Escape from fatasia

I am not a runner, not by any stretch of the imagination. While i did up and run 20 miles one day - it was the the energy of the park in all it's splendor and my crazy friends that enabled me to do it. The days of me up and doing whatever physical thing I might get into my head seem to be numbered; but I still push it a bit.

My housemate and I are tired. Which is to say we have tires of fat around our middles. We do not care for our tires and when we joined a local gym, he declared this was to be our "escape from fatasia". He's not much on will power but he does like a challenge and when I told him I could drop 15 lbs before he could, I believe his response was "fuck you, you cannot" - and it was on. Today was the beginning. We walked in the rainy lovely portland-like day 4 city blocks to the gym and in the locker we doffed our shoes for the 'weigh in'. The scale appeared to be a relic from the 1970's and the post seemed to be about ready to abandon the base sometime soon. He freaked a little after weighing himself and then I noticed the scale wasn't zero'd. THAT was a project.

In the end, J weighed in at 121.50 lbs at a 5'3" and I plunked in at 162 at 5'8". Neither of us is fat, and we aren't looking to pick a fight with folks who think we're freaks for engaging in this little challenge - but the point is that through our own lenses we think we'll be happier with this small change that is much larger and heavier than 15 lbs. I will be curious to see if this is true. All I know is that as I age the pear phenomena is hitting me and I don't much care for that; as nutrition, yes, as a body shape, no thank you. Eek.

We don't know what the bet should be, what is worth winning and will sustain our determination besides bragging rights - so we're taking all suggestions. In the end he decided, quite responsibly I might add, that 10 lbs is about all he could/should spare. I upped the ante and said I could drop 15 before he could drop 10. Ha! I've never tried to lose weight before, not with any real effort (or success, except for that time I was REALLY sick) so this should be interesting.

When we walked out of the gym I handed him my sweatshirt and keys and asked him to take them home and buzz me in when I got back. When he asked where I was going, I simply replied that if I was gonna win this bet, I needed to take my trunk for a run around the park, and off I trotted up toward the park in the misty brooklyn afternoon. No, I'm not a runner, not by any stretch of the imagination, but I am one stubborn and determined bugger.