Thursday, December 2, 2010

Fatty's 10 lbs by Christmas Challenge

On Monday, the author of the fatcyclist blog threw down a challenge to his readers: Lose 10 lbs by Christmas.  I have accepted this challenge.

Elden, or Fatty, is offering up some fantastic, cycling related prizes for those participants who are successful. This schwag ranges from jerseys and water bottles to various items signed by pro racers.  There are just two problems.

1. Close to 1,000 people signed up for this contest.  His readership is much larger than mine.
2. I have a week of extension meetings coming up the week of December 13th.

The first issue is not really an issue at all.  Losing the 10 lbs would be prize enough.  Plus, he is giving away so much stuff that the odds of winning are probably still pretty good.

The second issue is what I am concerned about.  Extension meetings involve a lot of farmers and a lunch following the presentations and Q&A session.  These lunches are not what you would call light.  There will be a lot of meat and potatoes. And gravy. And dessert.  There may be some vegetables, but they will almost certainly be covered in butter.

One of the guys who has "toured" with us in the past for these meetings is a vegetarian.  I jokingly said one day that he would probably be limited to dinner rolls at lunch because even the vegetables would somehow incorporate meat.  Everyone thought this was funny. Until they brought out the green beans, which were covered in butter. And crumbled bacon.

The other problem is that we will be on the road for short two-day stints at the beginning and end of this week.  Hotel fitness centers vary widely and I don't get very excited about running outside when it is cold and snowing.

As of this morning I was already down 3 lbs since Monday thanks to some brutal sessions on the treadmill and the trainer already this week. Another session of intervals on the trainer will happen tonight. On a related note, I tried on the only size L jersey I own this morning and decided I would no longer be embarrassed to wear it in public. And let me point out that cycling jerseys, and apparel in general, are the one type of clothing in this great country of ours which has not resorted to vanity sizing. So I've got that going for me, which is nice.

Hopefully I can lose 10 lbs or more before the meetings, and then be able to make up any travel-related setbacks the week right before Christmas. Mom giving me a package of buttery party mix is not helping either...

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