Its the Final Countdown of the Get Lean and Loopyliscious Challenge!!   
OK, then - now where were we?  Last posting, it was Week 8 of the Get Lean and Loopyliscious Challenge - and I am delighted to report that, at the end of week 8, i LOST 2.2lbs and so blazed through my weekly target of 1.5lbs.  How did I do it?  Well, running like Forrest and eating like a caveman, I think.  Well done, me, well done.

So the P of Double D remained gathering dust for a while longer (actually, he's off campaigning for Obama in his home state of Idaho at the moment - very important work, so i was glad not to have to recall him from his duties).

So that was then, this is now.  As you might have been able to tell by the lack of recent bloggy activity, its been a busy couple of weeks, and so we now suddenly find ourselves in the final days of the GL&LC.  Now, not that I have anything against Week 9, but I'm afraid we have to skip over that week and head straight into the results for Week 10.  But why, Sarah, why?  Are you cheating?  Are you denying us one potential week of forfeiture?  Can you simply not count properly?

Well, no, yes and quite possibly.

The reason the GL&LC has to wrap up now is because I shall shortly head back home to Cyprus to see the inspiration for the whole challenge itself, my gorgeously skinnyliscious sis, Loopy! She has now lost a whopping 44lbs and is on her way to her final target of 50lbs!!!   I am just so proud of her and can't wait to see (less of) her in the (muchly reduced) flesh!!  So, today, marks the final weigh-in and the Official Conclusion of the Annual 1st Get Lean and Loopyliscious Challenge.

And the results from the final weigh-in are........

GAIN!!!  2.2lb!!!

Yes, in a cruel irony, I happened to gain the weight back that I had lost in Week 8!  I guess that's what happens when you take your eye off the ball/scale/measuring cup and spend too much time working and eating, instead of exercising and not eating.   So, for the first and last time, I reached into the stand-in Plastic Ziplock of Doom (caretaking as forfeit holder for the P of Double D) to select my last ever forfeit.  The Ziplock of Doom is extremely camera-shy (he feels he always looks so washed out and transparent in pictures) so refused to be photographed, but Mr and Mrs PH helped select the forfeit as per usual and act as independent referees.  And, the forfeit for the final week of the GL&LC is.....

SPEND THE NIGHT SOMEWHERE HAUNTED

SPOOKTASTIC!!  A particularly appropriate forfeit, given the Halloween season.  

And - oh!  What luck!  Tonight, Lori and I just so happen to be spending the night on the USS Hornet, an retired US aircraft carrier moored up in the Bay at Alameda Point that is rumoured to be haunted....

http://www.uss-hornet.org/calendar/mysteryovernight/. Ghost Hunters, here we come....  Stay posted for a full report on our scary adventure....

And so, as I look back on the weeks of the Challenge, what have I learnt and what have I gained from the experience?

1. My sister is awesome.  Its bloody hard work to try and lose weight and her achievement has been remarkable.
2. I learnt that I actually really don't mind running - in fact, I *ahem* enjoy it.  My biggest run so far has been with my trainer, Natalie, and we ran over 5 miles!  5 miles!!!   And so i have been duly inspired to sign up for a 10K run!  Go, me!!
3. That running dressed as a traffic cone is somewhat impractical
4. While I may not have lost as much poundage as i'dve liked, I have definitely gained muscle and shaped up, am feeling stronger and somewhat leaner, so from that perspective, the challenge has been a great success.
5. That you can have a lot of (probably too much) fun with a plastic Potato Head
6. That two Duck Tours is probably one too many
7. Never to p*ss off your microwave
8. Eating fries is not a short-cut to weight loss
9. Drinking wine is a short-cut to #8
10. Its been a lot of fun and I hope you've enjoyed it as much as I have!!  (and don't worry, as soon as I get back from Cyprus, you will all get your Roller Disco forfeit!)

The only question that remains now is, what next?