Just a short post to notify all that the first stage of the JOOB weight loss plan is posted on HubPages and this will be the main posting area from now on. Thank you to all readers here who have registered their interest, it’s really encouraging to have your support and ideas.

The first results are in already, as I teamed up with Paul, and to share them with you, I can tell you that Paul lost 3lbs in the first week and I lost 1lb. This means that as we are sponsoring each other for $10 for each pound lost, Paul puts $10 away for me, but I put $30 away for him.

It’s up to me if I actually have to pay him that amount; all I have to do is reach my target of losing the mutually agreed weight within our time frame of 14 weeks. You can see how this works in an earlier post.

Remember, even though you yourself might not need to lose weight, YOU WILL know someone who does. If you can gently point them in the direction of this post, you will be doing them a massive favor.

Masses of people are becoming unemployed at this time of crisis, and it is an essential part of gaining employment again by staying healthy, fit, and looking good.

Update: The first part of the plan is now live here: http://hubpages.com/_lilli/hub/JOOB-Weight-Loss-Plan-Walking

Oops!

Apologies to all who opened this blog yesterday using Internet Explorer.

In my haste to get the post on line between working out on Wii Fit to loose weight and taking my daily exercise walk which is my chosen way to improve my health, I made the cardinal sin of not testing over all browsers before uploading.

The post reads as it should in Google Chrome, Firefox and Safari, but IE seems like it was having a bad hair day!

So for all IE users, sorry for the mess, but you can view this post correctly on Hub Pages at JOOB Weight Loss Plan

Meanwhile, I will work on IE to see what went wrong, and correct the error. Any ideas will be gratefully received.

You too can be a loser like me,

Art

Yes, today is the day when we feel we can release our plan to help you lose weight.

This is how it works:

1. “Buddy” up with someone who has some weight to lose, preferably a similar amount to you.

See note 1

2. Agree how many pounds you would like to lose during your challenge – this must be the same for both of you. See note 2

3. Work out the date your challenge will start and end – one week for every pound you would like to lose. See note 3

4. Start your weight loss – healthy eating, exercising or whatever else to help your challenge – surgery not allowed!!! See note 4

5. On the starting day of your challenge, email or text your buddy with your “JOOB” weight – Just Out Of Bed.

6. On the same day every week, text your weight progress to your buddy. See note 5

7. If you both achieve your target weight-loss before the end date of your challenge, either set a new date and goal with your buddy or find a new buddy to continue with. See note 1

8. On the end date of your challenge reflect on how well you’ve done and decide if you want to set a new target. If so, see 7 above

9. OPTIONAL MONEY INCENTIVE If you need additional motivation, why not agree to add money as an incentive – perhaps , $5 or $10 in a jar for every pound your buddy loses – the theory being that no money will change hands at the end of the challenge because you will have lost the same…. If you lose more pounds than your target you still get the target amount – no more. Likewise, if you lose less than the target loss, you will get less money.

(Obviously use your own currency for where you live).

10. If you are using the money incentive, put the agreed amount per pound in a jar for each full pound your buddy has lost that week.  Then, at the end of the challenge work out how much you owe your buddy and your buddy owes you – hopefully no money will need to change hands. See note 6

As an example, this is how it will work

My buddy and I both want to lose 14lbs in 14 weeks – end date 1^st June. We’ve agreed $10 per pound of weight lost.

For every pound I lose each week, my buddy will put $10 in a jar for me and I’ll do the same for him.  On 1^st June I intend for my buddy to have $140 in a jar to give me and I’ll have anything from $0 to $140 to give him, depending on how well he has done.  I may even make some money if he hasn’t achieved his 14lb loss in that time….

Why not give it a try – you’ve got weight to lose and money to gain……….

Note 1 If you can’t find a buddy with similar goals to yourself, let us know and we’ll try to help.

Note 2 Don’t be too ambitious, if this is the first attempt at loosing weight, try a target of say 7 pounds loss at first, you can always repeat this once your target is achieved.

Note 3 We suggest a Saturday to start, if not a Sunday, just to make it easier to keep tabs on everyone.

Note 4 Over the duration of the plan, we will suggest tricks and tips to help you stay on plan with tips on healthy eating, exercising etc which we have found works for us in the past. These will be posted on this blog.

Note 5 As well as texting your buddy every week, please also send an email with the results to JoobWeightLossPlan@yahoo.com Just using the initials of both of you will be fine if you wish.

Note 6 While you both need to put in the same amount for each pound lost, don’t overstretch your weekly budget. Provided that you achieve your goals, you won’t have to part with any money, giving you spare cash to treat yourself to a new outfit in a smaller size.

If you have something to contribute by way of recommended diets, exercisers or change of lifestyle, why not share them with everyone else? Either include it in your weekly report or as a comment in the blog.

Likewise, you will notice that we’ve recommended helpful purchases with big discounts. If you have seen anything like this, why not tell us about it too in your weekly report?

We hope to hear from lots of you this weekend with your goals.

Now get busy planning,

Art

PS Today is Ash Wednesday when we are encouraged to give something up over the next 40 days for Lent.

What more incentive do you need than this?

Update: Site moved to

http://hubpages.com/_lilli/hub/JOOB-Weight-Loss-Plan-Walking

Still working the finer details out before giving you details of our Joob weight loss plan, but following on from my post yesterday about getting the Wii Fit back into action, it was pointed out to me that Amazon have a 17% discount offer on the Wii 5-in-1 Fitness Bundle right now if you care to check their offer out here:

After doing my 8 most used routines on the Wii Fit yesterday morning, come the afternoon I felt sufficiently energised to re-start my walking program.

While in Florida, I had found a great Omron Pedometer with a massive 37% discount.

In the past I have found that pedometers are great gadgets to carry during exercise for use as a step counter and health and fitness monitor. So off I went on a 2 mile walk, which today I have repeated already. Check out the link below to take advantage of this 37% discount offer:

I realise it’s not everyone that needs to lose some extra pounds, but like I said yesterday, we all must know someone who does need to lose weight, so if you feel able to mention this blog to them, hopefully within the next couple of days we will tell you all the plan.

http://hubpages.com/_lilli/hub/JOOB-Weight-Loss-Plan-Walking