Dear ,
There
are these nifty little pieces of paper that all of us carry around and
trade back and forth, allowing us to get what we want without much
effort or thought. And exciting new fitness research has shown that
using these little pieces of paper can help us all, but especially men
and especially cheapskates, to lose weight faster than any other
weight-loss method known to humankind.
These pieces of paper are called money and Pamela Weiler Grayson has given me my fitness laugh of the day by writing an article for the New York Times about what she calls Fat Betting. I love this idea.
She quotes several recently published studies saying that when money is
on the line, people who've never before had weight-loss success are
able to drop the ellbees.
Now I used to call this accountability but I've coined a new term. I think a better name for it would be
ac-COUNT-A-DOLLAR-BILL-ity. This idea gives a deeper meaning to the
term putting your money where your mouth is or as Ms. Grayson calls it,
"Putting your money where your fat is" and I like it. A lot.
I guess we shouldn't be surprised that the idea of losing (or gaining)
money is a big carrot stick for dieters nor am I surprised that another
important component of their success is regular weekly feedback, which
I assume means getting on the scales every Monday morning.With
witnesses.
There's nothing more motivational than making a bet with some smirking,
nudgey co-worker and having to take turns stepping on the scales with
them once a week when losing your year-end bonus to them is at stake.
The idea of competing to lose weight can motivate women but it is
especially effective for men. Ms. Grayson attributes this to the snips
and snails and puppy dog tails that boys are made of. Men are really
just the grown-up version of those boys on the playground yelling,
"Ha!Ha! Betcha can't catch me!", seeing who can run faster or climb
higher.
She describes some friendly office wagers where 10 co-workers throw in
$100 each with the biggest loser being the biggest winner who takes the
$1000 jackpot and how losing weight is obviously the ultimate goal but
that winning the bet is the reason they were able to put the cookie down.
There are actually some freebie websites (stickK.com, Fatbet.net and makemoneylosingweight.com) that provide the forum for people to make their wagers.
All aboard Cheapskates! Hop on the Weight-Loss Express! If moths fly
out of your wallet every time you open it, this could be the way to
your ideal weight. The cheaper the skate you are, the better I "bet"
this idea works! The websites take your credit card info right up
front, you pick a referee to monitor your weigh-ins and they charge
you weekly for unmet goals that you've set for yourself. Genius!
I also chuckled at the brilliance of what Ms. Grayson called
anti-charities. Bettors can designate someone they loathe to get the
winnings if they fail to lose the promised weight. These have the
highest success rate (85 percent) probably with Dubya's presidential
library the most popular anti-charity and Madoff's
defense fund a close second.
If that weren't clever enough, then there's the playing dirty. Imagine
your adversary doing push-ups outside your office door or leaving your
favorite homemade cookie on your desk. Call it the Meal-Mindscrew.
So this is what we've come to, America! Our greedy human nature is the
ticket to finally losing the weight we've never before been able to
lose. But hey, if you are motivated by the idea of losing-or gaining
money, then go for it!
The current financial crisis raises the stakes even more and in my
opinion this makes Fat Betting even more of a lure. If the mortgage is
on the line, then suddenly those cookies will taste like dirt.
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