Editor’s Note: Trim-down for Charity is a contest between two of The Man F.A.Q. writers in which they will try to lose the most weight from now until the July 1, 2010, deadline. The Man F.A.Q. is accepting donations, with all proceeds going directly to Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International. Make a donation in the winner’s name, and be entered into a raffle to win one of several prizes donated by our site’s sponsors.

Click here for status page

OUR GUYS had similar weeks. Both eating good foods and making regular trips to the gym. Perhaps that’s why they both dropped three pounds last week. Mark has a healthy lead in the percentage weight lost category, but James has jumped to within a pound of the overall weight loss category.

As always, find the contest status or make a donation on this page.

From Mark: I’ve always preferred to be outside. That’s why this was a good week for me. I had two days off in the middle of the week, and I decided to get on my bike and explore the county. Miles and miles and miles each day — only stopping because it was dark — really mixed things up this week. Mix in that with a couple of nights in the gym and the fact that there were zero, count ‘em, zero trips to fast food joints this week and I think it all went pretty well. I was hoping for a better number than minus-3 this week. I haven’t been able to get really vigorous at the gym cardio-wise. I’m still waiting for my knee to feel a little better. I think this week it’ll pick up

From James: I feel pretty good this week, even though I’m still falling prey to some of my bad habits. Of course, that’s my fault. But I feel my resolve building, and I feel the right mindset coming around. It’s easy to take the Yoda route and say “There is no try, you either do or do not.” Or whatever that green bastard said. But in weight loss, there isn’t a switch you can just flip. You have to position your mind to think a certain way. That’s always been my downfall (and sometimes my upswing) in the past. I just can’t get my mind right. But now, here I am, and my mind is finally in the right place. I had five solid days of healthy eating last week, and so far this week I’ve hit the gym and had two successful days of eating. As far as I’m concerned, this contest began for me last week. And it will be one day at a time. I can’t look too far into the future, can’t eye up 270 by the end of this contest or 220 as my ultimate goal. All I can do right now is make sure I have a healthy Wednesday and a healthy Thursday and so on.

Notes: Our prize pool is coming together quite nicely. Two sponsors have already made awesome donations. We’ll have a listing/sponsors page up very soon.

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Photo credit, The U.S. Army: http://www.flickr.com/photos/soldiersmediacenter/ / CC BY 2.0

Click here for status page

THANKSGIVING WEEK offers plenty of challenges for our competitors as they both try to cut weight. Overall, James managed the shed three pounds, while Mark just one. As always, find the contest status or make a donation on this page.

From Mark: Can’t say it was anything of a decent week, actually. In addition to Thanksgiving — which is only one meal, and wasn’t too detrimental to be fully honest — there was the fact that I’ve been quite sick for days now. Additionally, there’s something of a slight knee injury I picked up at football on Saturday. Basically, it hurts to go up or down stairs and in standing up from a seated position. It’s been just over 24 hours now, and it’s slightly better. I’m hoping both the cold and knee problem are gone when I wake up tomorrow. The T-day leftovers weren’t bad on the waistline. I stuck mainly to the turkey meat (sans skin). I set aside a goal to lose three pounds a week … that obviously didn’t happen this week. But I think I can get quickly back on track. I’m sure there will be as many 4s and 5s along the way as 2s and 1s. So I’m fine with that. What I’m mostly hoping for this week is to be well enough (lungs, sinus and knee) to get in the gym and get things done.

From James: This week was a monumental mental challenge. Oddly, the holidays didn’t have much to do with it, but I had to face one truly important fact: I am addicted to food. So the question I kept asking myself was simple, but complex: How do I kick this addiction? More specifically, how do I kick this addiction now and forever? And with Thanksgiving thrown into the mix, and gobs of stuffing being shoved in my face, life wasn’t a bed of roses. So what happened? I figured it out. The plan is in action. And though I admittedly am getting a bit of a later start than Mark, I am confident that I can seriously change my life over the next two and a half months. Why? Because Mark is doing this as a vanity project, an effort to look better for his wife. I am doing this as a life-changing project, an effort to defeat one of the truly serious demons I have faced in my life. Nope, it’s not going to be easy. But I know how to do it. I understand the terrain of the path, and I just strapped on my hiking shoes. Ten weeks from now, I’ll be a changed man.

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Photo credit, The U.S. Army: http://www.flickr.com/photos/soldiersmediacenter/ / CC BY 2.0

SAN FRANCISCO – The Man F.A.Q., a new online men’s magazine, announces its “Trim-down for Charity” contest in which two of the sites writers will go on a weight loss competition to benefit Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International.

Mark J. Yates, the site’s creator and editor in chief, and James Allorski are engaged in a Biggest Loser-style competition in which the site’s readers can make a donation in the name of the man they think will win the competition. At the end of the competition, anyone who made a donation will be entered into a drawing for select prizes from our sponsors.

“We wanted to come up with a way people would have an incentive to make a donation,” Yates said. “We’re still looking to add to our prize pool through sponsorships. We wanted to get sponsored prizes so that all the money we raise goes right to the charity. At the end of this thing, we’d like a sizable donation to be headed the way of the juvenile diabetes foundation.”

To see the current status of the competition between Yates and Allorski, or to make a donation, visit www.themanfaq.com and click on the “Trim-down for Charity” link at the top of the page.

For more information, visit:
http://www.themanfaq.com/news/contest-status/
http://www.themanfaq.com/news/2009/11/trim-down/

That's me running in the Little Willie 5K, which a center for latchkey kids.

WE’RE JUST TWO GUYS trying to get into better shape. If it works out, the benefits to us will be obvious. But I think we have a chance here to actually do some good for someone else.

