I recently returned from a summer vacation, spent beached like a walrus, munching giant hoagies and slurping beer as dark and thick as motor oil, to discover to my shock that I had put on a bit of weight. Actually, a huge amount of weight.

In that I am not alone. Seems like articles about the obesification of America are everywhere these days. And there is something that we can do about it, right here in this office.

It's FitFatFitFatFit v3.0. I have challenged Brad and Troy (despite having lost two previous challenges). They have accepted. I also challenge any willing member of the community.

So here is the deal: join the DadLabs Weight Loss Challenge or DadLabs BMI Bash or DadLabs Diet Discourse today. (First Order of Business: Come up with a catchy name.)

Weigh in, calculate your BMI, that kind of stuff, and make note either publicly or privately. We will debate here the best way to calculate the winner and/or winners. Weigh in to establish your starting weight at any time of your choosing, but the Weigh Out will be Valentine's Day 2011 (which corresponds with my goals for running my next competitive half-marathon).

Huge prizes will be awarded is a variety of categories TBD (open to suggestions for categories here).

My opening weight: 209.5lbs

Approx BMI 29.2 (a hair shy of "obese')

Goal: 190lbs by contest end

Long Range Goal: Sustainable lifestyle that results in CDC "Normal" range weight (179lbs)

Bring it.

PoserDad is in the house.... most people say I'm the size of one.
When I sit around the house I sit AROUND the house...
I'm in on the fitfatfitfatfit v3.0... For those of us with iPhones, we could use the app. LoseIt.. Let me know if you want to become friends on LoseIt for the iPhone.

Starting weight: 250
Height: 6'3"
BMI: 31.5 (obese)
Goal wieght: 215

I'm in!
I've been looking for a way to break out of my rut.
This sounds like a great invitation to do that.


Weigh in...
Weight: 265
BMI: 35.9 Ack!!!

Competition goal.
30lbs


How frequently do you think we should check in our progress?

Deal me in!

Current Weight: 253 lbs
Height: 5'11"
BMI: 35.3 (obese)
Goal Weight: 220 by contest end.

Looking forward to it.

Welcome Krellpw, pfanndad, poserdad

iPhone App for contestants is a great idea. Or we should friend up on Livestrong or one the the weight loss sites. That would not require an iPhone, but wouldn't be as convenient.

I'm also a a big fan of Nike+ for those of you contemplating taking up walking or running as part of your routine. I'm daddyclay on that site. Friend me up.

Running is the core of my weight loss program, more on that later, and I don't yet have a clear strategy for eating (the Adkins of my past seems too risky at that point), but I'm already facing a huge obstacle.

For the last year and a half, I have claimed 5-6am as Me Time -- when I run, or exercise. Last night my wife fired a shot across the bow. She said that because things are so hectic in our lives, the SHE might need some of that morning time.

WHAT?!?! After a year and half? "Just two mornings a week," she said.

My opening diet gambit is the loss of almost 30% of my exercise time.

*sigh*

I'm up for using any app to track my progress, and have friends for accountability (as long as it's a free app).
LoseIt works on iPhone, iPod Touch & iPad. Jillian Michaels also has a web site- if you're not scared of her.
Thoughts?

***UPDATE** The Jillian Michaels web site is not free

As long as any free app is iPod friendly, I'm open to it. Don't own an iPhone at this point. Don't think I can justify it to the wife as "exercise equipment."

I'm a BB user, so I think that will put a kink in the idea us all linked up via our smartphones.

I'm currently using RunningAhead to track my workouts, but I'm willing to use something else for the Challenge.

And sorry about your mornings, DC.
Looks like you'll have to do some laps while the kids are at practice instead of sitting in the car.


My challenge won't be the exercise as much as the food. Controlling myself in times of stress has been my downfall through the ages.
So, a good Food Log will be my best tool for the next 6 months.

Just finished off a 1/2 gallon of Irish Stew for my breakfast. This FatFatFat Challenge is gonna be awesome.

LoseIt! helps track food intake, exersize, calorie count & weight.
for those interested, I am: PoserDad@BunchofGrahams.com on their. Friend me, we can encourage each other.

I agree with pfanndad that a good food log is absolutely key, particularly if you aren't following some really proscriptive diet plan that provides meals.

Last time I needed to drop some weight, I used the MyPlate feature at Livestrong.com. (I have some REAL problems with Lance Armstrong but have decided not to hold the Livestrong Foundation accountable for that.) The program makes it pretty easy to track everything.

I am going to check out LoseIt as well, PoserDad.

Had a bit of a setback last night -- it was my anniversary and we celebrated with a night out. We went to a place called Uchi, and the meal was incredible. For a splurge, the food was pretty lo-cal with a lot of sashimi. There was one dish that had rice and was loaded with oil, but that wasn't really the problem.

We did a tasting menu that was paired with wines. Wine is my downfall.

But I did get up the morning and go for a pretty intense run. Speed work and everything.

