Bill Clark

In my previous post, I detailed my experiences with the South Beach Diet and my weight loss since August. Tomorrow is the beginning of my second stab at Phase 1 of the South Beach Diet, and also the first day of the John P. Health Challenge. While I had already planned on sticking with the diet, I’m joining the Health Challenge for fun.

I urge anyone who’s trying to lose weight or just get into shape to join me in the Health Challenge. It runs from January 1 through February 28, 2010. It’s pretty simple, and there are only 6 rules to follow.

The Rules

from John’s blog

1. Eliminate as much sugar from your diet as possible. No more candy, cake or cookies. You are allowed Two otherwise illegal candy bars per week IF you follow all of the other rules.
2. No sugary drinks like Coke (here’s why) or alcoholic drinks (huge calories)! In fact, nothing but water, unsweetened tea or coffee to drink! You are allowed Two otherwise illegal drinks per week IF you follow all of the other rules.
3. Decrease food portions by 30-50% for all meals. Instead of eating whatever portion you are given, slow down while eating and stop after you feel full.
4. Snack all you want, but only fruit, veggies or nuts are allowed!
5. Exercise at least 5 times a week. This doesn’t mean long exercise daily! It means frequent bursts of exercise. Pushups and situps a few times a day for example.
6. Publicly update the rest of us and encourage others to keep going! (Twitter, Facebook, etc.)

For more details on how to join the challenge, take a look at John’s Health Challenge post. There’s a section on how to join at the end of his post.

I haven’t quite decided exactly how I’m going to track my progress. I use Traineo.com to track my weight goals, but that’s about all I use it for beyond the forums. The diet tracking leaves a bit to be desired. I’ve also been playing with dailyburn.com, but it’s a little too cluttered for me. I think I may end up with an Excel spreadsheet to track my progress. Whatever I ultimately choose for tracking, you can be sure I’ll be posting updates here every few days with my progress.

Here’s to a healthy and happy New Year!

Cheers!