Lose the Pounds or Lose the Pussy

"Okay, 303 pounds, congratulations, you've lost the first 20 pounds and you've earned your first reward." I said.

I put my arms around him and kissed him. I figured he'd be eager to take me to the bedroom, but to my surprise he looked at me with a questioning expression.

"What is it baby?" I asked.

"This is gonna sound odd coming from me, but do we have to do it now?" Mark asked.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Well, we made love for our anniversary 4 days ago. It took me over 6 weeks to lose the first 20 pounds; it'll probably be that long for me to lose the next 20. Do we have to make love now or could we wait a few weeks so that we won't have made love twice in a week and then not make love for another month and a half?" Mark asked.

I looked into his eyes; I could see how uncertain he was. I'd given him the ultimatum, but I hadn't specified whether or not we had to make love right away after reaching each 20 pound milestone. I thought for a moment then I answered him.

"Well, you earned the right to make love to me for losing the 20 pounds; I suppose that also earns you the right to choose when we make love as well." I said.

"Thank you Sara. I'd love to take you to bed right now, but it's likely gonna be a long time before I reach the next goal so I think I want to wait two or three weeks." Mark said.

I looked at him, smiled, and kissed him.

"If that's how you want it. Just let me know when you're ready." I said.

The change after just the first 20 pounds was amazing. I could really see the change, clothes that had been pretty tight on him before fit him much better.

Two weeks later Mark surprised me on a Saturday morning. When I got up and headed down to the kitchen Mark had already prepared breakfast and the kids were eating.

"Good morning baby. I was just about to come wake you up. It's such a beautiful day I thought it would be fun to take the kids to the park and you and I could walk around while they play." Mark said.

I wasn't sure I'd heard him right at first. Our kids love going to the park and running around, but I couldn't remember the last time Mark had gone with us to the park.

"That sounds wonderful, doesn't it kids?" I asked.

"Yeah." Hannah said.

"Park fun." Jacob said.

After breakfast we all got in the car, drove over to the park and the kids started running all over the place while Mark and I walked around. It's a small park so the children were always in sight as we walked around the park. Mark and I held hands. After a while the kids both wanted to swing so Hannah ran over and pulled us to the swings to push them.

Jacob didn't like having to be in the kiddie swing with the lap bar to keep him in the swing, but he's two and I wasn't about to let him swing on a regular swing when he still falls off the couch at home. He forgot all about it when Mark started pushing him; he started giggling and laughing and having a great time. I pushed Hannah on the swing next to Mark and Jacob.

We stayed at the park until just about lunch time, then the kids heard the sound of the ice cream truck somewhere close by.

"Ice cream!" Hannah said.

"What do you say Sara? Think one ice cream bar will ruin my diet?" Mark asked.

"You've gotten a lot of good exercise today so I guess you can have a treat with the other kids." I said.

"Thanks mom." Mark said.

We laughed and walked over to the street to flag down the ice cream truck as it went by. We all had an ice cream treat then we went home. The yard needed mowed so Mark got out the mower and started mowing. The kids went inside and started playing while I made sandwiches for lunch.

We watched a movie as a family in the afternoon, had a nice dinner, and the kids went to bed, it was a perfect day. As Mark and I sat snuggled up on the couch after the kids had gone to bed he leaned in close to my ear.

"I'm ready." Mark said.

I stood up, took him by the hand and led him up to the bedroom and we made love. It was the perfect ending to the perfect day.

Five weeks after Mark had weighed in at 303 pounds, he weighed in at 284, down 41 pounds from his starting point of 325.

"Congratulations, you've reached the second milestone. Would you like to cash this one in now or would you like to wait a while?" I asked.

He didn't give a verbal answer, he simply picked me up, carried me to the bedroom and we made love. He would come to curse himself for not holding onto that one for a while.

When he weighed in two weeks later we were both disappointed.

"Okay, it has been two weeks so let's see what you're down to now...283 pounds." I said.

"What? Are you sure?" Mark asked.

"That's what it said. Let's try it again, step off and step back on." I said.

Mark stepped off of the digital scale and stepped back on. I looked at the display. When it stabilized I frowned.

"Well?" Mark asked.

"I don't understand it, it says 283 pounds. You've worked your butt off these past few weeks and you've only lost 1 pound." I said.

"I don't believe this scale; I'm gonna go buy another one so we have two numbers to compare." Mark said.

"That's a good idea, we can't be sure this one is accurate." I said.

