Monday 1533: The Challenge!

Today is a very special day at the ol' Jeff Pool blog headquarters.  The staff is abuzz and the excitement in the atmosphere is palpable.  In an effort to revisit the original intention of this blog, I am more than pleased to announce the birth of the Jeff Pool Six Month Health Challenge!  At the core of the challenge is an effort to get me to a healthier place physically.  I'm nearly 30, and I can't even imagine the stress I've put on my heart with the fast food diet, sedentary lifestyle, and immense weight that my body has to lug around every day.  I am a prime suspect to have either a stroke or a heart attack, and at the rate I'm going it will be sooner rather than later.  So, I want to do my part to eliminate some of these risk factors.  Longevity is built into my genes on both sides of my family, and I want to be able to type "Fortunately" in front of the first part of this sentence instead of "Unfortunately".  Right now, the scale (literally and figuratively) points to the latter.

The difference between this challenge and any of the other weight loss measures I've put into effect is that I'm going to directly ask you to be an active part of this journey, not just passive.  When I write regularly, I have a fairly decent amount of people that I'm reaching.  Without further ado, I present the 2011 Jeff Pool Six Month Health Challenge or, as I much prefer, Jeff Pool Has a Heart On for Heart Health!

Here's what I've got set up so far:

• The challenge will run from April 8 until October 8 (I secretly started last Friday but was busy enough at work last week that I decided to sit on this announcement until today).
• I will officially weigh in every Friday and post those results on this blog.
• I'm asking for your sponsorship!  I would love for my family and friends to pledge money for every pound I lose in the next sixth months.  The pledges can be as low as 50 cents per pound (if things go well, that probably puts you on the hook for $15). 
• 100% of the proceeds will go the American Heart Association.
• The event will culminate on October 8 at a major party in the greater Sioux Falls area.  I'm still ironing out the details, but I've paid the deposit on a band for that night (one of the wedding leftovers) and by golly, we're going to use them because they rock!  "Heart health" can apply to a lot of different things, and we'll consider that party a celebration of every facet of my healthy heart.  
• At said event, we will have the final weigh in LIVE!  It will have all of the drama of The Biggest Loser, only with beer and live music!
• $2 per pound donation gets you a really nifty t-shirt to commemorate the event.
• You don't have to donate at all.  The party will be free (except for your beverages) and the blogs are still free, and I'm going to need as much support as possible over the next six months, whether it is monetarily or in words of encouragement.
• I'm putting my money where my mouth is and am going on the books for $2 (mostly because I want the free t-shirt...that I'm paying for...wait, what?!).

That's it!  I'm super excited about the idea.  If I can get 50 people to average $1 per pound, and if I can drop 30 lbs., we're looking at a $1,500 donation!  That's something that would make me feel even better on October 8 than my new slim fit jeans.

I need to give credit to my friend Travis at Sioux Empire Fitness for putting the seed for this challenge in my head.  They will be running a similar three month challenge starting later in the summer, so if you like the concept and want to try it out for yourself, keep watching the blog for updates as I get them.

If you're interested in donating, send me a message on Facebook, through the blog comments, or at jeffpool81@hotmail.com.

As a sign-off, here is where the challenge starts:

In case you can't see the picture clearly, it is at 274.2.  See you at the finish line!

Jeff