For 100 Days Jennifer Wills and David Paynter have welcomed Bermuda onto their treadmills and into their fridges to see their attempts at living healthier.

Almost three months ago, the two Royal Gazette columnists had no idea what was in store for them when they arrived at the Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute (BUEI) for their first weigh-in and sign-up for the Live Healthy Bermuda 100-Day Challenge.

The 100-Day Challenge ended up having more than 2,500 participants who have lost, by last week's numbers, almost 7,000 pounds.

It was well above what the organisers and sponsors who include Aspen Insurance, Bermuda Diabetes Association Lindo's Supermarkets, the Department of Health and Quaker Oats expected.

The reception both Jennifer and David have received has also been more than they ever expected when they promised to reveal their Challenges to the Island in this paper.

But while Jennifer has been sending in her journal each week, David receives a phone call from this reporter and is asked to divulge his indulgences or successes.

Jennifer said: "My friend Sara called and said we are going to this weigh in. I had thought about doing the journal before and then I heard you asking people for their information so I thought I would send it to the paper.

"I have been honest and haven't made up anything, which I think people really responded too. David has been the good boy and I've been the bad girl."

Though she has struggled with getting exercise into her every day routine, the Live Healthy Challenge has helped her think before she eats.

While she was previously eating pasta three or four times a week with very little if any exercise, now she hardly ever eats the dish.

Also her Sundays have become more active as she now starts to feel guilty about sitting on the couch and reading books all day and instead tries to garden, walk the dogs, or other chores.

She added: "I find more things to do. I cleaned the porch once. I just go out and do things now. It's just getting going.

"Having someone else to do it with makes it easier. Left to my own devices I probably wouldn't do anything."

So as her 100-Day Challenge wraps up Jennifer said she believes she was not quite ready for how big the change to her life it would be.

Having grown-up in a family that didn't generally exercise, Jennifer said she found herself more prone to studying and reading then running.

Still she hopes to continue the good eating and exercising — as long as she can find an activity that fits.

So while Jennifer struggled with her changes, David, as she put it, was the "good boy" and took the challenge with his wife and the other members of their team Fourplay.

Their team is now possibly the number one team in the Challenge and David admits the competitive side of the challenge made everything more interesting.

He said: "I have been heavy most of my life. I got my tonsils out when I was four and after that I enjoyed food. Maybe I couldn't taste it before.

"I was over 200 pounds in high school. It was more my wife who got me into it. She said: 'Hey, they're having this 100-Day thing. Let's do it.

"I thought that would be the driving force that we needed and it turned out it worked."

Like Jennifer, he also found himself the centre of attention with people worried about inviting him to dinners because there maybe nothing for him to eat.

And others have been found poking him in the stomach wondering where it had gone as the father of seven-year-old Alyssa lost 48 pounds.

He said: "Looking at my photos I look different, but it's more interesting to see people's reactions."

In his previous column he had said: "I am starting to get a grasp for what it's like for pregnant women. People want to touch my stomach. People who have known me for years are surprised."

Another mystery David would like to clear up is that even though he has lost almost 50 pounds he has not been starving himself nor has he been eating only salads.

He said: "I enjoy eating. I will just control how much I eat. I like the aspect of making my own food so I know what's in it, but I don't eat salads all the time.

"It's a mixture. If you make your food more exciting it's not a chore." Also helping him out along the way was his determination to outlast the one-hour show 'The Biggest Loser' on the treadmill.

An hour in the evening and sometimes in the morning have helped him shed the pounds, but also aiding his effort is the community basketball games.

His daughter, nieces and neighbours are all involved in the games that are rough and tumble but get the heart rate up.

The hardest part for him has been being strict about food, and losing the take-out food was tricky too.

Workouts, though, have become fun and David finds it exhilarating to push himself longer and harder on his runs.

"I don't see the workouts as being hard. It's almost fun to push myself harder, but if I don't get seven to eight hours my body doesn't get enough rest."

David has transformed himself from a couch potato who would rather surf the internet then walk a flight of stairs, to finding himself restless if he doesn't get off his seat after two hours.

And he has challenged this paper to come back in another 100 days to see where he has taken the weight loss and well-being transformation.

This reporter accepts that challenge and has it marked it in her calender.