Last week, I watched Julie & Julia with my Mom. Aside from the fact that it is a terrific movie with wonderful performances, it was inspiring as well. I haven’t been very good about blogging on a regular basis, and having a challenge is the kind of thing that keeps me motivated, so I decided to come up with a challenge for my blog. I am one of those people with way more ideas than time and energy, so I had lots of thoughts about what kind of challenge I could do. Stephen was no help. He thought I should pick a different cookbook and cook every day for a year – but I think that was more for him than for me.
Two ideas rose to the top of the pack and I decided to combine them because one was pretty tough, so I needed a fun one to go with it. I decided I will lose a pound and a book a week for one year. The reason for losing the pounds is pretty obvious. After rupturing a disc last summer, I can’t really afford to carry around any extra weight. Like most people, I just feel better when I am lighter on my feet.
This fall, I bought a Bodybugg. It is a small device you wear on an armband and it keeps track of the calories you burn and the steps you take in a day. They have a program where you can upload your data at the end of the day. You also enter the calories you consume, and it compares the two. In order to lose the weight you want to lose at a healthy rate, it lets you set a goal for how many calories to burn and consume in a day, and it helps you keep track of both. So far, it seems to work really well. Obviously, you can calculate both these things without a Bodybugg, but the program makes it easier and more fun. Every day, I will post the previous day’s calories burned and consumed.
As for the books, Stephen is constantly complaining about the number of books I have. I have a huge wishlist on BookMooch, and whenever one of my wished for books comes up, I mooch it. Stephen thinks the books are taking over our house, which is probably true. But I refuse to get rid of any books I haven’t read, so my plan is to read one a week, then list them on BookMooch so they can go to another home. I will review each book on my blog as well, and have occasional book giveaways. One book a week is not a huge challenge for me, but with blogging, reviewing and working on the weight loss, I figure it is plenty. If I read more than one a week, then that will just be a bonus. I need to re-scan all my book titles into Delicious Library, then I can see what number I am starting with, but I do know it is far more than 52 books. This will be a good start though.
Tomorrow I will post my starting BMI and give the title of my first book. I hope you will follow along and give me tips for my weight loss and help me decide which books to read. Hopefully, you will get some ideas as well. I will be in Jamaica January 3-10, but I plan to take my laptop and should be able to update my blog during my trip.
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