Join the Pound for Pound Challenge to Support Your Local Food Bank (Plus Enter to win $30 Kroger Gift cards!)

Disclosure: Kroger Family of Stores gift card, information, and giveaway were all provided by the Kroger Family of Stores and General Mills through MyBlogSpark. The opinions stated herein are 100% my own.

Do you watch The Biggest Loser? I love how committed the contestants are to losing weight, not only for the money, but also for their own well-being. I probably don't need to cite statistics here to back up the assertion that a lot of Americans are overweight. I also probably don't need to tell you that many Americans are hungry and rely on their local food pantries to get them the food they desperately need to survive. But what can you do to help?

If you are carrying a few extra pounds, pledge to lose them! The Kroger family* of stores is the official sponsor of The Biggest Loser Ranch and they want to help you meet your weight loss goals (and feed the hungry!) They are partnered with Feeding America and for every pound that you pledge to lose through June 30, 2010, they will donate 14 cents to your local Feeding America food bank (that's equal to one pound of food!)

If you've seen The Biggest Loser, than you've likely seen some General Mills products being consumed by the contestants... such as Yoplait's Greek Yogurt, Multigrain Cheerios, Total and others.  You can get these products featured on The Biggest Loser right in your local Kroger store.  Don't think that you can't do it just because you aren't living on The Biggest Loser Ranch.  You can!  Making healthy lifestyle changes (under your doctor's care, of course) can help you meet your weight loss goals.  Avoid the donut trap and have some General Mills Multigrain Cheerios instead.

It is easy to sign up, just go to the Pound for Pound challenge site and click on the pledge button.  From there, type in your date of birth, zip code and the number of pounds you pledge to lose.  Your zip code is used to locate the nearest Feeding America food bank that serves the community that you live in.  You can even change the food bank selected, which is good if you want to pledge for a food bank that serves a friend (particularly if you know that it will directly benefit them). You also have the option of entering more personal information if you wish. They even have sharing tools so that you can share your Pound for Pound  pledge with your friends on Facebook and hopefully inspire them to take the Pound for Pound pledge too! 

Who's with me?  I pledged 13 pounds.  I surely could stand to lose it!  I actually weigh a few pounds less than I did in high school (oh so long ago!), but I still have some extra padding that I could lose.  Diabetes runs in both of my parents' family, so I have been instructed by various doctors to keep those pounds at bay to hopefully avoid presenting with diabetes in the future.

********************   WIN $30 IN KROGER GIFT CARDS *********************

You can win $30 worth of Kroger gift cards to help you get started on your weight loss journey by helping you buy some Multigrain Cheerios or Yoplait Greek Yogurt or any of the other General Mills food products featured on The Biggest Loser.

1.  Mandatory entry:   Leave me a comment to tell me how many pounds that you pledged at the Pound for Pound Challenge site OR leave me a comment to tell me how you plan to spread the word?  Are you going to tweet about the challenge, share with your friends on Facebook or use their invite-a-friend option?  Please include your email address in your comment somewhere.

2.  Optional entries (must leave a separate comment for each):

• Follow me on Twitter
• Like the Pound for Pound Challenge's Facebook Page
• Follow me on Google Friend Connect (right side bar)
• Subscribe to my Blog (middle side bar, on top!)
• Tweet this giveaway and include @PinchingAbe in your tweet.  You can tweet for one entry once per day (24 hours apart).

3.  Winner will be drawn from entries received up until June 17, 2010 at 11:59 PM Eastern time. I will use Random.org to select a winner on June 18.  Winner will have two days to respond or I will need to select another winner.  Prize fulfillment will be done via MyBlogSpark.

4.  This giveaway is limited to US residents only who are over the age of 18.

If you have any questions, please contact me!  Good luck to all.

Other sites running this same giveaway!  Want to increase your chances of winning?  Check out these blogs that are also giving away a $30 Kroger card to promote the Pound for Pound Challenge:

• Amudsen House of Chaos:  Biggest Loser and Feeding America Challenge (giveaway)

• Mom's Mutterings:   Kroger's Pound for Pound Challenge.  Win a Kroger Gift card!

• Shelly's Bits and Pieces:  Kroger Family of Stores Pound for Pound Challenge and Giveaway

Disclosure: Kroger Family of Stores gift card, information, and giveaway were all provided by the Kroger Family of Stores and General Mills through MyBlogSpark. The opinions stated herein are 100% my own.

*The Kroger Family of Stores includes Kroger, Fred Meyer, Ralph´s, King Soopers, City Market, Dillon's, Smith´s, Fry´s, QFC, Baker´s, Owen´s, Jay C Food Stores, Hilander, Gerbes, Food4Less, Pay Less Super Markets and Scott´s Food & Pharmacy.