Feedback Please!
Replies
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StayFITTer wrote: »@cinebibliophile
The prompts are super helpful (for me). And drives those who are competitive and/or desire to be a good team player. I can’t stand chatting all the time, but I will try to give you what you need (which are my points).
You are free post up your miles no later than Saturday—however the “motivation” is that you are on a team and as a team player you want to do what it takes to get your team across the finish line and not horde points that can help get them there.
You don’t have to post every day, but strategically in away that honors your personal rhythm and not hold up the team from making progress. Therefore posting by Monday/early in the week at least your exercise minutes is most helpful to the team.
In the beginning, I didn’t get it either and use to post my points on Friday all the time. That was “technically” fine and keeps you in good standing. But—the goal is to reach the goal (ie breaking the ribbon) as quick as possible and that’ll only work if everybody works.
Sorry about the other glitches you’ve experience, but congrats on completing your first 5% challenge.
When asking questions, Be sure to tag a leader (multiple if possible) anytime you have a question because if you have an active thread, things can get lost in the shuffle. I’ve even requested that they tag me in return so I don’t miss important stuff. Or better yet, message them directly—it feels really personal, connected and you’ve got a “paper trail”.
@StayFITTer - Thank you for your answer to @cinebibliophile! Your answers were spot on. I echo the sentiment - thank you for sticking with it and CONGRATS on completing your FIRST 5% Challnege!!2 -
deskjockey925 wrote: »I liked walking more than flying. I know it takes a great deal of time to investigate, gather info, and publish the details of each challenge. And while it is interesting hearing about new places around the world, I would rather all the volunteer time spent be directed toward the LTGL Challenges themselves, rather than the locations.
I typically have created a weekly Step Tracking challenge on the Slimpossible Team, that aligned with the weekly destinations. Since we may be walking, and not flying in future rounds, I will be giving some thought on how to best modify that for the team and better align with our Race theme.
I love the Protein LTGL.
I also like the Meet Your Cheerleaders at the start of the round to pull the team into the Chat and have them get to know the team. It's a good time to communicate with everyone and starts the round off well.
I like Measurements - Too often I am stuck in a yoyo loop on my scale, but the measurements this time around were a real positive for me, even though the scale was not a huge loss.
For Intentional Eating, I thought it was a good challenge, but tough. I do log my food daily, I even pre-log to work at hitting the right CICO and Macros, and I did not get my ten points every day, but I tried.
Suggestions you might incorporate for Challenges -
I am not sure if @luv2dns2 is suggesting tracking sugar or fat as a future LTGL challenge, but I LIKE that idea!
I also like these ideas
learning about tracking, and improving Macros
trying new exercise methods/moves
learning about, reducing, eliminating gluten
Thanks for the positive feedback and constructive ideas. WE can surely incorporate some of these things as we develop ideas for HH Weeks - not sure if it will be for winter or spring. Reducing/eliminating gluten is a tough one - kind of like doing keto ... very specific, I think and maybe good for some but not good for the entire community. We'll have to give that suggestion some more thought but making sure that we try to incorporate the needs of the many instead of the wants of a few. I hope that makes sense.
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Bovinity55 wrote: »I like doing challenges, but I really didn’t enjoy this one too much. It was a constant struggle to get my fiber count, perhaps this is because I’m close to my goal weight. I didn’t care for the way the points were accumulated. However, I really appreciate the work our leaders put in to coming up with ideas for the challenges - please understand that these are my personal thoughts, not any reflection on the our leader’s ideas.
REMEMBER - this is a CHALLENGE and it is supposed to be CHALLENGING!! You WON'T get 100% for every HH that is suggested and that is okay. Some may not even work for your way of eating. That said, I'm sure that there were several weeks that you could get points ... we appreciate that you realize that this takes a lot of work/time/effort. We are after all not nutritionists - we are regular folks - like you - trying to take a mundane task and make it fun/enjoyable for those that participate. I hope that we achieve that goal for a good part of the 8 weeks.1 -
Dpecora653 wrote: »I ENJOYED THE NEW FORMAT AND THOUGHT IT WAS AN IMPROVEMENT FROM THE OLD FORMAT. I THINK CHANGING IT UP MAKES IT MORE CHALLENGING AND THAT IT WHAT THIS IS ALL ABOUT-CHALLENGING YOURSELF TO THINK SERIOUSLY ABOUT BEING HEALTHY(WHAT IT MEANS FOR YOU) AND DOING SOMETHING ABOUT IT.
