Gain HP: A role playing fitness adventure

A few months ago, I wrote about a recent health problem and my thoughts thus far on the gym. Since then, I’ve continued going to the gym regularly, but over the last 2 months I’ve started to slack off from a more intense workout and diet that I should really be sticking to. I’ve gotten a lot stronger, gotten my blood pressure and resting pulse under something resembling control, and I generally feel better about myself. The problem is, I haven’t lost any weight. My friends remind me that muscle weighs more than fat, and I know that I’ve gained a lot of muscle mass, so I’m not too torn up about it, but I’m really, really ready to lose 30 pounds. 

Which brings me to the title of this post. My friend Madhatter, a nerdcore record label owner and all-around cool dude, is about to kick off a new “fitness adventure” that is, undeniably, the nerdiest way to lose weight. Similar to Dungeons and Dragons, each “player” creates their character based on their fitness goals. For example, Warrior classes focus on exercise, Bards focus on rest and a healthy lifestyle, Monks focus on strict diets, and Shamans focus on supplements and other pills/herbals. From there, you earn experience points for every pound you lose, every time you check your blood pressure, etc.  And when you have a craving for an unhealthy snack or meal, or if you want to go out drinking some night, you roll a D20 for a saving roll. Lastly, we’re all going to “weigh in” every Sunday, send photo proofs and updated stats, etc. to the Game Master (Madhatter), and every 1,000 exp points gets us a Level Up. The game will run three months, and the highest level characters win prize packs, etc.  

I’m not really counting on winning, since I’m only shooting for 30 pounds and I’m pretty sure that some people are hoping to lose a lot more than that, but I’m really excited to kick things off and throw myself into this. I don’t have a problem motivating myself to go to the gym every day, but I do usually have a problem pushing myself past what I’m comfortable with when I’m there. But now that I’m working for experience points, and doing it with a bunch of other cool nerdcore fans (and quite a few of the label’s artists, too!) I really think I can finally make this change happen.

So there’s that, friends. I’ll probably use this blog to chronicle my journey so that I can look back on what I did right/wrong. I haven’t been writing here very often, anyhow, so it couldn’t hurt. So sorry for you, dear readers, because you’re probably going to have to bear witness to some not-so-pretty progress pictures. For now, though, here’s my sign-up “before” mugshot, in all its double-chinned glory. 

My name is Dustin, and I’m a 210lb level 1 male Warrior.