Welcome To EFC

We are now embarking upon the new blog for the Exercise For Coffee group, or EFC. Let's face it - it's not fun to exercise regularly throughout the week. We are all busy with work, family and life in general. It's hard to get motivation to get to the gym or take a walk or do anything that causes the heart rate to rise above 50! I believe our body wants to naturally go the easy route instead of doing what's hard. It takes hard work, dedication and commitment to not only lose weight but to keep it off. Not everyone jumps at the chance to hit the gym during a busy work week. How easy is it to always vie for the low or non-fat versions of our favorite foods, especially around the holidays?

Ok, enough with how hard it is. Let's stop whinning and do it! On the flip side, exercise can be self satisfying and invigorating (when done regularly). It can give you a sense of accomplishment when you complete a workout instead of skipping it. It's hard enough to lose weight between having to balance the eating and exercise. But I've found if you are doing well with your exercise, your body will want to eat better and after awhile won't be so hard.

Throughout my weightloss journey, I've lost over 60 pounds. What I've learned is you cannot be successful with weight when you simply diet; it must be a lifestyle change or you will ultimately be back at square one (and I visited square one more times than I can count). And it is hard for sure - look at Oprah, who is showing her vulnerabilities along with the rest of us with her recent weight gain. Weightloss is tough and we can use all the support we can get.

So EFC was created to motivate our exercise habits. Participants are welcomed to blog and comment on this site at anytime. This is how it works:

If anyone doesn't make four workouts in a week,that person(s) owes one coffee card ($3.50) up to the monthly"kitty". For each week any of us makes all four work-outs will get a "ticket". After four weeks, if there is any coffee cards in the kitty, we will have a drawing. So if you work out 4 days a week for 4 weeks you would have 4 chances to win ALL the coffee cards. If you make it only 3 weeks, you would have 3 chances to win and so on. There may or may not be any coffee cards in the "Kitty" to be won, but it sure would be a great"prize" if there were multiple coffee cards. This way we can have as many members in our "Exercise For Coffee" club or"EFC". Shannon will write our names on tickets, then we report in to eachother on the blog. An impartial person will pick the winning ticket. Who ever owed coffeecards can then send them to the winner each month.

Bring it on!

- Vic