Finis
Final Weight: 163
Total Loss: 10 pounds

Well, it's done. It's over. No more weekly weigh-ins, at least in front of coworkers, no more starving mini-lunches and guilty late-night bowls of ice cream.

Actually, the general consensus around the office is that this is just the beginning. As Boss said, he wants to make his final weight a ceiling rather than a floor. It's a good point.

The winners were Miss Competitive for greatest percentage lost (18.49 percent/27 pounds), and Big Loser (15.9 percent/41 pounds). There was a little tension Monday at the final weigh in when no one could remember the ground rules dictating who got the cashpot: the one with the biggest percentage or most weight lost. So Boss (who came in third with 9.1 percent/17 pounds) made the executive decision to split it in half.

I followed these weight-loss divas (yes, that means you, too, Boss) and came in fourth with 5.8 percent lost. It's not a big number, but it's something to be proud of. I don't lead many of the other competitors by much, though, so no matter what the percentage lost, we should all be proud for trying.

Even though it sounds like a load crap to say we're all winners for playing the game, and before you think I'm one of those touchy-feely types who says crap like that (I'm not really, despite my penchant for making people think otherwise), let me list a few of the ways why we all won:

• Whether you lost a size or more, or your pants just fit looser, we no longer fill out the asses of our jeans. (Although, if you frequent meat-market night clubs, this might not necessarily be a good thing.)
• Why alcoholics gravitate to the newspaper business, I have no idea. But its a fact that they do, so those of us with drinking problems were forced to curb our liquor consumption for a few months. Anybody want to meet up at Wild Wings later?
• Miss Competitive brought cookies. (I think it was her. If not, correct me. Were those homemade?)

I also asked the rest of the competitors to give me their thoughts on this experience. Here's what they said.

How do you feel about the results of the contest?

I figured that I had gained more since I went to Ruby Tuesday's last night and ate like I had not eaten in months! - Girl With Seriously Nothing to Lose

Not surprised-I knew after week one that my heaheart wasn'tasn’t in it to win-just wanted to be in on the game. - Big Boss

I am not happy with my results. I lost 7.5 lbs. but feel like I gained 10 lbs. I belive my goal was to loose 30 lbs. - Bushes

1. I feel a little more motivated after the contest, I haven't been
at this weight in a long time! Maybe there's room to loose more
weight! - Other Girl With Nothing to Lose

I am content and inspired to continue. I lost about as much weight as I set out to lose, and now I hope to keep on track and hold the line, if not lose a few more pounds. -Boss

Of course I'm pretty happy with the results, but I've been happy with the way things have been going since the first week or two. Sure, I had good weeks and bad weeks, fat weeks and skinny weeks just like everyone else, but I never doubted that I could drop 25+ pounds in three and a half months. I've done it before, and I knew what works for me (and what doesn't). It was just a matter of sticking to it. And it was easy to stick to it with the whole office watching and encouraging it. I'm thankful to whoever came up with this idea....I would have never bothered to start a weight loss project on my own without having the fanfare and challenge of doing it publicly (and for money:). But with my sister's wedding coming up this week (involving a tiny dress and two other tiny bridesmaids), the timing couldn't have been better. I wasn't ever dissatisfied with my size or appearance before, even though I was at the top end of my suggested weight range (to put it nicely). I just really don't ever think about things like that. Now, I feel a little better about how I look, and I do feel a tiny bit healthier as well. - Miss Competitive

I am proud and thrilled and motivated to keep going. - Big Loser

What affected you the most during this contest?

At first I was motivated to start working out and to eat healthier, but that lost its luster after two months! - Girl With Seriously Nothing to Lose

What affected me most was the feeling I had after a week I actually lost weight, walking to the board and reporting a negative number. - Big Boss

In the beginning I was so in to the contest. I've always needed something to motivate me and this was it! I was dedicated for the most part. My husband was losing, my best friend was losing, the office was losing. I was doing well. Then I had family issues that affected my progression & my attitude. I just didn't care anymore. I had done so poorly that I felt I couldn't get back on track. Even today, I am not "dieting". I'm very disappointed in myself. - Bushes

2. Competitiveness. I saw how great the other players were doing and
I wanted to do the same! - Other Girl With Nothing to Lose

The looming fear of the weekly weigh-in was my prime motivator. Most of the competition was self-directed, though the peer pressure definitely helped. -Boss

Despite my blog moniker, I really wasn't approaching this in an overly competitive way. For myself, yes. But not in competition with the rest of the contestants. It's just fun sometimes to keep things stirred up, and go along with the label you're given. If everyone wanted to call me the competitive one, and use me to get themselves fired up, that's cool by me. I sure had a good time with that character, even if it wasn't really me. I think 'snowed under by Snickers' describes me perfectly. See, I've got this thing for sweets. Always have. It's the reason why 14 or 15 of my teeth are fake, swear to god. If I get started on a bag of chocolate, I might as well give up and admit that I'm going to polish it off in one sitting. I will lick my ice cream bowl, and I don't care who's watching. So the key for me was just keeping those things far, far away. - Miss Competitive

I was motivated by the mirror, by other people's comments and by the way my clothes got too big! - Big Loser

If you had won/did win the money, what would you have done/will you do with it?

Put that towards a vacation. - Girl With Seriously Nothing to Lose

If I had won the money, I would have probably taken my honey to Motor Supply for a great evening of food and drink, and oh yea-big desert. - Big Boss

If I had won the contest, I would have bought new clothes. - Bushes

I think I would put a payment on an eliptical machine. That way I
can continue working out and losing weight. - Other Girl With Nothing to Lose

I would probably just eat a huge celebratory meal and then use the rest for bills. - Boss

I'm not sure if I'm in the running for money or not (since the judge and record keeper has repeated refused to come up with a concrete way to award the prize (or prizes)). First, it was 100% of the pot to the person losing the biggest percentage, then it was 100% to the person losing the most pounds. Then there was talk of splitting it 50/50. And still no one has made a ruling. Sigh. If I win any money, I'm doing lunch for all of the competitors plus Kevin.....the quality of the lunch will of course depend on the quantity of the cash:) - Miss Competitive

I spent it on my hair! - Big Loser

What should the winner do with the money?

Go on vacation! - Girl With Seriously Nothing to Lose

Take a half day off work, go buy a new outfit, then go out and have a great dinner that ignores whatever diet plan you were on. Ex.- If low carb diet go have pasta and bread. - If low fat go have something soaked in fat. And by all means after the great dinner, go to Café Strudel and have one of their great homemade deserts with coffee loaded with real sugar! - Big Boss

The winner should spend the money on something that makes them feel good about themselves. They deserve it! New clothes, a spa day / makeover, a weekend trip... - Bushes

I think the winner should use the money for either new clothes or a lot of Ben & Jerry's...can't decide which is better! - Other Girl With Nothing to Lose

I hear at least one winner is talking about taking staffers out to lunch. That's very generous, but if I were in their shoes I would spend it on myself ... they have earned it. - Boss

If the winner is Lisa, she should go buy herself something fun, because she has worked her fucking ass off these past few months:) - Miss Competitivetiive

I probably should have used it for new clothes--I have very little to wear now! - Big Loser

And that's that. Here's to all of us continuing to shed the pounds. And shout out to Kevin for putting up with our early-morning dashes to his cubicle. It wouldn't have been as much fun without you, man.