January 03, 2006

My New Year's Resolution

In How To Win At Just About Everything, I wrote a chapter entitled "How To Win at Losing Weight," which detailed a system that had helped me lose weight.

Twice, I used what I called the "Penalty Diet" to motivate me to lose weight. It wasn't a specific eating plan (no absolute dos or don'ts about what to eat) but a system of marking my progress and proving an incentive to lose the weight sensibly.

I have found that fear works better than guilt or "positive reinforcement for me. Back in the early 80s, I lost weight by making my penalty a financial contribution that I couldn't afford. Right now, I'm the heaviest I've been since I was a junior in college, and I want to lose weight.

I'm handing in the manuscript for my next Imponderables book on April 1, exactly 13 weeks and 3 months from today. I was trying to figure out a penalty that would strike fear into the core of my soul.

I think I figured out the penalty, and anyone who knows me won't believe I'm willing to risk this. But if I don't lose at least one pound a week, or 13 pounds by April 1, I'm going to attend an Andrew Lloyd Webber musical on Broadway, accompanied by a friend who actually likes ALW. And to further the humiliation, I'm not allowed to make sarcastic cracks during the show.

This is one bet I intend to win. Fear is on my side.

webber_a_pic1.jpg