Throwing Down the Gauntlet

I like to eat and I like to drink.

Very much so.

So much that I'm amazed I'm not 300lbs. I could be. The very morning after the start of this challenge I had bacon and eggs for breakfast in no small quantity. No fruit, no juice, just grease. I'm not entirely sure I'd gotten started on the right foot here.

I have always known that I have to continually work to stave off a family trait. All the guys in my family lineage are well....huge. The fact that at 5'6" I'm also considerably shorter than both my father and older brother doesn't escape me either.....that's a lot of fatty bulk packed into a smaller frame and it shows, I can't hide it head to toe like my 6'2" brother does. I already have an uphill battle ahead of me to take everyone down.

Especially celestialspeedster who is resisting all attempts at cookie bribes from her fellow competitors and orders water at dinner when we order beer. Grrr.... Curse her public resilience!

All in all I am officially announcing that I will be matching pound for pound, any pledges towards me and in turn towards Partners In Health. To make this a feasible possibility and to ensure that PIH is actually going to be getting a donation out of this I will be personally donating an amount as a minimum and all pledges will be doubled by me then added to that amount.

So there!!

To help maximise that potential donation my basic plan of attack is based around some key elements in my life right now:

1: (percieved) athletiscism: I run, bike and dragon boat. A lot. Just not enough. I have the Montreal Marathon less than two months away and the 15k Midsummer's Night Run in August only weeks before that. This realization of that invisible wire I'm coming down to....has me somewhat rattled. I really need to actually start taking this a bit more seriously as I have not logged any real consistent miles for some time. Biking to work every day helps, but unless we start hitting 40c outside and I wear a parka it's not entirely my ace in the hole so my running regimen MUST be ramped up.

2: Stress and eating habits: Just over a month ago I became single again after 4 years. Just this past weekend I moved apartments. Sudden doubling of your rent and utilities bills, shopping and cooking for only yourself and no longer sharing meals makes ones eating habits take a very different turn. I still consider my ex one of my best friends, but living with her was like sharing a kitchen with Chef Paul and can be summed up by the image of a grilled 12oz prime rib slathered in melted cheese and gravy with fried bacon on top. Pure and simple. I love her cooking, she even owns her own deep fryer. Yes a deep fryer. No longer having ready access to her incredible BBQ'd ribs, lasagna, and other edibles of artery clogging awesome messy goodness will help me drop some significant poundage.

3: Beer: Smithwick's is my symbol, my honour, and my favourite beer in the world if I had to choose. I like to drink. I like heavy dark beers which pack on pounds like eating slabs of butter. I like to drink with friends, before during and after all kinds of activities and always have a beer after a long hard run, bike ride, dragon boat race, farm work or helping someone move. It is a celebration and a victory in one. The culmination of effort, and the justification of itself and it's awesomeness. This also means I drink way more than I should. This is going to change. Beer will not lose it's luster and it's glory. But I will not have so much in my fridge at any given time. I will not have so many on nights out. I will not drink as much beer.

Gasp in shock now.

4: Self-abuse and video games: Akin to no. 1 I like to be outdoors doing things. I consider myself relatively competitive and try to perform better in every event I do. I also sit on my ass at home and play a lot of video games. When I run I'm trying to tire myself out and make myself hurt. I beat myself up, not emotionally, but push physically beyond my normal endurance and try to get that happy endorphin rush from an effort worth the pain. Herein lies progress.

When I don't go for a run, yoga class or bike ride and I chose the slothful path of xbox, herein lies stagnation and deterioration. Like beer, I play video games a lot more than I should and the Gears of War 2 TicTicBoom weekend being incredibly fun hasn't helped any. I set up my xbox after the move before nearly anything else. This is also going to change because drinking beer while sitting on my ass playing video games is hardly progress.