I sit here writing this on a three week old MacBook Air that is basically mine, even though it is provided by my employer. (Speaking of my employer, I somehow am the Executive Assistant to two 25 year old future Bill Gates entrepreneurs – more on that in a future post.) I’m happily propped up in my newly painted bedroom, decorated with things I love. I’ve just had a lovely dinner of grilled pork and asparagus accompanied by a generous helping of Bogle Chardonnay. Downtown Dad is happily banging away on his ancient PC, unearthing ancestors. My three children are quite happily pursuing their own lives here in town, and on both coasts. As they say, I am fat and happy. I have basically everything I need or want.

Or do I?

When put in that perspective it sounds downright insolent to say I’m wanting for anything.  But yet I am.

Happy?  Yes.  Fat and. Sadly yes.  And therein lies the rub.

Fat.

Out of shape.

Gah.  Old.

So, two out of three of those I have the ability to change. And by God, I absolutely intend to. I’ll bet money that I can change two of those things. In fact, that’s just what I did. I joined an online weight loss community called Diet Better. Emphasis on the Bet.  In essence, you bet on yourself that you can lose a certain percentage of your weight in a prescribed period of time.  I put money ($125) on myself to lose basically 61 pounds by December 3rd. The kicker is, if you actually succeed in losing the pounds, you not only win that self esteem, but also the pot of money others have put in.  At this point, my particular challenge has 183 people, and approximately $25,000 in the pot.  In the unlikely event that not only I, but every single one of the other contestants loses their goal amount of weight, we will each arrive at the end with 600 odd dollars apiece.

I intend on winning.  Not only in weight loss, but in money.

So, starting on June 3, I will:

• Have lemon juice and a Green Smoothie every morning for breakfast
• Drink at least 8 eight-ounce glasses of water per day
• Attempt to switch from coffee to tea
• Have a piece of fruit or a salad only for lunch
• Have a salad or meat only for dinner
• Walk 2 miles on the treadmill 5 times per week
• Hold a plank for 30 minutes every day
• Go to yoga twice per week
• Limit salt
• Cut out sugar
• Only drink alcohol once per week

This is only for the first 30 days.  If I succeed, I will go from 183, to 177 in 30 days.  We shall see what happens from there.

It all starts over today.