I THINK EVERYONE WHO VOLUNTEERS THEIR TIME AND ENERGY TO RUNNING THESE CHALLENGES DESERVE A LOT OF PRAISE AND CREDIT FOR ALL THEIR HARD WORK.
FOR THOSE WHO ARE NEW YOU SHOULD ALWAYS FEEL FREE TO MESSAGE ANY LONG MEMBERS WITH QUESTIONS OR THE NEED TO GET CLARIFICATION- THOSE OF US WHO HAVE BEEN HERE A LONG TIME ARE MORE THAN WILLING TO EASE THE LEADERS' ROLE.
OBVIOUSLY A CHALLENGE IS WHAT YOU MAKE OF IT AND WHAT YOU WANT TO ACHIEVE-SUGGESTIONS ARE ALWAYS WELCOMED AND APPRECIATED BY THE LEADERS.
Couldn't have said it better myself - thank you for your kind words ... it is truly a labor of love and the OAL Team is doing their best to make keep the Challenges fresh and interesting.2 -
Lynne10010 wrote: »I'm fine with the new format. I appreciate all your work on setting up the LTGL challenges. I felt some of the new LTGL's were overly restrictive this time and a little heavy on food challenges. I prefer more of a mix of food and other challenges.
*Intentional Eating - Making a daily meal plan the night before - is very helpful. I am continuing that. However, staying exactly on your plan for the day seems unrealistic - days don't always go as planned. It would be more realistic to require that changes during the day not increase your total calories for the day.
*I see no reason to put an upper limit on Protein and Fiber, especially not such a tight limit. It really complicates planning for no good reason that I can see. I managed it five out of seven days but it was time consuming and fiddly and not something that seems of value to me.
*Having protein and fiber challenges the same week without increasing calories was very difficult for me. Mostly what is good for increasing one decreases the other. Most high protein foods are low fiber (except beans) and most high fiber foods don't have much protein (except beans.). I found it extra hard on a low carbohydrate diet since most high fiber foods have a fair amount of carbs. I did manage to do it, but had to use psyllium powder for part of the fiber. I plan to continue that habit.
*Five fruits a day - I only managed the 5 fruits a day because my team leader said it was OK to include "vegetables" that are botanically fruits. Five fruits a day is way too much sugar for my low carb diet. This LTGL was not helpful for me.
Thanks again for your leadership.
Thanks for the input. Thank you for speaking with me as I'm the one that wrote the Challenge for Fruits/Veggies. On SP, we used to combine them and call them 'Freggies'. I found that the research to split the two was almost impossible to find but I did it as I could ... this was the biggest reason that after we practiced 'fruits' and after we practiced veggies that we allowed / encouraged FREGGIES. I had a feeling that this would be an issue but went with it since we planned it but I agree ... it is difficult to separate the two. We will likely adjust the future challenges that incorporate fruits/vegetables to be a little more 'forgiving'.
We hope that other parts of the Challenge were interesting and informative. The idea of getting the full compliment of points every day of every week doesn't make sense - that means that you aren't being Challenged. REMEMBER - sitting back to think about what was written/suggested is a WONDERFUL way to explore a **new healthy habit**!!1 -
jeanrichter320 wrote: »Long time 5% challenge participant.
I guess I'm in the minority but I miss virtually going somewhere (particularly since going places IRL is no longer an option for me). If the leadership feels that that format is too much work, fine.
I thought that some of the HH challenges were too restrictive, as some others have mentioned. It's fine to make things challenging, but day after day of not managing to get points for something can get discouraging.
