7 chili in 7 giorni

Visto che in Italia i pomodori pachino alimentano la mafia ma almeno so' buoni e sani, mentre gli armadi frigoriferi australiani sono il trionfo del grasso saturo, la cangurotta s'è messa in testa di fare il dottor Birkermaier con tutta la contea. Qui si muore più per obesità che per tabagismo, il numero dei sovrappeso è raddoppiato in 20 anni e nel 2010 il governo ha stanziato 13 miliardi di dollari per vari capitoli di spesa, compreso l'acquisto di ambulanze più capienti. Dall'alto della mia inutile laurea in scienza della fuffa, la mia conoscenza della materia è la seguente: meglio i cereali delle uova strapazzate col bacon, meglio i cavolfiori lessi del fish and chips con la maionese, meglio lo yogurt bianco della pastiera, meglio l'olio extravergine d'oliva del burro salato danese e - nonostante i proclami della Ferrero - la Nutella non fa bene come un frullato di sedano. Invece la cangurotta, che non sapeva chi fossero Maradona, Totti e Martina Navratilova (se è per questo neanche Pelé e Senna, ma credo che a tutt'oggi fatichi a ricordarli, 'sti due) ma ha studiato health promotion per salvare il mondo, ha deciso di cominciare l'opera dalle conoscenze di primo grado e ha lanciato fra parenti, amici, colleghi e parrocchiani la seguente sfida. Il testo è laconico come i dispacci dell'Itar-Tass, ma giuro che è stato scritto alla velocità di 63 parole al minuto e con il 100% di precisione. Perché qualche qualità doveva avercela pure lei.

For those of you looking for the motivation to achieve that New Year’s resolution to eat healthier and exercise more, you are invited to join the “Healthy Lifestyle Change Challenge”. This is a 10 week competition that encourages you to improve your habits, motivating you to behave in healthier ways in your everyday life. There are four prizes to be won, two halfway through the competition at the five week mark and two Grand Prizes at the end of week 10. One prize will be given to the person who has done the most minutes of exercise and one to the person who has lost the most weight. The half-way winners will each receive a dinner voucher for two for the restaurant Eau De Vie in Chapel Street Prahran worth $113, and the Grand Prize winners will receive a luxury massage voucher to a Melbourne Spa worth $150. Entry into the competition costs just $3 per week and starts on Monday February 7th, ending in April. The challenge is strictly for fun and should any profit be made it will be donated to victims of the flood.

1. Record your actual start weight. When weighting yourself, always use the same set of scales as even if they are not completely accurate, they will always accurately show how much weight you’ve lost.

2. Weigh yourself at the same time, on the same day, every week

3. Record your goal weight (be realistic – 0.5kg loss each week is healthy).

4. Record your exercise goals (eg. Be able to run continuously for 30 minutes by 10 weeks, or average 30 minutes of exercise, 5 days a week).

5. Try to keep a food diary. A food diary is particularly helpful to show you how much you really do eat every day – you may be surprised!

6. You must record your daily exercise in minutes. All exercise minutes are equal, whether they come from running, walking, swimming, skipping etc. Housework is NOT considered exercise!

7. On Sunday night each week please email me your week’s weight loss and exercise diary.

8. To motivate everyone, at the end of every week I will provide a table showing how much each person has exercised and how much weight they’ve lost. I WON’T record actual weight!

p.s. I have attached the database that I will send to everyone every week, and a copy of a food and exercise diary that you may like to print out and use. It is not necessary to forward me your food diaries, it is good to keep track for your own sake. However, if you want me to look at your food diaries and analyze it and give you some advice, I am willing to do so.

E a me, ovviamente, me tocca.

p.s. quella della foto non è la cangurotta, ma una graziosa bagnante sulla spiaggia di Sudak, Ucraina.