IDLE HANDS

It’s a competition me and a few friends/colleagues have been working on to loose weight. You see, we are all in the IT business and consequently we are pale, slightly overweight men. We all have previously made halfheartedly attempts at losing weight on our own. Since that did not work we decided to make things more interesting. Alas, getting fitter can be a competition.

So we did just that in 2007; decided on a prize, made the rules, took measurements and started logging and blogging. It went awesome, I won by loosing 10kg :). But since then a few years have passed and the lost weight have been regained so a new GeekBeach was due. This time, the affair quickly grew to a pretty large number of participants. We even had to turn people down. That is why I am writing this guide to what to think of  when having a go at the GeekBeach method yourselves, which you should.

Clear rules: It’s important to have rules that everybody understands and agrees on.
Personal progress = win: During the first GeekBeach the winner was the person with the greatest percentage of weight loss, added to the percentage lost in waist circumference. That means that the one who lost most weight and got to buy new trousers the most won. It also means that you compete against your own body, not to some ideal that everybody wants to reach. Well you understand percentages I hope.  In the 2010 edition, the winner will be the one with the best combination of percent body fat lost and muscle mass gained. At the start we all went to a gym where they have an expensive fat-measuring apparatus. I was a little horrified to know that 26.6% of my body is fat.
A long time span:  If you want the new slender you and your newly acquired good habits to stick, you need to make this event last a few months. I think 4-6 months is the time span you should try to aim for. A semi-goal/measurement or as we call it the “sprint”-price is made 1 or 2 months in to the competition. The winner gets a small price.
Price money:  We decided to put down 500sek each. That is enough to buy a nice suit for the winner.
Price money:  Collect the price money at sign up. The bastards who chickened out/lost at Geekbeach2007 haven’t payed the winner yet.
Proximity: It’s good to meet the people you are in this with on at least a weekly basis.
Blog: This is probably one of the most important parts. You generate a buzz around your GeekBeach competition, and friends and loved ones can follow you. Another important thing is to make it a multi-user blog, with a page per participant. Have a look at the one I’m participating in to get an idea. Don’t worry if you don’t know Swedish, you’ll get the idea.
Preferred weight losing methods: This is one of the beauties with GeekBeach, there are is no set diet or training regimen. Use whatever rocks your boat.  From GI to daily workouts to Tantric yoga to method x.
Statistics: Be sure to post updates on your progress. This will bring motivation to all invested in the competition.

Geekbeach is like fight club without the fist fights and the charismatic schizophrenic leader.