Biggest Loser." Although the "before" photo part is terrifying, they say that you'll be really happy to have it at the end when you can compare it to your "after" photo. We'll see about that.

Once The Challenge is underway, they give you a free personal training session, hold informational workshops about things like nutrition and stretching, and hold group personal training sessions weekly. Essentially, you just exercise and eat healthy for 12 weeks, and see where you end up.

There are a few different categories, broken down by age, and the winner is decided by greatest improvement in physical appearance and by a written essay that gets turned in at the end of the contest. The winner snags $12,500 and a 1-year gym membership. (I'm not doing it to win big money, though. I'm doing it to have something to motivate me to eat healthy and work out more.)

My dear friend and neighbor, Trisha, will be my partner-in-crime for this 12 weeks of insanity. We may be crazy for signing up for this, but at least we'll be crazy together!

Because I cannot do this successfully without a structured eating plan, I am also going to sign up for Weight Watchers for the 12 weeks and attend meetings with my mom. I'm looking forward to having something to do with my mom once a week that will keep both of our minds off of losing my dad. If Mom was a Gold's member, I'd be making her sign up for The Challenge, too. Alas, she isn't, so I'm picking my battles.

This comes at a great time, since my New Year's Resolution is to stop stressing about the number on a scale and just eat healthy and exercise lots. If I didn't need Weight Watchers for the structure, I'd plan on not getting on the scale at all for the entire 12 weeks. I'm so over stressing about being a certain weight. I had an epiphany over the holidays and realized that I am almost thirty years old, have had a baby, and plan to have more babies. I'm not going to be skinny as a rail, and all I really should be concerned about is being healthy for my family.

And so here I am, about to challenge myself to 12 weeks of healthy living. Rest assured, there will be updates. I'll even give everyone my "before" measurements and weight. What better way to be held accountable than having all of you read about my progress and check up on me? Stay tuned!