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Ten pounds in 10 weeks.

That was the goal of the Get Healthy Guilford Challenge.

When it ended in April, staff writers Joe Killian (who made the goal) and Amanda Lehmert (who barely missed it) decided to take on another challenge, something much harder.

To keep going.

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From Amanda:

I am going to be fat forever.

That is how I felt the other night as I was slurping chocolate ice cream off a plastic spoon.

It's also what I said to Joe, who sat across from me, nibbling on a Lean Cuisine frozen dinner.

He paused and considered this.

"Are you serious?"

I didn't respond.

"Do I get a vote?"

Well, no. Not unless he plans to hold me captive and start feeding me intravenously, which is about what it would take to make me totally give up chocolate.

I admire his resolve. And his 11-pound weight loss.

But he can't have enough will for both of us. He can, however, lean on me to stay committed.

It might be what makes me snap out of this I-can't-lose-another-pound funk and get on with our next goal — 10 more weeks of consistent weight loss.

The Journal of the American Medical Association reported earlier this year that people are more likely to keep the pounds off if they have regular contact with a weight-loss professional.

Now, Joe's no nutritionist, but I am guessing his help and support would have a similar effect.

It's hard to let yourself slip when someone is watching your back.

I only hope I can help him, too.

I promise to start by washing the chocolate ice cream down the drain.

Contact Amanda Lehmert at 373-7075 or amanda.lehmert@news-record.com.

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from Joe:

Last weekend my aunt moved into a new house — an adorable little cottage-style place into which we lifted enough heavy furniture to kill a team of Clydesdales.

But as we moved bureaus, chests of drawers and armoires, I noticed something strange: It wasn't killing me.

When I moved into my old place — when I was 12 pounds heavier — I wheezed and strained the whole way before finally dissolving near-comatose into a mass of jiggling fat in my own flopsweat.

After this move I had some water, got a shower and went to a movie.

Somehow, I made the transition from "Oh, God — do I really have to walk all the way over to the phone to order Chinese?" to "Moving? Sure, I'll get the heavy stuff."

I'm not a bodybuilder just yet, which is fine by me, as I don't have to wax my chest. But I am looking better, feeling better and sleeping better.

And I owe that to the Get Healthy Guilford Challenge, a little exercise, a lot of vegetables and a much-needed consciousness-raising.

Thinking about how I eat and how much I move, how my body works and why, has allowed me to stop having to think about it. Or at least have deeper, more productive thoughts about it than: "Why do my back and knees hurt so much? Maybe a cheeseburger will help."

Contact Joe Killian at 883-4422, Ext. 228, or joe.killian@news-record.com.