52-52-52 Challenge

June 1, 2011 - June 1, 2012

Amanda at The Zen Leaf is combingin books and weight loss in her 52-52-52 Challenge. She writes:

Most of you already know that my primary focus this year has been on health, fitness, and weight loss. So far I’ve lost almost 25 lbs since January 1st, and almost 40 lbs total since I started this journey. I still have a long way to go, but I feel great about what I’m doing and I know there are other book bloggers out there who want to do the same thing. That’s why I’ve decided to make a combination books-and-weight-loss challenge.

The goal of the challenge is simple. It will go from June 1st, 2011 to June 1st, 2012 – 52 weeks. In those 52 weeks, challenge participants will try to 1) read one book each week and 2) lose one pound a week. If all goes well, a year’s challenge will lead to 52 books read and 52 pounds lost in 52 weeks. It’s that simple!

Five important notes on the challenge:

1. You don’t have to be a book blogger to join, or even a blogger at all. This challenge is open to anyone.
   
2. Many book bloggers naturally read well over 52 books every year. You can always choose to challenge yourself to read two books a week, or three, or whatever works for your level. Make the challenge work for you!
   
3. If you don’t have 52 pounds to lose, then you are free to adjust the challenge to work with your health needs. If you need to lose 10 or 20 pounds, great! Go for that! If you don’t need to lose weight at all and instead want to work for a specific health and fitness goal, that’s fine too! The main point of the goal is to help us all get healthier.
4. If you don’t lose a pound one week, that doesn’t mean you’ve failed the challenge or should give up! Even if you don’t lose as quickly, you can still lose. If, at the end of the challenge, you’ve lost 10 pounds instead of 52, you’ve still done something wonderful for your body. The pound-per-week is just something to try for, not a do-it-or-fail clause in this challenge.
5. You may join the challenge at any time. Of course, if you join next March, you can’t expect to lose 52 pounds by June 1st. The focus is instead on one book and one pound per week for the duration of the challenge.

Amanda will be trying to post something every 1-2 weeks with health and fitness information, motivation, tips, etc. Participants are encouraged to suggest topics as well. Once a month or so, Amanda hopes to put up a discussion question or topic that participants can write about on their own blogs and link back to (like the blog hops or Weekly Geeks).

Learn more and join the challenge by visiting the introductory post.