LIVIN' LARGE: Minimizing yourself and maximizing your life!When you have over 100 pounds to lose it can seem impossible to get started in the right direction.
Seriously, though, a challenge of some sort sounds fun. Compliance/Adherence seems to fit the group here, but what happens if everyone, or several, achieve 100%? Perhaps some other tie-breaker? I'm not trying to criticize, I'm just tossing around ideas; maybe my lack of imagination will inspire someone to suggest something really cool.
__________________ The trick is in what one emphasizes. We either make ourselves miserable, or we make ourselves happy. The amount of work is the same. -- Carlos Castaneda
Well, I plan on providing something to everyone who participates. Honestly, I am not good at this sort of thing but I wanted to get some feedback and get something started by 1 June.
Newman
__________________
"Branch chainz, bro. Leucine in the sky with diamonds." - Alan Aragon
I have participated in the last several runners challenges and knowing you need to meet a set goal has seemed to help alot of folks get in their miles. I am currently refocusing on weight/fat loss and would love to join in on something of that nature.
__________________ -50# by 4/1/10 2 down 48 to go.
Agreed, compliance is a good way to do things. The 52dc is really all about goals and compliance. I know they helped me a tonne back in the day. Allowed me to focus and have a very measurable goal.
As for prizes. Really I don't think these sorts of challenges are really about prizes, they are about pride and doing something good for yourself.
Just my 2 cents.
Og.
__________________ 2009: No races, No times. Slow year. So, now you're 96 cals short. You're now in starvation mode. Doomed. - LostDog
Blog entry: November 1, 2009, Pancakes LiveSTRONG daily plate log
Agreed, compliance is a good way to do things. The 52dc is really all about goals and compliance. I know they helped me a tonne back in the day. Allowed me to focus and have a very measurable goal.
As for prizes. Really I don't think these sorts of challenges are really about prizes, they are about pride and doing something good for yourself.
Just my 2 cents.
Og.
I agree that prizes aren't necessary. The prize is the reward you get from meeting your goals!
You're right, prizes aren't necessary, but they can be fun. I am typing this on my pda so bear with me.
Summer is most notably baseball season. Regardless of what teams you cheer for a notable moment in baseball history occurred in 1961 when Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle competed to break Babe Ruth's record of 60 Home Runs. Maris succeeded with 61. The goal was known as 61 in '61. In essence what Maris and Mantle were trying to achieve was a PR (Personal Record). The competition between Maris and Mantle was one of friendship. A large amount of comraderie is referenced in history books between the two. They even became known as the M&M boys. Also interesting to consider is that Mantle was inducted into the Hall of Fame on his first time of eligibility. To this day, Maris has not been inducted.
Whether publicly recognized or not records should be achieved for yourself.
I submit to you the Challenge: 61 Days from June 1 to Aug 1.
Determined and others at the MH forum created what was known as the 52 day challenge. Participants were encouraged by Quotes of the Day, frequent check ins on progress, and a strong spirit of accountability, teamwork, and accomplishment. Everyone does their best to not only achieve their goals but spur the others on toward theirs. I would like to pay homage to those who created a great program by reproducing it in part here with credit given to them, of course, for the idea.
To that end, I have asked Kyle to gather and present the rules, etc for the 52 day challenge. I would like to expand it to 61 days and encourage increased participation with a 3 strike philosophy. please review the material and make suggestions for how we might better improve the challenge.
All participants who last at least 33 days [61%] will receive a JPF shirt.
In the original 52DC only a handfull completed the challenge. We can do better! Lets make this happen and have fun.
Thank you to Determined and others for creating a great template for us to model.
Newman
__________________
"Branch chainz, bro. Leucine in the sky with diamonds." - Alan Aragon
Ok, so James has brought up the general format and covered the motivation aspect. Time to start discussing specifics. I am going to present the rules of the 52DC that we are looking to borrow and modify. These are not absolutes and are very much open to input and discussion. This is our challenge, we should fit it to our needs so if you any ideas please share them.