I know it was instilled into me by my parents — a teacher and a minister — but I often think of ways I can make the world a little bit better. I don’t make very much money and my free time nowadays is little-to-none (I’ve got some pretty productive hours after work … 1 – 4 a.m., when I get most of my writing done anyway). But I try to do my small part. During “the season” last year, I ran in almost every charity 5K race I could find. I told a few friends about each one and dragged a few of them out of bed. They’re pretty addictive — I even won a medal at one of them (2nd place, men 20-29), though I think I was one of about six in that category.

It was at those 5Ks where I realized that – unless your name is Bill Gates – what difference can one man make? Alone … not much. As a part of a larger group … change happens. Now, I’ve got this idea. Once again, though, I’m in no more position to help anyone now than I was before. That’s where you come in.

As you may know (if not, click here), James and I have a little contest going. It’s something we’ve been hashing out for a few weeks now. It’s only recently that we thought of a way to get others involved. We were always going to do this thing, but with your help (and there’s a little something in it for one of you), we can help those that are actually doing to work to make a difference.

I’ve chosen the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation as the recipient of all of our charity. This organization is rated as a four-star charity (out of four) by charitynavigator.org. James and I are in this to lose a few pounds, not to make money. We’ve got a modest prize pool, and anyone who makes a donation will be entered in a drawing to win a prize. The prizes are being donated by some great sponsors, so we can make sure all the money goes right to the charity. If we can get a few of you behind our cause, and actually help out the people at JDRF do a little of their good, well then we’d feel like we did a little good with our day.

Visit the Contest Status page, make your donation in the name of the man you think will win.

SOMETIMES MEN NEED a little extra motivation, maybe a little incentive too. Give a guys a chance to either win or lose something, and you’ll usually get the best possible performance out of him.

Now, that’s not to say the “let’s see who can fold the most laundry in an hour” contest will work. We’re not stupid.

But take getting into shape, for example. There’s nothing more common in gym talk than the “I’ll bet I bench 300 pounds before you can” or “I bet I can drop 20 pounds before you can.”

We’ve got a little something like that going on over here at The Man F.A.Q. headquarters. James Allorski and Mark Yates have a little friendly wager going on. And being the guys they are, they’re taking it public.

The parameters: It’s simple, the deadline is July 1, 2010. The bottom line, which ever man loses the most percentage of weight (based on their respective starting weights) wins. It’s the same formula used on The Biggest Loser. James is the larger of the two, and will likely lose more weight. Mark’s lighter, and his pounds lost will count as a larger percentage. Who’s got the edge? Who knows … but we think it’s pretty even.

The formula: ((current weight / starting weight) x 100) – 100 = percent change. For example. If Mark weighs 205 pounds at the end of the contest, we would divide that by 237 (his starting weight) and get 0.8649. We would multiply that by 100, and get 86.49 (the percentage that Mark weighs at the end based on his starting weight). We would then subtract 100 from that total to get the percentage lost, in this case Mark’s change is -13.50 percent. James would have have a change of -13.06 or better to win.

A little about Mark: A perfect example of an overweight former athlete. He’s the more active of the two, running in the occasional charity 5K, and has plans for a triathlon in May and the 2010 Dipsea race in June. Regular bike rides, hikes and kayak trips fill his weekends, but he feels he could get a little more out of them if he dropped a few pounds.

A little about James: He’s a big hoss who has struggled with his weight his entire life. At 6’3 and with the bone structure of a wooly mammoth, James highly doubts he’ll ever be able to get under 230 pounds. But he also knows that at 230 pounds, he’d be a hot piece of man. His peak weight was 370 a few years ago, then he got down to 260 last summer. Now he’s hovering around 318 and not loving it. He also doesn’t remember Mark Yates ever running a charity 5K.

What it’s going to take for Mark: “I’ve got to be honest, I have an idea of what I’d like to accomplish after this thing,” Mark said. “It’s not exactly the Biggest Loser-mentality I’m going in with. Don’t get me wrong, I’m carrying around quite a few extra pounds. But I’d also like to get back some of the strength I’ve lost from about a year without a gym. Overall, I’d like to lose about 32 pounds. That would put me at 205. The last time I was at 210, I started to show abs. I’d like to get five pounds past that point. That’s about three pounds a week, counting down to our Feb. 14 deadline. I know James over there has more ambitious goals for his total pounds lost. So, sure … I might lose my 30-or-so pounds. James might drop 50. I’d lose on paper. But if I lose the contest, but walk away from it with  a six-pack, who’s the real loser?”

What it’s going to take for James: “This ain’t my first rodeo,” James said. “I’ve lost the same 70 pounds about two or three times. So I’ve got the edge in experience. There are no secrets to losing weight. All you can do is sensibly limit your calories and work out more. My strategy is pretty simple: get to the gym at least four times per week, alternate calorie consumption between a scale of 1,300 and 2,000 per day and envision success. By Valentine’s day, I’ll still be alone, but I’ll be alone and 50 pounds lighter, which is good news for whatever lonely internet lady I choose to webcam with that night.”

Keep tabs: In addition to update articles, there is a contest status page. That’s where you’ll find all the information you need to see who has the current edge. On the page: Height, starting weight, current weight and percent change. There’s also a comment or two from James and Mark, giving a brief insight to how things are going.

Get in the game: Got PayPal? Place a donation in the name of who you think will win. Proceeds will be donated to Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International. If at the end of our contest you’ve made a donation, you’ll be entered into a drawing to win a prize from one of our sponsors. (More details on this later). With the help of our sponsors donating the prizes, every cent we make on the charity drive goes straight to Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International.

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Photo credit, The U.S. Army: http://www.flickr.com/photos/soldiersmediacenter/ / CC BY 2.0