fit4good |
a quest to change the world by changing ourselves. |
Fit4Good is a quest to change the world by changing ourselves. The six-week competition challenges participants to get fit for a cause.
DATES: April 4 - May 16, 2011
THE CHALLENGE: During this round, Fit4Good will offer 2 options - you may select one or both:
- Bench press XX pounds by 5/16/11.
- Jog 10km without stopping by 5/16/11.
- Take at least 1 yoga/cardio/spinning class per week from 4/4/11 - 5/16/11.
- Lose 10 pounds by 5/16/11.
- Lose 2 inches around my waist by 5/16/11.
- Eat homecooked meals 6 days per week from 4/4/11 - 5/16/11.
You may participate in both challenges for $200.
GET STARTED: To join the effort, complete these two simple steps by April 4, 2011.
WEEKLY UPDATES: Participants must complete weekly weigh-ins & record data in a form that will be delivered weekly via email. Weigh-ins are scheduled for 4/4, 4/11, 4/18, 4/25, 5/2, 5/9 & 5/16 and a leaderboard will be posted the day following each weigh-in. (No actual weights will be published online - only % body weight lost for each participant.)
ADDITIONAL PARTICIPATION: Upon receipt of your registration form & $100 cause commitment, you will be invited to join our top-secret Facebook group where we can talk smack, keep in touch & offer one another support and encouragement. You may also submit posts to be published on the fit4good blog throughout the competition. It may be as simple as an inspirational quote, a photo of you working up a sweat or anything you’d like to share with other participants. Just click the “Submit” link at www.fit4good.org.
BACKGROUND: Fit4Good is totally informal and voluntary, and is not affiliated with any nonprofit, corporation or formal organization. It was first launched in June 2010. During the first month, 8 participants lost a total of 46.4 pounds or 2.2% of our combined weight. The winner of our first round, now “loser emeritus”, Betsy Decillis (@decillis on Twitter) lost 7.3% of her body weight in one month & was able to contribute $800 to her chosen charity, the Cat Welfare Association of Columbus, OH. Our second round was held during January of 2011. During our second round, 7 participants lost a total of 64 pounds in 6 weeks, a total of 3.7% of our combined weight. The winner of that round, Sanjay Patel (@sanjspatel on Twitter), lost 6.88% of his body weight and was able to contribute $700 to his chosen charity, Epic Change.
QUESTIONS? Leave a comment here, tweet @StaceyMonk or send an email to staceybmonk@gmail.com
yesterday, i said i’d jog. today, i did. not far, not fast. but i did. here’s the embarrassing footage as proof. so there ;) actually, okay, this was posed before we left, but after we took this, i went jogging/walking for 30 minutes and came back all sweaty and gross. maybe i’ll post the after too…
Based on your input, we’ve decided to extend this competition until the end of February (2/28) and we’ll still award the prizes per the original rules (50% to the charity designated by the biggest loser and 50% to the charity designated by the competitor voted most inspirational.) Of course, you can vote for the biggest loser as most inspirational, so one person could still win the whole $700 for their cause ;)Without further ado, here’s this week’s leaderboard: (% weight loss was determined by start weight MINUS current weight DIVIDED BY start weight…rounded to the nearest hundredth of a percent.) Together, we’ve lost 42.6 pounds so far - 2.46% of our combined body weight - since January 3rd. Go us!! Again, the race is far from won - with another month to go until our final weigh-in, it’s anybody’s game!!!
Together, we’ve lost 38.5 pounds so far - 2.23% of our combined body weight - since January 3rd. I’d call that a HUGE win!!!
Here’s our top 3 for the week of January 17 - January 24:
(% weight loss was determined by start weight MINUS current weight DIVIDED BY start weight…rounded to the nearest hundredth of a percent.)
Go Epic Change!!
But the race is far from won - 3 remaining competitors are each under .5% behind the leaders at this point - it’s anybody’s game.