Well here it goes I guess. 6 months seems like a reasonable time frame to lose some serious weight. Second thought, it's also a reasonable amount of time to lose it and gain it back. This should be interesting.

Current Weight: 272.5 lbs
Height: 6'
BMI: 36.91 (Wii Fit says "That's obese!")
Goal Weight: 242.5 by contest end.

I'm fairly certain the cause of my current condition is stress. I've gained a significant amount of weight starting just before my son was born. Long story short. Bed rest, emergency c-section, NICU, PPD, sleepless baby and a partridge in a freaking pear tree. I'd bet that stress and lack of "me time" is a reoccurring theme amongst the other dads here.

I've been using Wii Fit and it's a pretty convenient way to have the information recorded. The only drawback is I don't think there is a way to get that info off of your Wii.

I am ready for the Weight Loss Challenge

Start Weight 206
Height 5'7"
BMI 32.3 Obese
Goal 150

Welcome bobjr and skarr

Should we do a regular Monday weigh-in thingy?

I step on the scale most mornings, and I thought that I read that was a good thing. Or is it a bad thing? But I suggest that the official weigh-in should be every Monday.

Although weekends are always tougher on the diet than weekdays, IMHO. same for you.

For example, my dad is taking my son and I to a Texas Rangers game on Friday night to see them take on the Red Sox. Always fun because my boy is a huge Sox fan. And the Rangers are finally good.

But an MLB game is going to wreak holy hell on the diet. I think I go ahead and plan on an indulgence or two, and roll with it.

I'm good with a weekly weigh in. Personally, I only go near the scale twice a week. If I do it every day I find I start obsessing. I want to lose the weight and I want to be disciplined, but there's a fine line for me.

I agree that Monday may be tough given the potential impact of weekends, but if we're all going to be committed to this, then that's part of the price we have to accept, I guess.

Agreed.
A weekly weigh-in is a good idea.
But I too will only be around my 'official' scale twice a week on days that I'm in the office and go to the gym that they provide a membership to.


And the bad news...
My official weigh in was 269 on Tuesday, not the 265 I thought ( where and when did those four pounds come from!? ).
But my goal for the challenge is still 235.

I'm tracking my food with 'CalorieCounter' by FatSecret for BlackBerry.

I tried going back to FitDay, but the BB App is a BIG plus.

Monday is cool with me.

All right. I'm in. I'm going to try to set activity goals instead of weight ones. It seems that every time I get within 20% of my goal, I physically break down. Happens when it's an activity heavy program. So, I'm going to try to get to the point where I can start the C25k and then see where I am. Let's see how far that gets me.

Let's do this thing!

(I'm not scheduled to judge beer for at least three months. So that will help.)

I've gained something like 120 pounds since my wife got pregnant with our first son. Maybe I can give them away and instantly lose all that. What do you think?

I'm going to have to get some buy-in from my wife on this and that is tricky. She gets a little edgy when I go on a diet or start a new exercise program. I always like to downplay when I'm on a diet, but she is the one that prepares the evening meal.

She can tell that I'm trying to cut back, at the moment, but I haven't come clean about the Challenge.

Are able to get easy buy-in from your spouses? Does it make them feel guilty or competitive? Does it mean a difficult change in routine for you?

I'm off to see the Rangers whoop the Red Sox (with my son the Sox fan), and hopefully not blow my diet completely on ballpark food.

Good Luck with the wife, DC.
Mine is supportive while neither competitive with me nor threatened.
In fact, she's happy to see me have a new challenge to give me some focus and finally to be using a Food Diary like she's suggested many, many times.

The time to exercise is still mine to make around the family schedule.


And my first report...

Lost 1 pound so far.
268.

Go Phillies.

Daddy Clay -- I'm lucky. I've been a slug so long, and my wife has been practicing karate 3 nights a week for two years now. She's thrilled with the fact that I've made any indication that I want to put my body back in motion...and I've built up a lot of karma, so I have no challenge getting support or buy in.

Pfanndad -- congratulations on dropping that first pound. Here's hoping we all get to do a ton of bragging over the next few months.

and since we're talking Baseball...Daddy Clay enjoy that game, and I'll say "go Rangers," only because any time the Red Sox lose, it's good for the Rays. Go Rays!

*update
It's Monday my weekly weight check

Start weight 206
Current weight 204

Monday Weigh In

Start weight 253
Current weight 248.5

Hope everyone elses week is off to a strong start too.

Congrats, you losers.

My Monday weigh-in: 204

That's really two weeks of diet, but 5.5 lbs in that time is not a sustainable rate of loss. 2lbs a weeks is really aggressive. Between 1 & 2 is my goal. I lost a lot off the bat because I was constantly gorging myself on vacation.

Diet mistake of the weekend: ran my usual 10-miler on Sunday. It was hot, and after I finished I stepped up to the drink coolers put out by the local running gear store and chugged about 10 cups of Gatorade before realizing that I had just put back in about half the calories I had burned on the run.

Great run, btw. I did my usual loop around Lady Bird Lake in the opposite direction, and it was like a *whole other world.*