The Game On! Diet, by Krista Vernoff

So I've gotten lazy over the past, oh, couple years or so. And after I started grad school, it only got worse, what with the hour-long drives to and from school, and the insane amount of reading and homework and work-work, and when I had time to do anything I would usually spend it napping. In February, when I realized I had gotten (for me, anyway) super fat, I at least cut out the Oreos and most of the pizza from my diet and lost that weight again, but recently I decided that exercise is probably important, too. But problem — I am simply not motivated to exercise by myself. Like, at all. I need to have a friend to exercise with, or I'm just not gonna go.

And then second problem — I up and moved 900 miles away from all my friends! Well, except my husband, of course. Hi handsome! So I was like, "Craaaaaaap." But then! The internets told me about this book, and I am pretty much a sucker for anything that sounds like a competition. I am really competitive, if I think I can win. (I am not competitive in chess, or first-person shooters.)

The proverbial lightbulb went off over my head, all blinky from years of disuse, and I called up my Spoon (read: best friend) and said, "Dude. I am going to kick your ass in this dieting game and you're going to like it." She said, "Let me read that book. -reads- No, see, it says right here that I am going to kick your ass. GAME ON."

I think she might win, because she eats small children (who are very good for you, if you are an AMORAL CHEATERFACE) for breakfast, but I do have a fighting chance and an unreasonable love for rules. Rules are the backbone of this game — there are rules on when and what you should eat, how often you should exercise, how much sleep you should get, how much water you should drink, etc., but they are all super-easy and are things you should be doing anyway, so it's like it's not even a challenge! And you get POINTS for things, and they only way this could be better is if it were STICKERS, and omg I think I need to go buy some stickers and why didn't I think of this before?!

Oh, and the book is a fun read, too.

We've been at this diet about a week, and it's pretty sweet. I highly recommend it if for nothing else than a reason to get off your butt for 20 minutes a day. Spoon and I and my hubs are doing it one-on-one-on-one, but it's really meant to be played in teams, so you should find a big group of competitive people and then kick all their butts. It's a real self-esteem boost.

And if you want to read about the exploits of my spoon and me (the hubs is not a blogger), you can go to our little blog and be amused. Or horrified. Or both.

Rating: 8/10
(A to Z Challenge)

See also:
She Is Too Fond Of Books

Pass me yours, if you've got 'em.