Flashback two years and 500+ lbs ago.

Two good friends sitting at the kitchen table after a meal of one too many second helpings. They push away from the table and in unison agree that this (overeating) has got to stop and something other than the notches on their belts has got to give. That something is their weight. From this, the Biggest Loser Challenge of Hamilton was invented.

The Idea: It came from Patty and Frank. It was simple: invite a group of friends to lose weight together. Nothing new there, right? Here’s the motivator: the most successful person wins cash. (We’d do anything to get motivated.)

The Goal: Support each other, work out together, be each others’ conscience and get healthy.

The Challenge: Pay $100 to join, meet weekly to weigh in, share tips, tricks, highs and lows over a healthy meal served at the host's house. At the end of 20 weeks, the person with the largest percent of body weight lost wins. The kicker: if you gain any weight during the 20 weeks, it costs you $1 per pound.

The Organizer: Patty sends out 15+ e-mails to friends inviting them to accept the challenge. 12 people accept. We are men and women ranging in ages from 42 to 75 years old. We want to lose between 15 and 100 pounds each. The group is divided into two teams, creating six consciences for each member. And to make it even more interesting, the team with the largest weight loss also wins cash.

And So it Began. The first Saturday at 7 a.m., one team met to start walking and the other team hit the gym. During the week, we dusted off our treadmills, exercise bikes and elliptical machines. We pulled out our old Weight Watchers cookbooks, scales and point system cards. We called, e-mailed, and texted each other with questions like, “So, what did you eat for lunch today?” and “How many glasses of water did you drink?” By that Tuesday, we were psyched and actually looking forward to getting on the scale to see how many pounds have melted away.

Week One: We’ve all lost something, but it was just the beginning. 19 weeks to go and how are we going to stay motivated? We can’t starve ourselves for 19 weeks. We’ve got to do this for the long term and it’s got to be a lifestyle change. So everyone is given an assignment for the next week. Bring some information to share: the best choices at fast food restaurants, the best foods to burn fat, and figure out what your eating triggers are. We educate ourselves and learn how to eat by thinking first.

Week after week, we meet, laugh, eat and compare stories. Week after week, we all lose weight. Some weeks, it’s only half a pound, but it adds up. We make it through Thanksgiving, even with turkey and pumpkin pie, and we make it through Christmas, even with the cookies and all the parties. What keeps us motivated? That’s the easy part; it’s each other. It’s getting the chance to wear Joe’s “biggest loser” button for the week. It’s getting into size 10 jeans for the first time in 10 years. It’s having old friends notice how good you look. It’s feeling better. It’s about getting off the blood and cholesterol pills and about no longer aching when you get up in the morning. It’s about feeling 10 years younger and doing things we couldn’t do 20 weeks before.

Flash forward to present day. Are we still meeting every week? You bet! We make time for ourselves. Have we all met our individual goals? No, but we’re closer and healthier than we were 2 years ago. Some lost 15 lbs, some 50 and some even 75. Are we all in our ideal weight range? No, but closer, a lot closer than two years ago. The point is that we are all living better lives and we’re happier with ourselves. That’s what we all wanted.

Some things we learned: Men do lose weight faster, but in the long run, it works out evenly, so don’t quit ladies. You can’t starve yourself skinny. You can have anything you want to eat, just watch the portion size. A glass of skim milk first thing in the morning helped us all over a 3 or 4 week no loss hurdle. Just because you’re menopausal doesn’t mean you can’t lose weight. Going to a buffet can still be fun and you can eat dessert, too. When you’re stressed and hungry, grab a handful of almonds not M&Ms. But most of all THINK before you eat.

Update: Since October 2007, we’ve grown to 24 successful losers. We’ve lost members because they’ve made their goal weight and maintained it for a year or more and we’ve lost 2 due to health restrictions, but 11 of the original 12 are still at it and we’ve lost over 550 pounds combined.