I really appreciate all the work the leadership does to keep the challenges going, especially under very difficult circumstances - thank you for all you do!
I can understand missing the destinations but it really is cumbersome to come up with a 'theme' and then finding places to fit that theme. Olympics, which I did in the summer was relatively easy but took a lot of research to find 8 weeks of things in common to make sure that we traveled with a purpose and not willy-nilly.
Restrictions within the Challenge - as I've said several times before - are what MAKES THE CHALLENGE. Being discouraged for a few days does sometimes make you sit back and say 'huh?' - I never really thought of this or that as a Healthy Habit. I do, however, understand being discouraged by working too hard to get even one day of points on the board. We (the OAL team) will try to take a lot of these suggestions and incorporate them into what we plan ... we'll def. try to do what we can.1 -
As one of the Overall Leaders of the Seasonal 5% Challenges, I've read every comment thus far. I've tried to answer most and have tried to be quite honest with my responses.
I love, Love, LOVE the fact that you have all taken the time to provide feedback for the newer (and hopefully) improved format. Yes, the destinations were interesting - but as many of you have stated, you only looked at them every now and again and skimmed the writing(s) for something that may have jumped out at you from the screen. Concentrating on HH (Healthy Habits) is what the Overall Leadership Team decided to focus on and there are a few of us that are collaborating and writing. It takes time to research / read things that resonate with the writer - but honestly what I find interesting and impactful is something that you find rather boring or uninspiring and your team mate may find the writing 'pearls of wisdom'.
These Challenges are written for 8 teams of 20+ individuals (sometimes we have 30-35+ members per team). We can't possibly satisfy everyone for every week of every challenge, nor should we. Our mission is to reach everyone at some point and if our HH Challenge doesn't resonate with you this week, perhaps next week will be the one that 'sings' to you!!
We also welcome suggestions to make Challenges a little more 'challenging'. Kindly make sure that you reach out to one of the OAL's (OverAll Leaders) with your suggestions. If it is something that we have not done before, perhaps you can provide us with a little background of what you mean and how YOU perceive a future Challenge incorporating your idea.
As someone who has revamped and/or rewritten the 'Pre-Challenge Activities' - I can tell you it takes a tremendous amount of time. Bringing these Challenges to you is truly a labor of love and quite frankly, we cannot please everyone but we can promise to examine any/all ideas. If someone has an exceptionally good idea, perhaps we could incorporate your idea in the weekly Challenges.
Once again, thank you for your feedback. Keep your thoughts and ideas coming - that is what we have this thread for. Please use it as an opportunity to have your voice heard.
Best,
hicim705 (Heidi)Heidi (hicim705)
2024 Autumn/Fall 5% Challenge ~ Challenge Leader 🔴🌡️RED HOTS🌡️🔴 Team
Overall Co-Leader, Seasonal 5% ChallengesCo-Leader, Seasonal 5% Challenges ~ ✍️🖊️📓💻Bloggers✍️🖊️📓💻!!🥳🎊🎉🌟✨ CELEBRATING the beginning of our 4th Year
of Seasonal 5% Challenges on MyFitnessPal ✨🌟🎉🎊🥳2 -
Whether we land a plane or break a ribbon, it's kinda fun to have a race.
As for daily reporting... If someone puts off reporting, that person is way more likely to fail to report at all, and then drop out. Reporting takes 5 minutes if you stay up on it, including the time for the computer to boot. Posting daily means keeping the week's goals in your direct consciousness. You are more likely to do more, and then you're more likely to see positive results.
I think before that too much time was spent writing up destinations, and you OAL leaders deserve relief from that burden. However, I rather liked the idea of thinking about new places, maybe team members could be encouraged to share occasional insights or discoveries, instead of it being a "job."
As with any health idea, each individual has to determine if the suggestion actually works for them. But OAL leaders should think carefully about "bonus points"; the bonus points for fiber (as written) actually discouraged me from eating many functional foods because of the ridiculous cap. For example, had I eaten a gala apple this afternoon, I would have overshot my grace fiber range. I am used to consuming a fairly high amount of fiber. I'm sure that vegetarians are as well. Reintroducing low/no fiber foods into my diet would have been a wrong turn, for me. And, of course, many people have to severely limit their fiber for medical reasons. (I say, "It's good for you, unless, of course, it is NOT good for YOU."
