Today Mayor Rob Ford and his brother councilor Doug Ford took their first step towards improving their health in a very public way weighing in front of Toronto’s media.

Mayor Ford weighed in at 330lbs and his brother at 275lbs. After a family vacation in December the two brothers decided they wanted to live longer and healthier lives by losing weight.

You are twice as likely to die prematurely if you are 40% overweight because being overweight puts you at risk for many obesity related health conditions such as heart disease and stroke, cancer, and osteoarthritis and many others. It also impacts your life in many ways beyond the scale. Weight bias in society is prevalent in the workforce. It effects your social interactions and they way you live your life. In adolescence, children often feel excluded or get bullied and made fun of if they are overweight.

In his attempt to make a healthy lifestyle change, Mayor Ford has decided to encourage the residents of Toronto to join the challenge and share individual progress successes. You can also pledge an amount to go to the charity of your choice for every pound that the mayor loses.

You can find details about the challenge at cutthewaist.ca