Hi there, I'm Mary, the genius behind this whole competition (and I WILL win)

I'm pretty excited about this, I always need something to push me to lose weight. Last year I did a weight loss trial and I lost 6 lbs and gained $140, so you can see, I'm motivated by money (not that 6 lbs is a lot, but when your doing a weight loss program over Thanksgiving and Christmas, I think it's quite an accomplishment)

When I was younger I never really struggled with my weight, I was always active snowboarding, when I got to college I walked everywhere in the 100 degree Arizona heat. I'd have to say the past 2 years (since I started dating my boyfriend) have been the worst for me. Before we met I was vegetarian for 3 years, but his great BBQ skills swayed me away from that. Now I think I'm just too comfortable in my relationship so I don't even think about my weight until it comes time to go to the beach. Just last week when I was obsessing over my weight he said "that's not fat Mary, that's love". Well I don't want to share this love with everyone in San Diego.

My biggest hurdle will be getting past my Diet Coke addiction and drinking more water, but I seem to be doing pretty well with that so far. I also need to start going to the gym and not eating so late at night. To my advantage I'm working on remodeling my house and It's quite the workout in itself. I've started eating more salads and looking closely at the calories. I hope in the end to lose around 15 lbs. and make my arms a little more firm.