I have structured my diet ("what I eat") to use a high-quality protein powder or shake to reach my protein goal, while permitting me to invest calories into healthy fats. I am a survivor of the no-fat movement of the 1990s; now I view healthy fats as necessary to keep my skin in good condition - and there's a lot of skin both inside and out.2 -
Whether we land a plane or break a ribbon, it's kinda fun to have a race.
As for daily reporting... If someone puts off reporting, that person is way more likely to fail to report at all, and then drop out. Reporting takes 5 minutes if you stay up on it, including the time for the computer to boot. Posting daily means keeping the week's goals in your direct consciousness. You are more likely to do more, and then you're more likely to see positive results.
I think before that too much time was spent writing up destinations, and you OAL leaders deserve relief from that burden. However, I rather liked the idea of thinking about new places, maybe team members could be encouraged to share occasional insights or discoveries, instead of it being a "job."
As with any health idea, each individual has to determine if the suggestion actually works for them. But OAL leaders should think carefully about "bonus points"; the bonus points for fiber (as written) actually discouraged me from eating many functional foods because of the ridiculous cap. For example, had I eaten a gala apple this afternoon, I would have overshot my grace fiber range. I am used to consuming a fairly high amount of fiber. I'm sure that vegetarians are as well. Reintroducing low/no fiber foods into my diet would have been a wrong turn, for me. And, of course, many people have to severely limit their fiber for medical reasons. (I say, "It's good for you, unless, of course, it is NOT good for YOU."
I have structured my diet ("what I eat") to use a high-quality protein powder or shake to reach my protein goal, while permitting me to invest calories into healthy fats. I am a survivor of the no-fat movement of the 1990s; now I view healthy fats as necessary to keep my skin in good condition - and there's a lot of skin both inside and out.
I agree - with what you have said - but one of the things that hit me is:
"Reintroducing low/no fiber foods into my diet would have been a wrong turn, for me. And, of course, many people have to severely limit their fiber for medical reasons. (I say, "It's good for you, unless, of course, it is NOT good for YOU)."
Exactly ... It's good for you, unless, of course, it is NOT good for you.
The above is precisely the reason we are trying to encourage different ways of looking at food and the relationship(s) with food **AND** a healthy lifestyle overall. We also are trying to add things that are less food-driven for the next round. A challenge round lasts 8 weeks - there is only so much that you can do in that time. There is no 'one size fits all' ... we are looking at what worked this round; what needs to be adjusted.
We are excited to see where this takes us. We are clearly looking for suggestions and thank you for your input.0 -
@hicim705 Thank you for taking the time to address the issues/suggestions presented here.
@Everyone, I echo all that Heidi has shared while adding a few notes of clarification.
@vtoria3 We OALs are each other's backups. This is the first time in the challenge's history that we all had life issues that took up our free time.
@Lynne10010 I'm happy the intentional eating challenge positively impacted you. This challenge was not popular with too many people. The focus of the challenge was not meal planning but being intentional about the plan you made.RE: 5 fruits? The max number of fruit was 3.
Thanks to everyone who responded. Please keep the feedback coming throughout the break. As Heidi said, we welcome and discuss your ideas and suggestions and implement them in future challenges where appropriate.
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I missed the destinations BUT I understand how much time it takes to research, organize and present this information to us. And as stated, not everyone reads it. So crossing the finish line with intentional exercise is fine with me.
I did enjoy the new focus items with LTGL mainly Protein and Fiber.
I did not enjoy the meal planning and sticking 100% to the plan. I need a little flexibility. I think meeting our goals for the day might be a better target. Just my two cents though. Someone mentioned it was to be challenging...and that's fine too, just not doable for me. If I've planned something and 1) I'm not hungry or 2) situations change, I need to be able to adapt.
