Paid for Losing Weight

I recently achieved a goal of losing 30 pounds. While this goal is significant, it's not quite the ultimate goal I have set for myself to be healthier, but it was significant because it brought an end to a stressful situation. Have you ever heard of getting paid for losing weight? There's several different companies now that have offered cash prizes to people who successfully lose weight and they each have various premises on how their program works.

I decided I needed the extra motivation and signed up for one of them. I'm not going to describe which one it was because I don't want to drive people to their site or drive their disciples to mine. Instead I'll just describe my experience and why, even though I successfully completed my challenge, I wouldn't suggest signing up.

In February of 2019, I hit my heaviest weight ever, including pregnancy. I was miserable and I knew something had to give. So, I did research on a diet I thought I could keep up and I found a site that would pay me to lose weight. The premise was that I had to bet a certain amount of money on myself, determine how many months I thought it would take me to lose the weight, and then the site's algorithms came up with a prize amount. The prize amount was basically what I had paid in (the bet was based on a monthly payment that you could either pay monthly or up front) plus an amount the site determined I should win based on the percentage of weight loss, my bet amount, and the length of time I was planning to use. 

I bet $50 I could lose 30 pounds in a year, which came out to a $600 bet that I paid on monthly. It seemed doable when I made the bet, but the closer I got to February 2020, the more concerned I became. While I had lost just over 20 pounds by the time I was supposed to meet my goal, I was still about 8 pounds shy. The site doesn't give you a refund, even if you have an injury (which I did back in September of 2019) because it's supposed to make it so you can't just quit. However, they do allow you to buy more time. I was supposed to win $900 on top of what I had put in for my bet, but I decided to buy more time, which was an additional $300. So, now if I met my goal by August of 2020, I would win $600 on top of the $900 I had paid in. Still not a bad deal, right?

By June, I was about 5 pounds lighter than February, but I was still struggling to lose that last 5 pounds to get me to the 30 pound goal. I had tried different things and nothing seemed to be helping me to reach my goal any faster. I was barely losing a pound or two a month at this point and I was frustrated. If I had to extend another 6 months, my prize would dwindle even more. Honestly, at that point, I was bound and determined to meet the goal I had set and never, ever, sign up for another one. 

At the end of June, I joined Noom. By following their plan, I lost the last 5 pounds, weighed out this past Tuesday and received my winnings of $1540 (which was really just under $600 when you factor in the $900 I paid in and the fee Paypal charged to get my money sooner). My Noom subscription lasts until January, and I'm hoping to edge towards my ultimate goal (which is another 50 pounds). 

Getting paid to lose weight sounds great in theory, but in practice, it was rather stressful because I didn't want to lose $900 on essentially nothing. Was it motivating? I guess, but not in a good way. Perhaps if I had joined Noom earlier in my journey, I would have had better luck and lost more quickly, maybe even meeting my goal at the year mark like I planned. 

Contests like the one I did or the Biggest Loser really make you consider some questionable health tactics to meet your goal. I did not give into the temptation (especially because it was forbidden as part of the contest), but it was there. I actually lost a significant portion of my weight in March when I got a colonoscopy done, and I joked with my husband that I should do the colonoscopy diet more often to meet the goal. Obviously, I didn't, but it's amazing how much weight you lose doing the prep for that!

So, while I successfully met my weight loss goal and earned my prize, if I could go back in time, I would not do it again. I'm happy to have lost 30 pounds and I'm looking forward to losing more, but now I don't have the added financial stress on the line. My Noom subscription was paid for up front and I plan to cancel it when the 7 months run out, regardless of whether I meet my ultimate goal or not.

It is Never Too Late to be What You Might Have Been

Last Saturday, I received a voicemail from the director of my top choice for a MFA program. The voicemail was promising, telling me that he wished to discuss my "excellent" application to their program. I was scared to call him back, nervous that it would be similar to a few calls I received after job interviews: a praise shit sandwich. One where the person giving the sandwich praises your skills and abilities, but tells you that, unfortunately, you didn't get the job. I hate those calls. I understand that managers may think that they are helpful or that they are letting people down easy, but I'd take a rejection letter over a praise shit sandwich any day. The letter I can read in peace and process on my own, falling apart for a few moments or hours as needed, depending on how much my heart was set on a particular job. A phone call requires professionalism, stoicism, at least until you can hang up. 

