I received an email from someone who came across my blog (after only 2 entries!) asking for my opinion on something she was working on, weight-loss related. Without giving away her excellent idea, it had to do with the motivation and will-power part of weight-loss rather than the eating right and exercising part. Eating right and exercising is the part that we all know, which is why I say we are all "experts". There is nothing profound about that. The real question- and the reason many of us take so long to get started and sometimes never do- is "where do I find the motivation to get started?" One would think that just being overweight is motivation enough, however being overweight is also what makes it difficult and painful to exercise regularly. So yes- being overweight is motivation to lose it, but it also is the #1 reason why we never get started. We knew way before it got to this point that something needed to be done, but believe it or not we often need something extra to get started. It could be anything- your wife gets pregnant, your doctor tells you that some real health problems are on the horizon, you are sick of having no confidence with women (or men), you ask your wife why she is ironing a bed sheet only to realize it is your shirt upon a closer look.
Whatever your moment, it needs to also come with some will-power. If it was easy to stay thin, we would still be thin. We got this way because food is our vice, and it feels good to succumb to it. If my vice was gambling, I would be broke (I'm not a great gambler). If my vice was alcohol, I would be an alcoholic. My vice is overeating, so I am fat. It's not a difficult equation. So it takes more than motivation. It takes the will-power to stick to a new lifestyle that simply does not allow me to partake in something I enjoy immensely.
Which brings me to my own moment that everything changed. To be quite honest, at first I wasn't sure how I felt about the fact that this is what it took to get started, but I have come to the conclusion that whatever it takes it takes, and the important thing is that I'm doing it now.
I work at a car-dealership, which is quite fun most of the time. Sure it's not the greatest place to be around when nobody is selling any cars, but overall the type of people who get into that business are no-nonsense, funny, and competitive. The testosterone runs high, as it does in any place where men provide for their families based solely on what they can accomplish on their own merit. Car salesmen have gotten a pretty bad rep over the years, but I can speak from personal experience when I say that some of these guys are the best and nicest guys you can know. Seriously- when you find a salesman you like, BUY A CAR FROM HIM. You will have a friend in the car business forever.
C'mon... he'll even let you use his pen!
As you might imagine, many dealership owners are former salesmen who "made it". These are the guys we all want to be. Our owner is no different. He's always chewing on a stogie. He drives a different car to work every day. He always has the whole room laughing their asses off (genuinely) during sales meetings. If he buys the guys pizza on a Saturday, he goes in and peels the cheese off of 2 or 3 slices and leaves the crust there because he can. He's the man. He demands respect, but if he likes you- YOU'RE IN!
So one day he brings a digital scale in to work with him. Oh, I didn't mention- he's unpredictable. Me and three other guys give a nervous -gulp!- and wait to see what he has in mind here. For the last few weeks he'd been giving us a bit of a hard time for being big, which is all in good fun and nobody takes it personally. But now he has a scale in his hand, and it might not be so fun anymore.
"We're gonna have a little contest!" he announces. Okay...
So he puts the scale down on the floor, and the "ooh"s and the laughter are starting to rise. Like I said before, most people in the car business have good humor, so we all just listened to see what he had in mind.
"We're pairing up Dave and Bryan, and we're pairing up Jon and Rob*. 30 days from now, whoever has lost the most weight by percentage in each contest gets a nickel.** Are you in or out?"
*Names have been changed
** Nickel = $500 CASH
Now, if there's one thing salesmen like more than their dignity, it's $500 cash for nothing! We couldn't get on that scale fast enough! The first group, Bryan and Rob, weighed in at 377 and 251, respectively. In my group, I weighed in at 368 and Rob weighed in at 279. The contest was on! I couldn't wait to tell my fiance, and I couldn't wait to get started. I promptly went out that night and invested $100 in groceries. That was on Monday, July 18th. That means the contest ends 1 week from today! Here's the best part- the two winners will go another 30 days for another $500. Can you say motivation and will-power?!
What shouldn't be lost in all of this is the fact that our owner is putting up $1,500 of his own money for our health. From what I can tell, he has absolutely nothing to gain from this, except the satisfaction of knowing he helped four guys get started. Does it have a bit of a side-show feel to it? Sure it does, but we don't care. The rest of the guys are doing their part to keep us motivated, and we all know that win or lose, we will all be the better for it. Winning would be much better though :)
As you can see by the weight-loss tracker to the right, I have done well, losing 20 pounds in a bit over 3 weeks. In my next post I will describe what I'm doing, what works, what doesn't work, and why I took a big risk in significantly changing my method after losing 8 pounds in the first week. Stay tuned!
Keep it up :)
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