For those of you that frequent or used to frequent the mens health board you are most likely familiar with the challenge. The way it works is every person sets their own goals when they signup and simply works to reach their own goals. This isn't a "Biggest Loser" style competition where there is only one criteria (ie. weight loss) because overall those style competitions aren't really fair unless every person starts off at the same point and we all know that that isn't the case. Some of us have a lot of fat to lose, while others are nearing their goal, or even looking to add muscle. I would also like to add that this isn't just for people that are "Living Large" I want this to be open to anyone at JPs regardless of goals, the more people participating the greater the competition.
In the 52DC at the end of the time they rank people based on how close they came to their goals and award medals, ie anyone over 95% success gets a gold etc. That is a good system and I would like to continue it however I also want to have a hard number ranking, 1st, 2nd, 3rd and a few people have mentioned putting up prizes. Of course everyone who participates and works hard to reach their goals is a winner for putting the effort but for those of us that are highly competitive I think a ranking system will provide that extra motivation to stay true to the goals. The beauty of this setup is if you don't care about being first you can still participate and strive to hit your own personal goals.
Also there will be check-ins, most likely weekly but we can make them 2x a week or something else if people think it would be better. At the check-ins you have to list your progress towards your goals. Someone will be designated to keep track of all progress and we can give weekly standings if people want them. Also regarding the check-ins, if they are weekly for example we will have them every Monday. There will be a 1-1.5 day check-in window, meaning that if check-in is monday you have till Tuesday at noon to post your progress. If you fail to check-in you are given 1 strike, just like baseball, 3 strikes and you are out. This means you are no longer qualified to win a prize or be ranked. However this does not mean you cannot continue to post your stats and have them tracked. I will continue to track your progress and will still provide your final results at the end of the challenge.
Goals: This is where I feel we could use input from everyone. The 52DC used the format of Clean Eating days, number of workouts, number of cardio sessions, and a personal goal. These are good goals to set but I think other then the clean eating and workouts others should be optional. However I think we should set a hard number of goals per person (ex. each person has to make 5 goals). In regards to the clean eating they have it setup in 1/2 day blocks, that way if you mess up for 1 meal that doesn't negate your entire day. I am sure everyone knows the feeling of, "Well, I messed up, in for a penny in for a pound." I would like to avoid that at all costs. some other possible goals are weight loss, fat loss, BF% change. If you have other ideas please share them. We will also need to come up with some form of scoring system, possibly some form of weighted percentages. (ie. .5 point for every pound lost, 1 point for lb of fat lost etc.)
So these are the general format and rules of the competition, like I said it is all open to discussion but please discuss now, we want this underway by June 1st so we need to get the details finalized and set up by then.
Also if you are willing to help setup and run the competition all help is appreciated
__________________ Beginning is Easy - Continuing is Hard
猿も木から落ちる Even monkeys fall from trees
- Japanese Proverb
Paula... I am glad you are intrested. The great thing about the Challenge is that everyone succeeds who tries.
Newman
This is very true, back in the day the 52DC were a huge part of my success.
Og.
__________________ 2009: No races, No times. Slow year. So, now you're 96 cals short. You're now in starvation mode. Doomed. - LostDog
Blog entry: November 1, 2009, Pancakes LiveSTRONG daily plate log
hmmmm while the idea of points for pounds is interesting. It doesn't account for the person whose goal may be to gain or the person (like me) who is losing inches/cm but isn't losing a lot of weight. Just a thought
That is part of the beauty of setting your own goals. Also, we can craft the challange with all kinds of things into consideration. That will definitely be added to the list. If you are losing inches or cm then it is a reasonable bet your bf% is changing too and could be included there. I am new to the challenge world. LOL. Thanks for the idea.. got any more??
Newman
__________________
"Branch chainz, bro. Leucine in the sky with diamonds." - Alan Aragon
Oh I'm sure my BF% is changing too.... but all I have access to is an impedence scale at my boyfriend's so I don't take that BF measurment too seriously. THe tape measure gives me the best results
Just like James said, the beauty of the challenge is you set your own goals. Also like I mentioned above, the available goals is up in the air right now, till everyone has put in their two cents on what they want to see. If your goal is to add muscle or change your BF then of course points will be awarded for that, I was just using those as examples above. These are the things we need to iron out before we officially start. I didn't mention above but I am sure everyone understands that this is all on the honour system. When you report your progress only you know if you are being truthful. If you are lying the only person you are hurting is yourself.
