Well…I’m back. It has been awhile since my last post. I got a bit busy with work and have made it a point to frequent my blog more often.

So…as I mentioned in my last entry, I wanted to start this blog about my upcoming fitness challenge; both personally and a friendly competition. I had made a commitment with myself to get back into better shape. About the same time I had made this commitment with myself, a co-worker asked me if I would like to make a bet regarding exercising and weight loss. He figured that since I was getting married that I could stand to lose some weight along with the fact that he also needed a bit of incentive to lose weight himself. The initial bet proposition…$50 that my co-worker could lose more weight(percentage-wise) than me over a specified period of time.

Now, initially I didn’t take the bet. Why not? Well, I wanted to make sure I had a chance to win. You see, my weight at this time was 224 lbs. My co-worker weighed in at 290 lbs. At 5′ 10″, I’m not obese by any means BUT I could stand to lose a few pounds (and I hide my weight well). In the end, it doesn’t matter how well hidden it is because I KNOW its there so after doing a few calculations that night, I took the bet.

THE FINAL BET…$100 to the person that loses the most weight based on highest percentage by August 1, 2008. The rules: you can lose weight by whatever means you are comfortable with and that’s legal. (In other words, whatever works for you.) Everything has to be done naturally and legal…no steroids nor illegal drugs. Since neither one of us is into that sort of thing…NO PROBLEM there!!

While my friend acknowledged this was a steep price, he was looking for incentive to lose weight and get back into shape himself. I said, “this should be double the incentive to win this bet.” Another co-worker and friend witnessed our weigh-in and, thus, the challenge was on!