Sorry Greg Mankiw, EclectEcon and Environmental Econ Guys...

But I beat my goal, so $100 will not be going to the sources of your choice. Results under the cut:

My goal:

This is the week of truth. For the seven days between May 1 and May 7, I need to have an average body fat percentage of under 18.23%. If I fail, I must pay $100 each to the source of choice as chosen by the following three economics blogs:
• Environmental Economics
• Greg Mankiw
• Eclectecon

Details about why I am doing this and the method I am using are here: My Experiment in Economic Incentives Begins Today.

For the May 1 and May 7 period my average weight was 176.5 lbs and my average body fat percentage was 17.84% - a reduction of 1.39 percentage points, more than the 1 percent reduction I was aiming for.

It has not been too difficult so far - I have just been being sensible about what I eat (and how much) and trying to exercise more. I do have a couple concerns, though - my progress has stalled over the last couple of weeks (most of my "gains" were made before the 20th of the month) and I am not gaining any muscle mass, which was part of my goal. I will have to see what I can do to tackle both problems.

I appreciate all three blogs mentioned above for helping me with this. Because of that, I will be making a smaller donation to the charity/organization of their choice.

My new goal is that for the seven days between May 1 and May 7, I need to have an average body fat percentage of under 16.84%. Wish me luck!