I lost 40kg after a $100 bet

KEVIN and his mates were ribbing each other about their lack of fitness when a simple bet motivated them to get off the couch.

THE orange tree-lined streets of Sacramento, California, are ideally suited to walkers, bikers, and other healthy types. The syrupy blossoms conjure images of lanky surfers and leggy blonds. The blasé, easy healthfulness of West Coast natives.

At the moment, my chafed thighs and aching knees are making me feel decidedly un-Californian. Less sun-dappled Surfin’ USA Beach Boys and more bloated Kokomo Beach Boys.

I could be at home right now, eating a triple cheeseburger and binge watching season three of Game of Thrones — again. Instead, I am waddling through the citrusy hills and dales of this town like a flushed giant baby, with the sunshine and years of aforementioned burgers causing rivers of sweat to run down my arse and pool in the rear of my boxer briefs.

It is 2014. I have just turned 35, I am 175cm tall, and I weigh over 140kg.

I’m so out of shape, I get puffed just looking at pictures of stairs. And yet as much pain as I am in I have no choice but to keep walking. I could lie and tell you that my new-found drive to exercise is due to pride or determination. The reality is far more pedestrian (ha ha).

Money is on the line.

Let’s face it. I definitely needed the push to get off the couch.

THE BET

A few weeks earlier, I suggested to a group of friends it would be nice to go on a hike together. One of them took the piss and bet me that I couldn’t hike to the end of the street.

It was a solid joke, but after I finished chewing another mouthful of four cheese pizza, I got offended. In fact, much like my thighs after a vigorous three-minute walk, I got downright irritated.

I could get fit any time I wanted, I thought. I just chose not to, for … reasons.

I got so angry at my friend (who had put on a few pounds himself, I should mention) that I put together a simple bet; four of us would get Fitbits, each of us would put $100 in a pot, and the person who walked the most in a month would win it all.

To really get us (me) off the couch, I upped the stakes. At the end of every day, the person who took the fewest steps had to pony up another $10 for the pot. Third place had to pay $7. Second place had to pay $5. The winner didn’t have to do anything but act smug and self-satisfied.

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Much to my horror, my friends accepted the bet. As I took those first (giant) baby steps, my knees were shrieking at me to quit. My stress-eating instincts kicked into high gear. But the threat of losing more money each day kept me moving.

I researched ways to lessen my pain. I switched to a paleo diet, heavy in leafy greens and lean proteins and light in processed carbs. I stopped necking Oreo milkshakes and started sculling kale smoothies. I wrote about my weight, my exercise, my eating habits. I asked “Why?” when I didn’t want to exercise or when I reached for junk food.

Within a week, my knees were feeling better and the kilos were falling off me like so many drops of butt sweat.

Walking when you’re grossly overweight is tough, but worth it.

40kg down, the Fitbit bet has changed my life.

Each day we were not only racing to beat the bet, we were inadvertently pushing each other to take more and more steps. It was a war of Mutually Assured De-fattening.

When we synched our Fitbits on the first day, the winner clocked just over 8000 steps.

By the final day, the winner chalked up more than 26,000 steps in 24 hours.

Over the course of a month the four of us walked more than a million steps together — roughly 800km. I came in second, missing first by around 30,000 steps. Although I lost a total of $215 over the course of the month, I also started a journey that would lead to the loss of 40kg.

(LET’S STAY) PHYSICAL

It can be difficult to keep your motivation going in the long term. Some days you just want to sleep in a bit late, you know? After the bet, however, I found my drive to keep going in new places, both figuratively, as in the new-found confidence I felt, as well as literally.

Six months after the contest I sold off everything I owned (including the Fitbit) and moved to Guatemala to do some volunteer work. It’s hard not to keep walking when you’re surrounded by palm trees and volcanoes and open air markets teeming with fresh produce. Or when you fit into size 36 jeans after wearing size 44 for years. Or when someone flirts with you in public for the first time after a long dry spell. Shallow? Sure. But it felt good. Maybe I was more Californian than I originally realised.

I gained much more than I lost, including a new-found confidence.

Over the next four years, I kept moving more and eating less. My weight loss wasn’t linear. There were times when I put a few kilos back on here and there. But I paid attention to ingredients and cooked more. I met and fell in love with a beautiful and active Australian woman who kept me chasing her all the way across the globe to Tasmania. With her pushing me when I needed it, I started going to the gym more regularly.

In April 2018, a little over four years after the original contest ended, I ran 5km on a treadmill for the first time.

This year I’m making good on a resolution to cook 52 new dinners for my partner, most of which have been paleo, all of which have been pretty damn healthy and delicious. Check ’em out if you want some inspiration.

As I approach 40, I’ve been considering how I want to age. My father is advancing into late stage Parkinson’s and has drastically reduced mobility. For years, he often ate fast food two or three times a day and snacked on other highly processed foods. He also struggled with his weight and staying active. Though research hasn’t pinpointed exact causes of Parkinson’s, there is some evidence that genetic and environmental factors such as diet can contribute to the condition’s progress.

I’m now living in Tassie, after following a gorgeous woman half way around the world.

Regardless of whether I fade away in my sleep at 90, end up fighting Parkinson’s in my 60s, or get hit by a bus tomorrow, I want to feel good and strong in the meantime.

Though maybe the bus could wait another month or two. It’s cold and dark in Tassie at the moment and motivation is in short supply. All I’ve been wanting to do for the last week is eat pies and mash and sleep in next to my lovely warm partner for just … five … more … minutes.

Kevin is a guest on tonight’s episode of Insight at 8.30pm on SBS, which explores the best ways to get fit and healthy. He is an American immigrant living in Tasmania. He still has 22 dinners left to cook for his partner to meet his resolution.