Day 11 -- Lose For Good

Weight Watchers (WW) is the program I follow in which I lost 25 pounds. I attend meetings and have been maintaining that weight loss for six months. WW sponsors an annual "Lose For Good" Campaign which has the double meaning of keeping weight off for life ("for good") and losing weight to help a cause ("for good"). It's taking care of yourself while taking care of the neighborhood.

Last year was the inaugural campaign. WW donated money (based on the collective weight loss of members) to two charities dedicated to fighting hunger. FOUR MILLION POUNDS were collectively shed by WW members in a SIX-WEEK PERIOD! Wow, that's a lot of fat! WW then donated $1 million to "Share our Strength" and "Action Against Hunger". The money helped feed and save the lives of 6,000 children.

On the local level, WW established over 2,000 local food drives around the country and asked members to contribute canned goods. In that six-week period, WW members collected and donated 1.5 million pounds of food! The "Lose For Good" concept was/is to contribute the amount of pounds in canned goods that you have lost. (Of course, more can be donated!). Last year I donated 20 pounds of food and this year it's 25. We collect it in big barrels at our WW center and donate it to the Westside Food Bank in Culver City, California which is literally down the street from our WW center.

I love doing this. My personal connection to this is that I chose foods and brands to donate that I eat myself. For charity food drives in the past, I have been wont to donate foods I don't like or purchase what's on sale or shop in the "dented cans" aisle. With "Lose For Good" I only wanted to contribute good, healthy food, that I eat as well: :albacore tuna, peanut butter, fat-free chili and soups, whole wheat pasta and brown rice, canned tomatoes, pineapple, green beans and vegetarian baked beans.

Last year, my particular WW group was at or near the top of the individual group's contribution of food. We were featured in the local paper, so my leader is determined to increase our contribution this year. The motto is "One More Pound"...of weight lost and one more pound of food contributed.

Our group has also been invited to the Westside Food Bank after the end of the campaign to help sort and box food for families. To see where our contributions went and how they are distributed which will be satisfying to experience.

Why not Google your local food bank and see what you can contribute. Food drives often happen around the holidays, but hunger is a year-round problem! It was estimated that there are 1.1 million UNDERFED people in the world as well as 1.1 billion OVERWEIGHT people. Donating good, nutritious food (especially protein) to your local food bank helps with both issues:

"Together we'll lose and together we'll gain
Together we'll make the world a healthier and more balanced place."

That's NICE.