I’m posting a quick vote in the below to see how you’d like to award our ~$700 prize & whether you’d like to extend the competition a bit - I know it’s keeping me motivated. Make sure you vote today or tomorrow to let us know. We’d like to make sure we honor everyone’s input.
Next (& Final??) weigh-in: Monday, January 31
For those who have been waiting with bated breath, sorry for the delay!
As of Monday, 1/17/11, the seven of us have lost 1.38% of our combined body weight, a total of 23.9 pounds.
The field is still wide open ;) And I’m comin’ on strong…
All I ask is that someone, please, for the love of all that’s holy, knock Sanjay off the top spot next week…I gotta live with him ;)
After Jen’s post, it seems insignificant, really, to even post this. She’s right - we are so much more than what these numbers represent. They could never measure us. Not really.
So let’s just call them one of a million indications that we’re treating ourselves a bit better, that we’re dancing and playing more often. Let them be one of a million reasons we have to celebrate who we’re becoming.
Yesterday, when I weighed in, I was admittedly disappointed. It wasn’t “enough” in the scheme of things, a tiny fraction of the more than 100 pounds I’ve yet to lose. I totally discounted what I had done - that I had given up soda, eaten well, exercised 4 times, went on a long hike, drank plenty of water, and lost nearly 2% of my body weight.
These numbers capture only a tiny fraction of all that we’ve accomplished - the immense & immeasurable shifts of spirit, the food choices we made that made our bodies feel better, the dancing we did, and so much the scale could never reflect.
To those of you who had a great week - congrats!!! To those of you whose accomplishments couldn’t be reflected by the scale, celebrate anyway. To those stymied by vacations, stubborn plateaus and business trips, no worries - we’ve only just begun…
Together, the seven of us have already lost 19.2 pounds - over 1% of our total combined weight!! (1.11% to be exact, even without a few of us reporting.)
THAT’S AMAZING!!!!
Here’s our top 3 for the week of January 3 - January 10:
(% weight loss was determined by start weight MINUS current weight DIVIDED BY start weight…rounded to the nearest hundredth of a percent.)
Next weigh-in: Monday, January 17
Okay, guys! I have been silent over here (eating marshmallows with nutella smeared on top to appease my anxiety on several fronts, I kid you not) but I MUST pipe in at this juncture to offer this rant on why numbers on a scale are no indication of personal magnificence.
Our value as human beings cannot be measured. Period.
Pick your poison. Academic degrees. Number of Facebook friends. Dollars in the bank. Numbers on a scale. None of it can determine our worth. Our worth was determined on the day the Universe granted us the gift of being alive and hard coded us for love and belonging.
Nothing can take that away our basic human right to those things. Nothing. There is no more, no less, no add on, no plug in, no loss, no gain, that can diminish our worth. We are. We simply are. And we really are enough.
Of course, when I look at the scale, it is really hard to NOT notice that today i weigh exactly five pounds more than I did when I was nine months pregnant with my first child. And trust me, there is no baby in there. Sadly.
If I let those numbers mean anything but numbers, then the barage is immediate. I suck. I am undisciplined. I let myself go. And then I get hit with the big guns…no wonder my husband never wanted to have sex with me. No wonder I got nothing goin on in the somethin somethin department.
You can only imagine how great this feels! And how productive!
No, try as I might, there are no real connections between numbers and value, try as I might to connect the dots. People who love you, love you. People who do not, do not. There is nothing any of us can do to kill love or worthiness. It is our birthright. Our work is not to earn it, but to claim it.
And to dance in it.
And to shake it around. Like a Polaroid Picture.
Because this is the only shot we have at loving and belonging to our own dear selves. Of being our own kindest allies. You know what I mean? If I am going to be in a fight, let it be for the privilege and peace of loving my own damn self, cellulite and all.
