2 Brothers Win Weight Loss Bet, Earning Them $150,000
Usually in the case of dares and bets, the act suggested is something that can be completed immediately or is trivial enough to take up only a few minutes’ time.
We grow up with these kinds of dares, and enjoy seeing people pit themselves against each other to propose a dare, and then watching an individual contradict themselves in some fashion in order to deliver on the dare.
Bets are nothing new to Jaime Staples, a well-known poker player from Canada. He was used to risk, public appearances and facing opponents, but this year he won a bet that took him an entire year to accomplish.
Last March, businessman and amateur poker player Bill Perkins issued a challenge to Jaime that also involved Jaime’s brother, Matt. The prop bet was for the two brothers to reach the same weight in a year.
The prize would be $150,000 if the two could manage it. But with Jaime being 300+ pounds and Matt weighing a mere 134, the task seemed almost impossible.
Jaime considered, but he accepted (and apparently his brother did, too). The past year has been spent rigorously exercising and watching calorie intake.
“It’s not as if overweight people, such as my former self, don’t have discipline, or don’t know that it is 80% diet 20% exercise, or that pizza has a lot of calories,” Jaime said.
“I think what’s needed for people like us, is gaining a skill set to turn that knowledge into consistent action. That takes confidence and support and practice,” he added.
Those of us who have tried to lose weight or make healthier choices in our diets know how challenging it can be. A few days of healthy eating is manageable, but consistently cutting out our favorite snacks or drinks and sticking to it can be ultimately depressing.
And no matter how much you exercise, if you don’t also change your eating habits, you might as well not be trying at all.
But consistent weight loss isn’t about fad diets or starving or running marathons. It’s about gradually making more healthy choices and making lifestyle changes instead of snap decisions.
“I can fit in a slice of pizza, but that means a brutal boring and tough day the rest of the day,” Jaime admitted. “So that’s something I did once (in NYC).”
“But the freedom is there to choose the volume you want to eat. Super full is super clean food; the hungrier you want to be, the more junk you can eat. I found that eating clean but being full, feels better almost all the time.”
After a year of hard work on the part of both brothers, the weigh-in in Nevada on March 25 revealed that the brothers had met their goal. They weighed exactly 188.3 pounds.
They had to meet in the middle to execute their goal: Jaime lost over 117 pounds and Matt gained around 54.
“I feel better than I used to feel even on my worst days,” said Jaime. “I have earned more respect than I used to have in the poker world. People speak to me differently and give me more of a chance, which is cool. I am more confident in myself and what I am doing. Life is a lot more fun.”
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