The Bet

I'm in need of some encouragement. You see, Jolayne convinced me to take a bet. Actually, I'm not sure "bet" is really the right word. It's more of a challenge. For those who don't know Jo, she's extremely diligent about regular exercise (so much so that she often does two workouts a day, with the first one starting before 5:30am most days). I admire her greatly for that. I'm nowhere near that, and I've long been content that way. I really want to be fit, and I take pretty good care of myself. I'm no slob, but I just don't have the motivation to work out religiously like some folks. Over the last couple of years, I've put on a few pounds. Nothing serious that would land me on a primetime TV show, but pounds nonetheless.

Winter has always been a tough time of year for me to stay fit. It's usually cold and/or windy outside, and I'm not really an inside-exercise person. I'd much rather go do some miles on my mtn bike, work in the yard, etc. That kind of exercise works well for me.

For the last couple years, my former employer paid us $150 to exercise regularly for 12 weeks (the morality of that is a whole different story, though!) So I'd exercise for the minimum time, lose a few pounds, and feel better, then go back to my old ways. Easy money, right? My new employer has no such program, however.

Jo has challenged me to exercise 3x weekly for the next 6 months (she even used the word "contract"--gasp!) She, likewise, will do so, but since she's so good at it already, she has to drop to a certain weight. She was worried that I'd drop to that weight too fast, so we each got the harder of the goals.

At the end of the 6 months, whoever has done better will get my commission check that month to use as desired. Nice, eh? I'd like to get a fancy new mountain bike with full suspension, since my current bike, though decent, is probably 10-12 years old and only has front shocks. I'm ready for something more advanced.

So can I do it? Of course, the technical answer would be yes, but winter is a hard time for me. I'm not one who enjoys the treadmill at all; it feels like a hampster wheel. I'm not really a jogger, at all, actually. Running for the sake of running has never thrilled me. Involve a ball, some rules, or SOMETHING, to make it more interesting. And when I travel I find it hard to force myself to go exercise at the hotel. I'm great at going for long walks before or after work when the weather is nice; not so good at the routine version of going to the hotel gym.

It's a good challenge, I know. I need to drop a few pounds to get my BMI where it should be. That isn't really that hard, but the rewarding part for me is to see the difference and to look in the mirror and say "I did that". Trouble is, it's not so super important to me that I'll make it a priority over all other things. That's both good and bad. In the sense of this challenge, it's more bad than good. So encourage me the next time you see me sitting down and eating crackers instead of working out.

Oh, and if I find out that sales are expected to be slow during the commission month, game off... :-p