Six weeks ago my coworkers and I began a contest. Not the kind of contest alluded to in the title. This contest was modeled after the Big Loser show on television. Basically, the contestants attempt to lose the largest percentage of their original weight. Being heavier than I wanted to be, I decided to let my overly competitive instincts serve me in positive way for a change.
I must confess that many things fell perfectly for me. Within hours of learning about the contest I discovered that our church would be putting together a basketball team to participate in a local church league. Also, a brand new fitness center opened about a mile from our house. I volunteered to play on the team and joined the fitness center.
Working out wasn't the only thing I did. I changed the way I eat. I increased the number of meals I eat. That's right: increased. Increasing the frequency of the meals helps speed up the body's metabolism. Of course these meals are much smaller than previous meals, and I also choose the foods more carefully. I will never eat fast food fries ever again.
The most important thing I did was start drinking the recommended amount of water for my weight, and activity level. Your body needs to be well hydrated in order to operate efficiently. This includes efficient digestion and fat burning.
While this was a competition, the best thing about it was the camaraderie that developed. I have developed relationships with coworkers that I barely knew. Everyone sent out relevant web pages and articles that could help others. Everyone vocally supported other contestants. It helped create an environment of support and goodwill.
Our contest ended on Friday the sixteenth. We've decided to take a week off and start another one. This one will last three months instead of six weeks. We've added a twist. Anyone who loses at least five percent of their original body weight automatically gets half the entry fee back. We hope this will increase motivation for those who may not be near the top three money positions as the contest winds down.
Now, all of you who know me figure that I wouldn't have penned this post if my purpose was not to gloat. You know me all too well. I won the first contest by losing 21 pounds. I plan on losing 15 - 20 more in the next contest.
The gloating is secondary, though. I feel so much better. I enjoy the folks at the office more. And I scored a bunch of points in our basketball game tonight.
10 comments:
Congrats on your transformation. If only we could work on that ugly mug of yours...Just kidding! We all know that you made bald sexy. You and Telly Savales. (Now there's a specimen for ya.) Hell, even Brittany went with the Seamhead look.
Also, well done on the new look for the blog. Call him "butter" 'cuz he's on a roll!
I love Britanny's new do. She looks better than ever!
Seamhead, sounds like you are doing something similar to what I did a year and a half ago. I lost over 20lbs, somewhere between 20-30 actually. Since 1 year ago when I started back up in a traveling sales job and upon breaking my arm last Memorial Day Weekend, though, I have gained it all back. Why? Because I quit exercising and eating correctly. 6 small meals a day, 2 hours apart, eating one fist size or less portion of carbs and one of protein at each meal, and 30 minutes a day alternating cardio and weight lifting every other day, drinking 4-6 glasses of water a day and, melt, the fat will come right off. If you don't have the book Body For Life, I highly recommend it for it's motivation and common sense approach. What you are doing, short of the weight lifting aspect, is the only true way to be fit in my opinion. You've burned fat, increased metabolism, probably lowered fat intake, and increased cardio. I bet if you added some form of lifting 3 days a week, you will kick the pants off your competitors. Muscle requires more energy to sustain, so any amount of muscle you increase will help your overall metabolism. One thing though is that muscle weighs more than fat, so if weight loss is the only measurement, you could be in actual better physical condition but weigh more than others. Pants sizes are a great measurement of success for me. Anyway, great job and good luck. The key is to sustain. I agree that after several months of eating right, fast food sucks. I need to jump back on the plan man!
-Howdy
Way to go, big bro! Now if you could only convince Roy's mother to join you. :-)
He'll always be Big Bro to us no matter how much weight he loses. I think, for a brief period at the end of last year, I may have weighed the least of all three of us, with Roho being in her third trimester. Can I get a confirmation on that Rocky?
Also, I really have a hard time believing Seamhead made bald sexy. Demi Moore, maybe, but not Seamhead. Give him a lollypop and, well, that's just disturbing. Too much symbolism for me.
Thirdly, I thought Brittany was a breed of dog. I doubt they appreciate the unfortunate confusion with Britney Spears.
Fourthly, the last line of your post is very telling Seamhead. And this coming from a youth league basketball coach. Basketball is a team sport you know. I thought Mitchie the Kid taught you better than that.
I was bald before Demi. I made bald sexy. She just made sexy bald which Brittany confirmed is no big feat.
Mitchie the kid held me back. I am a scoring machine. I have no fear of missing. I try As a youth basketball coach I try to impress that lack of conscience on all my young players. I'm very successfull. None of my players are afraid to shoot the ball with the possible exception of my own daughter. She's always passing. Maybe that's because I maker her pass it to me for the shot when we play in Grandma's driveway. We'll work on it. We might need more balls when we play.
The hubris is more severe than I suspected.
Hubris? That means funny, right?
In this case, yes.
Wow, Rog. I can't wait to see you. My friend Mark Miller did the
following to melt of about 40 pounds and get back to his college
weight,
more or less: Went through stress that no one should need to go
through
and...finally, Got out of a horrible marriage, fell in love and
recently
married a great woman who loves the same sport as him (tennis - which
they play regularly), and started running every other day.
Unfortunately, that plan took him about 3 years. Your plan is working
quicker, but then again you're already married to a great woman! A
leg-up always helps.
Good luck in the next round, Rog.
Jagua Piru
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