Marty,

I hope you don't mind, but I am going to jump on your band wagon. I mean a good idea is a good idea!

I too have a bit too much weight, like 60lbs or so… actually more but I would like to lose 60 by December 31st 2010. So not only will I put up $1 per pound you lose, I will put up another $200 if I can lose 60 pounds before 2011.

I will weigh myself in the morning and post the “before” pictures here…

So who else will join us? ETS Fitness Challenge 2010! This a matter of survival after all…

Com'on Tom your next!

I`m thinking you guys should do monthly progress pictures so we have something to judge by, and also motivate.

"So who else will join us? ETS Fitness Challenge 2010! This a matter of survival after all…"

Not Me unfortunately...125 pounds, If I lose 1 more, I would probably croak! (notice: 5'10" 125 too skinny!!)

Even more important than what you eat is how much you eat. Learn portion control. Use measuring cups and a scale. If you try to eyeball your portions, you will almost certainly overestimate. It's just human nature.

Moderate exercise will keep your body from dropping into famine mode from the reduced calories. Some exercise is pretty much mandatory for successful weight loss.

As mentioned, significant exercise will improve/add muscle, and trade weight loss for fitness increase.

I'm not going to join your commitment because after yo-yo-ing between 160 and 230 for a couple of decades, I know that even if I get it off, I won't keep it off.

Good will to you all!

I'll do the monthly progress picture. No nudity, though (sorry).

If I posted that here, I'd be violating our own terms and conditions. Suffice it to say that I'm a life member of the ACLU and the NRA - that should make it easy enough for you to figure out a group that I would not like.

I got thinner when i left the fire department. Didn't know what to do with mine spare time and went sporting... a lot. It went up to 9 - 10 times a week, after a year it went down to 'only'
5 - 6 times a week. Lost about 8kg (20 lbs?) in the first half year without even trying to loose weight. Not sure how much i weight now, i need to buy a scale someday.

What i did sportswise, was training for a triathlon and climbing. The weight just started to fly off.

Go to the butcher shop and ask them if you can buy a one pound bag of fat. Put that in a plastic bag in the front of your refrigerator so you have to look at what one pound of fat looks like before you decide if you really want the food product behind it. Gross, but likely to work.

I'm 185 at 5'10". Looking to drop 10-15 by the end of summer. Best of luck to you all.

So if you fail you donate nothing?

How about committing to $1,000 donation if you stay the same. Then deduct a prorata amount for every pound you lose to get you to the $200 donation that you would prefer to make by Jan 1.

So lets say you only get halfway to your goal, then your donation is $600

This way it is far more painful to fail than succeed, at least financially.

GarlyDog, You are truly diabolical.