Mark got dressed and went and bought another scale. We put it right next to the other one and he stepped onto the old one first.

"Okay this one still says 283 pounds." I said.

He stepped onto the new scale.

"What's this one say?" Mark asked.

"The same thing, 283 pounds." I said sadly.

"How could I have only lost 1 pound in 2 weeks working as hard as I have?" Mark asked.

"I don't know sweetie. Tomorrow when you're at the gym ask Tony, maybe he'll know." I said.

"Good idea, he's an expert on this stuff, I'm sure he'll have an answer." Mark said.

The next evening I waited anxiously for Mark to get home from the gym. I hoped Tony had an explanation for why he had only lost one pound in 2 weeks. When he got home Mark's expression told me nothing. He wasn't happy he wasn't upset, I couldn't hold off any longer.

"What did Tony say?" I asked.

"He said I've hit the wall." Mark said.

"Wall? What wall?" I asked.

"He says there's a wall where the fat you're burning off is getting even with the muscle that you're putting on. Apparently it's easy to burn a lot of fat in a hurry and if you haven't worked out a lot recently it's pretty easy to build muscle mass in a hurry too. I've reached the point where I'm gaining muscle as fast as I'm losing fat." Mark said.

"So you are still losing bad weight but you're gaining good weight?" I asked.

"That's right." Mark said.

"So does that mean you won't be able to lose more weight?" I asked in a concerned tone.

"No. From what Tony said the muscle growth will slow down soon and then I'll be able to lose weight more easily. He's going to change my workouts to ones that won't build as much muscle in the hopes that I can lose more weight." Mark said.

"Well I'm glad to know that there isn't anything wrong. I was afraid that you'd reached your limit and wouldn't be able to lose anymore weight." I said.

Two weeks later I had Mark weigh in again.

"Okay, two weeks ago you weighed 283 pounds, now you weigh 280 pounds. Well that's 3 pounds, that's better than last time." I said.

"Yeah, but that means I've only lost 4 pounds in 4 weeks. At this point it will be 15 more weeks until I get down to 265 pounds." Mark said.

"I'm sure it won't be that long sweetie. I'm sure things are going to turn around for you soon and you'll start losing a lot of weight again." I said.

I told him that, but 4 pounds in 4 weeks didn't give me a lot of confidence so I'm pretty sure that both of us had our doubts, I know I did, but I had to keep up the strong support.

Mark refused to weigh in two weeks later, so it was another 4 weeks before he weighed in. It had been 8 weeks since he'd weighed in at 284 pounds. The next milestone was 265 pounds.

"Okay, give me the bad news." Mark said.

"Well, it's really not that bad. You weighed 280 pounds 4 weeks ago, now you weigh in at 271 pounds. That's 9 pounds in 4 weeks, that's more than 2 pounds per week, and it's just another 6 pounds to 265." I said.

"Six more pounds. Your birthday is in 3 weeks, it looks like the next time we make love might be on your birthday." Mark said.

Three weeks later Mark weighed in at 265 pounds on the button. My birthday was the next day so he put the 265 pound milestone reward in his pocket to hold onto.

It had been over 11 weeks since we'd made love, that's almost 3 months. We were both really into it after all that time.

Mark had dropped 60 pounds in 22 weeks. That's almost 3 pounds per week. He had really worked his butt off to lose those 60 pounds and I thought about telling him that 60 pounds was enough. After seeing him struggle through 11 weeks of hell to get down to 265 I wasn't sure I could handle seeing him go through that again.

The day after my birthday I got up and found Mark on his exercise bike.

"Good morning baby. I don't want to go another 11 weeks without making love so I'm gonna work even harder now that I did before." Mark said.

"It won't be 11 weeks sweetie, your birthday is in 5 weeks, plus you have the reward for reaching the 265 pound milestone. You can cash that in any time you want." I said.

"I suppose that's true, but those last 11 weeks were hell and I don't want to take that long to lose the next 20 pounds." Mark said.

"Well, however long it takes, I'm really proud of you. When I told you how worried I was after Dave died you didn't seem to get it, but now I think you really do get it." I said.

"Yes, I do get it. Of course you didn't give me much choice, if I couldn't make love to you regularly again until I lost 100 pounds then the rest of my life would have been pure hell if I stayed the way I was." Mark said.

"Well I hope you're doing this for more than just the sex." I said.

"I am baby, I am. It's been great being able to play with the kids more easily, and you can finally get your arms all the way around me when you hug me." Mark said.

