And the winner is… from The Fitlanthropist on Vimeo.

Congrats, Lexi! Be sure to send me your address so I can send you your prize.

So, immediately after finishing the project for Free Arts of Arizona, I feel like I quickly fell into a little slump. I had been talking with Holli about all the things we need to do to keep up with the exercise and good food choices, and yet exercising seemed minimal and food choices were decent, but I was lost on portion control. So, here I am, quickly trying to get back into the swing of things before the next project.

Dance Dance Revolution. Does anyone play/do it anymore? It has a workout mode which I’ve used several times before, though I’m skeptical about most exercise video games. Typically, we had tracked our calories, but at that point, I was running 3+ miles every other day, and any time the statistics popped up afterward showing the amount of calories we burned and the ‘equivalent’ of how much we jogged, I balked outright. There was no way. So, now, instead of calories I am going to do it by time…because I’m fairly certain that a half-hour is a half-hour is a half-hour. And that’s what I did tonight: 30 minutes of dancing on DDR.

If any of you still use DDR as a fitness tool and it’s helped you, let me know. I’d love to hear.

Yes, yes, this is still the Fitlanthropist!

I mentioned some time ago (and have since gotten some feedback) that I wanted to redesign the site. I want it to be a bit more user friendly and more dynamic. Please bear with me as we go through these changes, and hopefully we’ll have a beautiful, more interactive new site.

ALSO: Thanks to those of you who have commented. Remember, leave me a comment on the last entry (or on this one) and you’ll be entered to win a $15 iTunes gift card. As a bonus, if you tweet or recommend this site to friends on Facebook, I’ll count that as an additional entry to increase your chances of winning (just send me a link to your tweet or recommendation).

Okay, gente. The first installment of The Fitlanthropist is over, and I am in the process of collecting my donations. $10. $10. That’s all I’m asking for. I lost ten pounds, and I’m paying $10 into the donation pot for Free Arts of Arizona. I would LOVE if you would join me by donating BEFORE next Friday, January 22 (you can do so by going HERE).

I am not quite at the point where I’m ready to evaluate how this went (because I still need some donations), but I would like some preliminary input from you all…and you’ll get the chance to win a $15 iTunes giftcard compliments of the Fitlanthropist. Here’s what you need to do:

Leave a comment for me with your name and tell me how I can improve what I’m doing with The Fitlanthropist.

Be brutally honest. There are a decent amount of readers (I check the stats once in a while), so I know some of you must have something to say. I need to hear it, else there’s no way I can improve, nor will I reach future fundraising goals! After you leave your comment, I’ll assign you a number in the order you post and next Friday (Jan. 22), I’ll use a random number generator to “draw” our winner. And again, you’ll get a $15 iTunes gift card.

Neato, right? You don’t even have to pay for postage.

Go!

Weigh-In Wednesday – Jan. 7, 2010 from The Fitlanthropist on Vimeo.

Well, friends, it’s over. I set a goal of 15 pounds and lost 10…and frankly, I’m pretty happy about that. I had a few doubters going into this, and rightfully so. It didn’t seem logical to some that I might actually be able to lose weight over the holidays, but miraculously, I did.

So, what does this mean? This means that I am in need of DONORS. $10 is all you have to commit, and you can pledge your donation by going HERE. That page details all the ways you can contribute. Once you pledge your support, I will contact you individually to solicit your donation. Once all of the donations have been collected, they will be sent to Free Arts of Arizona. However, time is of the essence. I need these donations in ONE WEEK, so that I can start building the next project, which will most likely last longer, and have a higher goal. So, again, please pledge your $10 donation HERE, and I’ll be in touch. Some of you have already done so, and one individual has made a sizable flat donation, and for that I am grateful to all of you…but we need more.  Wednesday, January 14th is the last day I’ll accept any pledges for Free Arts of Arizona, so please sign up today…

When I set out with the Fitlanthropist, I really didn’t have any concrete plan other than to get healthy, lose weight, and raise money for charity. My hope was that people would eventually run into this site, and donate or help motivate me. I don’t think it was much of a coincidence that I was contacted by a representative for a new site called Well, Then sponsored by Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, who introduced me to the social network-like website that I think has tremendous potential to help people be well.

I was instantly impressed with what I saw on the site. As someone who has, in former times, caved in to fad dieting or other gimmick-like health programs, I found Well, Then to be a realistic, refreshing alternative driven by individuals who all have a common goal: to be well. Now, while I’m specifically targeting my weight, Well, Then is so much more than that. Any visitor to the site will at some point read, “Wellbeing isn’t something we are. It’s something we do. Something anyone can do.” People can sign up for a free account (in the same vein as Facebook or Twitter) and post stories, videos and status updates about what they’re doing to be well, and this is something I’ve really enjoyed. I always hesitate to point out what I call “gimmicks” in terms of health and weightloss, because I never know if someone I know uses a certain product or takes cartain supplements…heaven knows I don’t want to offend anyone, but Well, Then seems to be full of pragmatic, sensible ideas that I’ve enjoyed reading and look forward to incorporating into my daily lifesytle.

I have been asked to be an activator for Well, Then, and I’m honored an excited to do so. While I’ve found several unique stories to help me better my health, there’s so much room for growth on the site, and surely someone out there is looking for your healthy stories. I would definitely encourage you to start an account and share your stories with others. Part of my hope with the Fitlanthropist was to inspire others, and I think that many of the folks on Well, Then will be very inspirational to others, as well. Also, under the terms of my agreement as an activator and for transparency sake, Well, Then and Harvard Pilgrim have ‘compensated’ me with a Flip MinoHD Camera valued at approximately $199 to help me make better use of my video weigh-ins and other video updates on the Fitlanthropist, as well as the videos I will also be uploading to Well, Then.

You can view my Well, Then profile HERE.

I hope you guys will take a look and sign-up. I realize that there are probably more social networking sites than necessary out there, but trust me, if you care about your health and want to find a new, innovative community full of people with similar outlooks on health and wellness, it will be worth your time.

(And, just so you know, Well, Then has accounts on Twitter and Facebook, as well!)

Hi all…I have to post a day early because my wife and I are scrambling to get ready for an extended holiday vacation to Arizona and Nevada. Good news is that I dropped a few pounds!

Weigh-In…Tuesday? – December 15, 2009 from The Fitlanthropist on Vimeo.

Can you spot what changes from the first part of the video from the next? (Other than the 0.1 lb. weight gain, that is…)

Double Weigh-In Wednesday – November 18 & 25, 2009 from The Fitlanthropist on Vimeo.