It's not easy being healthy. Add covering late-night school board meetings, never being home and sometimes working out of your car, and it's even harder.

Over the past several months, Montville Patch Editor Nate Adams and I have noticed that not a day goes by that we don't regret eating something terribly unhealthy, simply because it's convenient.

We want to change that.

We've decided that in an effort to motivate each other to be the healthiest Patch editors, and people, that we can be, we will enter into a friendly competition to see who can lose the most weight in 30 days.

But we need your help! No one knows how to lose weight in our communities like the people who are already doing it. We will be relying heavily on the resources near us to help us in this challenge. We will be shopping for healthy food at our local stores, exercising in local gyms and parks and seeking advice from local doctors and nutritionists about the best practices for weight loss. Each week, we will document our experiences  in a new weekly column, Battle of the Bulge, that will run on Tuesdays.

Next Thursday (weather permitting) we will be inviting the community to go for a healthy hike with us at Pyramid Mountain, which borders Kinnelon and Montville. 

Each week, we will weigh in and record the percentage of body weight lost by each editor. The final weigh-in will be held on April 15, at which point one winner will be crowned and the losing Patch editor will have to host a breakfast in their respective community.

Feel free to start your own weight loss challenge today also so you can share advice and tips with us!