Mark decided not to weigh in until his birthday.

"Okay, what does it say?" Mark asks.

"Well, 5 weeks ago you weighed 265 pounds and today you weigh 255 pounds, you're down 10 more pounds, half way to the next milestone." I said.

"Half way, I hoped to be farther along than that." Mark said.

"Don't worry baby, 10 pounds in 5 weeks is great progress at this point." I said.

"Yeah, but I was hoping to have 2 milestones to cash in 3 weeks from now when I take you to Hawaii." Mark said.

"Hawaii?" I asked.

"Yeah. My buddy Steve won a trip for two to Hawaii, but he and his wife can't go because of scheduling problems with their jobs so I bought the trip from him." Mark said.

"What about the kids?" I asked.

"I have already arranged for your parents to take care of them for the 3 days that we'll be there." Mark said.

"Well this is a great surprise, but I hope you understand that I can't waiver now and give extra days of love making when you're so close to the end." I said.

"I know. That's why I was hoping to have lost more than 10 pounds. I'll work even harder over the next 3 weeks to see if I can get down to 245, but it's gonna be tough." Mark said.

We made love for his birthday. With Mark down to 255 pounds the changes were evident during our love making. He was much more active, and though it had never been a problem I could feel a real difference when his full weight was on top of me.

True to his word Mark worked even harder over the next 3 weeks and the morning that we got on the plane for Hawaii he weighed in at 244 pounds. He cashed in both of his rewards on the trip and the whole thing was magical.

Seeing Mark 80 pounds lighter in a bathing suit on the beach in Hawaii made me a little self conscious about my own body. I've always taken pretty good care of myself and other then when I was pregnant I've never been over 135 pounds. At 5'6" tall 135 pounds isn't fat, but it isn't exactly thin either. I'd been going to the gym twice a week since I got Mark to finally commit to going, but I'd only been maintaining my weight while firming things up that had become a little soft after 40 years and 2 pregnancies.

I made a decision on the plane ride home that I told Mark about the next morning before he left for work.

"Sweetie, you've come so far already, but this last 20 pounds is gonna be tough, so I've decided that I'm gonna be right there with you working right along side you and giving you lots of loving support to keep you going." I said.

"That would be great. With you there beside me I know I'll be able to make it in no time." Mark said.

At 5:00 that night I had my first real workout with Mark and Tony. My parents were more than happy to keep the kids for a few hours every afternoon while Mark and I worked out together and we'd just pick the kids up on the way home.

After 4 weeks Mark and I both stepped onto the scales.

"Okay, what's the bad news?" I asked.

"You're down to 130 pounds, that's 5 pounds in 4 weeks, that's great." Mark said.

He got to be the supportive one for a change.

"I'm pretty proud of that, I worked hard for those 5 pounds." I said.

"Yes you did. Okay, it's my turn." Mark said.

He stepped onto the scale.

"You're down to 232, that's 12 pounds in 4 weeks, that's great." I said.

"I owe it all to you being there to support me." Mark said.

"Well I don't know if that's true, but if I have been helpful, I'm glad. You're just 8 pounds away from the target we set." I said.

"I know, it seemed so far away, but now, after 34 weeks I'm just 8 pounds away." Mark said.

"And from what Dr. Thompson told us the other day your blood pressure is down, your blood sugar is much better, your cholesterol is down, and your risk of a heart attack has gone down a lot. I'm so proud of you. Now let's get one more strong push to reach that goal." I said.

Mark and I worked out for 4 more weeks before either of us stepped on a scale again. He insisted that I go first.

"Okay Sara, after 8 weeks you're down from 135 pounds to 124 pounds, that's an 11 pound loss in 8 weeks, congratulations baby." Mark said.

He kissed me.

"Thank you, now quit stalling, let's see how much you've lost." I said.

Mark stepped on the scale. I let it settle out.

"Damn." I said.

"What is it? Is it bad?" Mark asked.

"Let's just get you to step on the other one for a minute." I said.

Mark stepped on the other scale.

"So? What's the bad news?" Mark asked.

"You're 3 pounds off." I said.

"Three pounds? How could I still have 3 pounds to go after I worked so hard?" Mark asked.

He was a little upset, but then I smiled at him.

"What are you smiling about?" Mark asked.

"I said you were 3 pounds off; I didn't say whether it was 3 pounds higher or 3 pounds lower. Congratulations sweetie, you're down to 222." I said excitedly and I kissed him.