So, Stacey Monk and my dear comrads here, I double dog dare you to dance it off, whatever that number is on the scale. Fuck that number! It cannot determine our value. We will not let it hang like a noose around our necks. We will not let it run us around like our mothers, or our unkind fathers or those crappy girls in high school who never had to take deep breaths before someone was going to see them naked.
I will do my dance for you in my pudgy petite black dress cloaked glory if needed to brighten anyones day. Say the Word.
Because it is so not fair for dear people like us to be working so hard to be fit FOR GOOD for christsake to feel like shit for trying.
Can I get an amen? I think you are beautiful, Stacey Monk and I am talking about your ass, sister, not your glorious insides for a change.
Big love to all,
jen lemen (highest weight ever, not that anyone is counting)
Taken November 1, 2007. Just 3 short years ago.
The girl with the ponytail in front of the class? That’s me. Teaching a Zumba class.
In the original post that included this photo, I reflected that I was “the former 290 pound heavyweight”.
3 years later, I’m back to that former girl. Only a bit bigger.
I’m ashamed, sure. Sad too. I miss the booty shaker from this photo. Her verve. Her courage. Her beauty. Her total abandon.
But today, I’m more eager than ashamed. Excited that she might yet again emerge from somewhere within me to make an appearance.
Because, more than I want to be thin, I want to be unafraid. To dance. To be heard. To be seen.
Why are you getting fit4good? Is there a photo somewhere - of a place, a person, of you - that will inspire your journey?
Fit4Good is a quest to change the world by changing ourselves. The month-long competition challenges participants to get fit for a cause.
DATES: January 3 - January 31, 2011
CAUSE COMMITMENT: In order to participate, each person will contribute $100. At the end of the competition, the sum of all contributions collected (less applicable PayPal fees) will be divided evenly between two causes - the first cause to be named by the participant with the greatest percentage weight loss as of EOD January 31, 2011, the second cause to be named by the participant voted most inspirational and encouraging by other fit4good participants.
GET STARTED: To join the effort, complete these two simple steps by January 3, 2011.
1) Submit this simple entry form.
2) Submit your $100 cause commitment using the PayPal widget below.
WEEKLY UPDATES: Participants must complete weekly weigh-ins & record data in a form that will be delivered weekly via email. Weigh-ins are scheduled for 1/10, 1/17, 1/24 & 1/31, and a leaderboard will be posted the day following each weigh-in. (No actual weights will be published online - only % body weight lost for each participant.)
ADDITIONAL PARTICIPATION: Upon receipt of your registration form & $100 cause commitment, you will be invited to join our top-secret Facebook group where we can talk smack, keep in touch & offer one another support and encouragement. You may also submit posts to be published on the fit4good blog throughout the competition. It may be as simple as an inspirational quote, a photo of you working up a sweat or anything you’d like to share with other participants. Just click the “Submit” link at www.fit4good.org.
BACKGROUND: Fit4Good is totally informal and voluntary, and is not affiliated with any nonprofit, corporation or formal organization. It was first launched in June 2010. During the first month, 8 participants lost a total of 46.4 pounds or 2.2% of our combined weight. The winner of our first round, now “loser emeritus”, Betsy Decillis (@decillis on Twitter) lost 7.3% of her body weight in one month & was able to contribute $800 to her chosen charity, the Cat Welfare Association of Columbus, OH.
QUESTIONS? Leave a comment here, tweet @StaceyMonk or send an email to staceybmonk@gmail.com
I was truly honored that Stacey gave me the role of cheerleader for this last week of our challenge. Being able to be your cheerleader means a lot to me and I will try to do my best to live up to it.
That being said, I’ve been racking my brain for how to best motivate you guys to cross that finish line and I think I’ve come up with a great solution. I’m going to tweet out challenges for you guys every day and you can tweet back with the hashtag when you’ve completed it. These are just going to be simple challenges that should help you on your journey.
So here is your first mission: Tell us one good thing you are going to do for your body today and then let us know when you’ve completed it!
Good luck guys and PLEASE let me know if you need any additional help or support!