Droptober - Dare to Drop and Go

Droptober 2011 is a concept that is currently being publicised in Sydney, http://www.droptober.com.au/. The idea is that participants sign up to loose 2Kg in October and to simultaneously raise money for a children’s charity. The initiative is following along in the well known footsteps of Dry July or Movember where participants give up alcohol or grow a moustache for a month – neither of which appeal to me, the latter for the obvious reason that like most women I spend time trying to discourage facial hair growth rather than grooming it into Poirot type handlebars.

The thought behind Droptober is that 2kg is an achievable goal for most people and it often represents the kind of cushion round the middle, cuddly creep that ambushes our figures on an annual basis. Australia is apparently at the top end of the obesity per capita scale – which surprises me as it’s not an obvious issue in the suburb we live in which actually seems to be populated by keep fit racing snakes based on the amount of gym gear and kayaks strapped to the top of cars that you see around. Obesity wasn’t a predominant theme in the American suburb we lived in either – but that is actually probably more related to the fact that obesity has strong links to income levels rather than an accurate assessment of either country’s weight problems.

Monash University in Melbourne put out some facts and figures about Australian obesity in July http://www.modi.monash.edu.au/obesity-facts-figures/obesity-in-australia/ that point out, amongst other chilling statistics that should have us all tightening our belts, that if we go on as we are, by 2020 80% of all Australian adults and a third of children will be overweight or obese, and that obesity has overtaken smoking in being the leading cause of premature death and illness.

I really like the 2kg idea – as it mimics how you gain weight – no one ever wakes up 10 kg heavier than the day before – or at least the day I do, you’ll hear the screams on a global level. It’s the daily creep that gets you and that I ignore as beneath my notice and so having a month where I say to myself, ‘Okay let’s loose that accumulated creep for the year’, strikes me as a good idea. However I should paint an accurate picture here, such is my twisted psyche that I am immediately thinking to myself, well I might as well devour that chocolate now as it’s still September and then it will be easy to loose it in October, so am not completely convinced it’s going to lead to a whole new healthy way of life.

The other key caveat is that there’s no way I am going public with starting and finishing weight – and I’m not starting some ‘Think of a number’ -(and then double it) competition either - but I will give Droptober a very good go and see if I can do my bit towards maintaining a healthy weight and lowering the national average kilo count.