__________________ Beginning is Easy - Continuing is Hard
猿も木から落ちる Even monkeys fall from trees
- Japanese Proverb
As for a prize, how about a mahlership for next year's summit? I say mahlership not because of mahler specifically, but because of what this phrase now represents. For this challenge, I would donate the ticket myself, but still call it a mahlership.
As for a prize, how about a mahlership for next year's summit? I say mahlership not because of mahler specifically, but because of what this phrase now represents. For this challenge, I would donate the ticket myself, but still call it a mahlership.
I love this idea, JP. I would also donate mine if I somehow managed to be on the top o' the pile.
Tina
***I ALSO like the idea of free t-shirts. I am reluctantly tossing my worn-out race tees and have no desire to earn any more at this point in time. I'm also a sucker for pens and squeezy stress ball things (which are the stock-in-trade for the pharmaceutical reps, cheap bastids ).
Since this is all on the honor system, I think adding in prizes of to much value has the potential to cause people to cheat. If we set up some kind of mahlership, we might also want to set up some kind of Before/after pic as well.
Just a thought.
I think nutrition and workout are good ideas. I have always liked something along the lines of a non fitness oriented goal as well. I like measurement, I don't life BF (to subjective depending on what you measure with). Scale is ok. Scale combined with measurements is better.
__________________ 2009: No races, No times. Slow year. So, now you're 96 cals short. You're now in starvation mode. Doomed. - LostDog
Blog entry: November 1, 2009, Pancakes LiveSTRONG daily plate log
Since this is all on the honor system, I think adding in prizes of to much value has the potential to cause people to cheat. If we set up some kind of mahlership, we might also want to set up some kind of Before/after pic as well.
Just a thought.
I think nutrition and workout are good ideas. I have always liked something along the lines of a non fitness oriented goal as well. I like measurement, I don't life BF (to subjective depending on what you measure with). Scale is ok. Scale combined with measurements is better.
That is very true about the BF being variable. The only option I can think of if people really do want to use BF as a criteria would be to set a specific formula up (based on measurements) and everyone uses the same one, it might not be your exact BF but if everyone sets up a baseline value at the beginning with the formula then at least the change is consistent.
I also agree about the prizes being too valuable and possibly leading to cheating. That isn't to say we can't use those prizes because that is very generous of JP to setup but we definately need to put some major consideration into everything when defining all the parameters of the challenge.
__________________ Beginning is Easy - Continuing is Hard
猿も木から落ちる Even monkeys fall from trees
- Japanese Proverb
Just my .02 worth. I think that this is a great idea. Like some of the others here, I have participated in some of the MH 52DC and have benefited from them. I especially liked the accountabililty factor. I'm not sure how much I can add to the details of the challenge. I do agree that pounds lost is probably not a good standard to use. I like the idea of the before/after photos and body measurements. Once we iron out the details - count me in!
By way of introduction (since I have done more lurking here than posting), I am 40 yrs old. 5' 10" and currently 341 Lbs. I live in Columbus, OH with my wife of 19 yrs and my 2 kids. I am the computer helpdesk for a county agency.
Yes, Before and After pics are important as are circumferencial measurements. I think they should certainly be part of the process. Og, nothing wrong with helping make this as good as we can. As far as cheating goes. If someone is going to cheat at this, they are going to cheat. As the grand prize will likely be the Mahlership, and thus attendance at the summit; I consider it an investment in the total person. If they do so by cheating, I am prepared to live with that.
Newman
__________________
"Branch chainz, bro. Leucine in the sky with diamonds." - Alan Aragon
As for a prize, how about a mahlership for next year's summit? I say mahlership not because of mahler specifically, but because of what this phrase now represents. For this challenge, I would donate the ticket myself, but still call it a mahlership.
Wow JP, that is quite an offer, I might just gain some extra chub to lose it for that!
How about a Challenge?
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