[House keeping: So, Facebook is turning out to be the worst. I'm keeping my account because I need it for work, and I'll keep posting these blogs there for a little while because a lot of folks only interact with me on that platform. But, I am doing my level best to distance myself from Facebook, so I ABSOLUTELY WILL NOT RESPOND TO COMMENTS THERE. If you would like to interact with this blog post, I highly recommend the comments section below. Cool. On with the blog!]
Sarah had a really great idea.
The two of us have struggled with weight loss for as long as I can remember, and we've tried every trick and diet in the books to get ourselves motivated. However, seemingly nothing can keep pace with the convenience of the McDonald's drive through when you work 12 hour days and then come home to twin boys. Yet, keeping up with those twin boys is a struggle when you're carrying around an extra 20-40 pounds. What to do, what to do?
Sarah told me about her really great idea a few days ago. We would appoint a judge, who would keep us honest. Obviously we chose Ed, because it's Ed. We would then give the judge 20 of our hard earned dollars each month, along with an official weigh in. The contest is to last for 5 months, with each of us setting goals. I'll speak only for myself here, but my goal is to lose 2 pounds a week, or 40 pounds overall. If we get to the end of the challenge and are successful, then our money will go to a charity we approve of, in my case the Mario Lemieux Foundation. If we are unsuccessful, then our money will go to a charity that we disapprove of, in my case, the Philadelphia Flyers Charities.
So obviously, I am not allowed to lose.
I have a three pronged approach to my strategy here. 1) Logging calories. This for me is the front line. I still eat like I'm in college, however my body has long ago progressed into middle age and my metabolism went with it. So far, I'm four for four on logging, and each of those days has been under calories. Check. 2) Apple Watch Rings. I'm working on making sure that those rings are closed every day, which will help me keep moving and active through the day. 3) Workouts, in addition to cycling. Sometimes I fall back on my daily bike commute as all the exercise I need. This is both false, and particularly dangerous because today was the first time I biked to work in about 3 months. Yikes. So in addition to riding the orange steed to work every day, I'm hoping to hit the gym at least three times a week to lift.
So, as the title of this post indicates, I could use your help. Two specific ways you can pitch in are to A) encourage me to keep moving. You know, send me pictures of Flyers fans or something like that to remind me what's really at stake here. But the most important way you can pitch in and help this week is to make a donation to the Bike MS ride coming up this weekend. Essentially I woke up this week like a kid who forgot to study for his finals and realized I had done exactly ZERO fundraising for this event. Not good man, not good. Together, we can end MS, and all that cycling will go a long way to making sure the Flyers don't get my money. That's a classic win-win if you ask me.
So please, donate today. And I'll keep you posted on progress as the challenge continues!