When Losing is Winning

I was one of the 135 township residents who last June signed up for the township's Toxic Waistlines Competition. The verdict, after 100 days: I officially lost 3.4 pounds, and half an inch from my waistline.

Clearly, I will not be among the competition winners, whose names will be announced at the Oct. 12 meeting of the Township Committee. Those competitors will win anywhere from $500, for the grand prize, to $250 or $100 gift certificates for runners up, for losing the highest percentage of body weight before the competition officially ended on Friday.

Time for a little confession here. I actually lost more like one to two pounds, comparing apples to apples, i.e. stepping on my home scale first thing in the morning. But my first official weigh-in at the township health department was after eating dinner. ("Have a slice of pizza," a co-worker advised. "Then if you go at the end and don't eat pizza, you'll be at least be that much lighter.")

My final weigh-in was before lunch, which counts for at least a pound. Also, because of my work schedule, I was able to attend hardly any of the many exercise sessions,  nutrition workshops and other activities held since June by the township health department, department of parks and recreation and the Somerset Hills YMCA. 

Actually, at one point, I genuinely had lost about three pounds. But that was before I started a new job as local editor for the Basking Ridge Patch, and for a week or so relied on Cadbury milk chocolate and ice cream as some of my major sources of tech support.

Despite all, I still gained something by taking part in the competition to lose weight.

I thought about the need to exercise, and did so as much as I could. Little things, like running up the stairs for several flights in the parking garage, gave me an unexpectedly substantial boost in stamina.

I thought about what I was putting in my mouth, especially trying to eat more fresh fruits and vegetables.

Most of all, I thought about how horrible it would be if I stepped on the health department's scale at the end of the 100 days and actually had GAINED weight. It's fair to say that the Toxic Waistlines Competition kept me from consuming many thousands of calories, thanks to that frightening vision.

And there's still more to come. Cheryl Komline, public health nutritionist at the health department, said participants (the 135 residents plus about another 15 township employees) will continue to receive emails with advice about healthy eating.

And then—six months from now—we're all invited back for a follow-up weigh-in.

Let's see if that's a scary enough thought to keep me on the relatively straight and narrow through Halloween, my birthday, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's.

NOTE: The Toxic Waistlines Competition, with funding from a grant from the New Jersey Health CAre Quality Institute's Mayors Wellness Campaign, is for now planned only as a one-year program. It's my hope that the program, in some form, might be repeated next year, even without official prize money. I think participants still would benefit even from an informal contest.