"I did it? Oh baby, that's fantastic news." Mark said.

"Let's go make love." I said.

"Okay, but before we do I want to talk to you about something." Mark said.

"What is it sweetie?" I asked.

"When we talked to Dr. Thompson all those weeks ago he said I was 140 pounds over weight. You set my target as 100 pounds, and I reached that target, but that still leaves me 40 pounds over weight. I was hoping that you'd be willing to extend our arrangement for another 40 pounds or so." Mark said.

I looked at him in disbelief for a few seconds.

"You've reached the goal I set for you and have earned the right for us to make love regularly again and you want me to keep you cut off until you lose another 40 pounds?" I asked.

"I know, it sounds completely ridiculous, especially from a guy as horny as me, but I never could have made it if it wasn't for your ultimatum. I knew that even if I couldn't lose the weight you'd love me anyway, but the thought of not being able to make love with you regularly was great motivation for me to keep pushing myself to lose the weight. I lost 103 pounds in 38 weeks, that's over 2 1/2 pounds per week. I never could have done that if not for your ultimatum." Mark said.

"That might be true, but what's that got to do with wanting to continue for another 40 pounds?" I asked.

"I'm still 40 pounds over weight. Whenever we stop I'll keep working out, but that will be to try to maintain my weight not to lose more. That means I'll be at least 40 pounds over weight for a long time to come. I've come to the realization over the last 38 weeks that I don't want to be like that. I don't necessarily want to stay at my ideal weight, but I don't want to be 40 pounds overweight either. What I want to do is set a new target of 170 pounds, that's 52 pounds away. Change the milestones from 20 pounds to 25 and don't make love to me until I reach the first one 27 pounds away at 195 pounds and then not make love to me regularly until I reach 170 pounds. I want to reach that weight Sara, and I don't think I can make it unless you continue to motivate me the way you have so far." Mark said.

I looked at him for a moment. I could see in his face that he was serious. He really wanted me to continue to deny him sex until he reached 170 pounds. I wasn't really sure that I wanted to continue things, but I could see how badly he wanted it so I nodded my head.

"Okay Mark, if that's the way you want it. The same rules still apply, Valentines day, anniversary, and birthdays, plus the one milestone at 195 pounds, then regular love making when you have reached 170 pounds." I said.

"I think I'll use the 100 pounds lost milestone right now so that I'll be extra motivated to reach the 195 pound milestone." Mark said.

We went to the bedroom and made love.

Four weeks later was Valentines Day. It had been 42 weeks since we had started with Mark at a weight of 325. He'd weighed 222 pounds 4 weeks before so on Valentines morning when we weighed him in we were both expecting good results.

"Well shit." I said as I looked at the scale.

"What is it?" Mark asked.

"According to this you didn't lose anything, you still weigh 222 pounds." I said.

"How can that be?" Mark asked.

"I don't know. Tony and Dr. Thompson both said these last 50 pounds you want to lose would be tough, but you've been working for 4 weeks and haven't lost anything. I don't think it's supposed to be that hard." I said.

"Well I'll just have to work harder." Mark said confidently.

We made love for Valentine's Day after having a romantic dinner at a very nice restaurant.

Four weeks later, 46 weeks since we first started and 8 weeks since we started Mark's extension of things we weighed him in again.

"Please tell me I went down this time." Mark said.

"Well, you did, you're down 3 pounds, you're down to 219." I said.

"Three pounds in 8 weeks. This might be harder than I thought. Oh well, I'll just have to keep working hard." Mark said.

Mark was out of town on business 4 weeks later so it was 6 weeks later that we next weighed him in. In fact it was one year to the day since he'd weighed in at 325 pounds at the start of the ultimatum.

"Okay, it's been exactly one year, I started at 325, what am I at now?" Mark asked nervously.

"Well, today you weigh in at 217 pounds so you're down 108 pounds." I said.

"Well 108 pounds in a year sounds a lot more impressive than 5 pounds in 10 weeks." Mark said.

"Don't worry sweetie, you can do this. I have faith in you." I said.

I put my arms around his neck and kissed him lovingly.

Our anniversary was 6 weeks later and he didn't want to be weighed in until then because of the disappointment of only losing 5 pounds in 10 weeks.

When he stepped on the scale the morning of our anniversary I frowned.

"How bad is it?" Mark asked.

"Well, you lost weight; you made it down to 215 pounds." I said.