Lucky for me, this phone call wasn't one of those. We had a nice chat about the program, though in retrospect, I probably should have been more focused on the writing requirements themselves and less on the residencies. That said, I was accepted into their fiction program, with the option to start in the fall. My initial intent had been to start an MFA program in the spring because the fall tends to be a really busy time for my office. However, with Covid-19 shutting down the world, our sister division who conducts audits hasn't conducted any yet this year. While senior leadership is optimistic we will conduct some audits, it's unlikely to be enough to cause a substantial increase in my workload.

With that knowledge, I accepted the offer almost immediately and have decided to jump right in for the fall semester. A few days after this offer, I received an offer from my second choice school. While the program at this school is an equally awesome program, their requirements are far more strict. For instance, if I can't attend for a semester because of work obligations, they ask that students withdraw for an entire year and then come back. This would not work for me with my current position because I have no idea if next fall will be busier than this fall, with the unpredictability of the pandemic. I need more flexibility and that's what my first choice offers. They literally have stated on multiple occasions that the program fits the student, not the other way around.

I'm excited and very, very nervous. Aside from a class over spring semester at my local community college, I'm fairly out of practice with creative writing. I've been working on a novel since December, but it hasn't been a consistent thing for me. But I'm hopeful that with practice and perseverance, I'll find my way back to writing regularly and improve my skills. I also liked this program because it promises to teach me how to read like a writer to better critique other people's writing, which I think will be beneficial not only in pursuing my own writing, but also with my day job. Becoming a better writer overall will absolutely assist with both.

Being accepted to these programs was extremely validating. I've lost a lot of myself by pursuing a career so distant from what I dreamed of as a child. Finally deciding to follow that dream has felt like coming home. This is who I was meant to be. I was meant to tell stories, to pour my heart and soul out through words. I'm good at being a paralegal, and I'm good at my current job enforcing healthcare policies, but my passion, my drive, the reason for my existence, has always been to be a writer. 

Applying and being accepted into a MFA program is only the first step and I know I have a lot of work cut out for me. I also know that it will be worth it, and I'm excited for what the future has in store for me! 

Last week was a bit of a whirlwind of good news. Not only did I get accepted to two MFA programs, but I also received official word from OPM that my conversion is complete. My first master's degree has served its purpose: it helped me to join a fellowship that brought me into the federal government and completing that fellowship has earned me a spot in the competitive service. With my career on a positive path, it's time to go back to my roots, to my first love. It's time to get back to writing!

Ambition That Never Sleeps

Years ago, I wrote an entry on my old blog that I had ambition that never slept. I had plans and goals for my future, and I knew exactly how and when I would achieve those aspirations. At the time, I planned to go to law school, and a colleague I had worked with for many years with the state seemed to consider me a protégé, so law school seemed the correct path. However, after getting married, I determined that law school wasn't really where I wanted to go. Unlike other institutions, law schools have never embraced distance or online learning (although things may be changing thanks to Covid-19). I knew that if I attended law school, my family would have to make many sacrifices that I didn't think were fair to make. It had also become clearer to me that I didn't actually want to be a lawyer. What I wanted to do was work to change bad policies, or laws, and my background in assisting lawyers in defending those laws seemed to provide a great starting place for what didn't work.

So, I found a hybrid master's program and I completed the program in two years. The next stage of my plan, after law school and (hopefully) getting a prestigious fellowship, was to pursue a master's or higher in creative writing. That brings us to today. I'm at the end of my fellowship, and all signs point to conversion being inevitable (although I'm still waiting on official word). I feel secure in my position in the world, both professionally and personally.

Recently, it became a question of what type of degree I wanted. A well known school in the state has an online MA creative writing degree, and at first, that seemed the way to go. However, as I learned more about the types of creative writing degrees, I began to lean more towards a MFA, which would give me the fall back option of teaching, should something happen with my day job. Both programs promise to help students write a completed manuscript by graduation, but the MFA has more transfer-ability to other career opportunities.

I've narrowed my favorites down to three colleges, though really, I have my heart pretty much set on one. Determining my writing samples has been a challenge. Last semester, I took a few courses at the local community college, just to get my feet wet with writing again. I've also been working on a novel since Christmas, and while I've thought of using part of it as a writing sample, I'm not sure it's quite ready to submit as evidence of my ability.

Regardless of where I end up attending, I definitely feel ready to go back to my first love. My passion for the law, both creating and defending, has grown with me as an adult, but writing is a part of me, and I'm ready to let that part of me shine.