I like the Meet Your Cheerleaders at the start of the round to learn more about each other and set the tone for communications.
I loved adding Measurements (not the results for me this round, but the concept is awesome), and I hope we bring this back.
I like @deskjockey925 ideas for learning about tracking, and improving Macros
trying new exercise methods/moves
learning about, reducing, eliminating gluten
I do appreciate the leaders trying new things and keeping the challenges interesting. Thank you for all that you do!
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Greetings and thank you to all the OAL's, leaders, and participants. I think the whole idea of these "challenges" is accountability. I use the challenges to be accountable to myself to make sure I do the things I need to do in order to lead a healthy life. We all know what we really need to do in order to be healthy, some of us need others to help us be accountable to ourselves so we don't slack off on our own. If we didn't want some type of accountability, we wouldn't be here in this group. We all know what we need to eat to be healthy; we all know we need to exercise to be healthy; and we all know we need to drink water/hydrate to keep our bodies healthy. The challenges remind us of what we may be lacking in our diets as far as fiber, protein, freggies, water or whatever the case may be. In order to accept that the challenges are holding us to our accountability means we are also accountable to our teams to at least try to win these challenges.
There was a time during the summer challenge when I was resentful of these people basically calling us out if we didn't find time in the day (most of the team seems to be on the east coast, so I'm later to post than others) to get our numbers in early enough in the day to win the "land the plane" challenge or to remember to get your weight entered by the deadline. I was like, what a nerve they've got to be so rude! I was in a slump and had other things going on in my personal life and why couldn't they just leave me alone for a bit? Sometimes I felt they were treating us like children, were being bullies, and unreasonable; and, at one point, I almost just quit and left the entire program and I didn't even "speak" to anyone on my team for a few weeks. I just put in my daily habits and did the work that was required to be on the team, but didn't "socialize" or contribute otherwise. Plus, there was the fact that my firm cut us off from social media and personal email, so I couldn't even access some sites depending on what browser I was using. And then I realized, it was kind of silly, when I think about it now, that they were doing exactly what I expected the challenge to do: make me get up and be accountable, if not to the team, then at least myself and to respect the amount of time and energy our leaders put into making this a successful way to keep ourselves healthy-which is why we're all here in the first place.
So, my point is, instead of grousing about what they leaders come up with, let's just go with the flow, do what we have to do and move on to the next challenge; maybe it will be different than the last one. Not one of them has really been the same since I started earlier in the year. I don't like all of the LTGLs or HHs, but I do them because they are helpful in one way or another to move forward.3 -
Old or newer format - I liked them both as really want to visit those places IRL and the challenges serve as a goal to keep in mind. Each week goes by so quickly that it's often difficult to add anything. This session was difficult for me due to multiple family issues. But I like having the different weekly challenges as they are healthy living goals for me.
Thank you to the leaders for your time and all the effort!0 -
Hello everyone,
It really doesn't make any difference to me what format is used - the goal is the same. And as fitness enthusiasts, shouldn't we be walking more than flying ?? However, as a frequent traveller, I did enjoy reading about the different places we were visiting. Sometimes in the hope that I might see them one day and sometimes to see what I may have missed !
As for the LTGL goals, I found them difficult this time around simply because I was away from home a lot and didn't really know exactly what I was eating---enough protein ?? enough fiber ?? It's always a challenge to eat less when faced with a buffet or sitting down to a meal with family you only see once or twice a year. I would have preferred having more goals that you can do anywhere like balancing, stretching, posture.
The one LTGL that really shocked me was measurements. I took them just because it was a requirement for the first week but was quite surprised this week when I took them again. No I didn't lose much weight but I did lose on the measurement side. So I must have done something right.
It's not easy setting up challenges and keeping everyone motivated. A huge THANK YOU to all who organize these challenges and keep them going.
I'm not a chatter but felt I had to say my piece this time. Thanks for listening.0 -
Ronnie_happy2ranch wrote: »Greetings and thank you to all the OAL's, leaders, and participants. I think the whole idea of these "challenges" is accountability. I use the challenges to be accountable to myself to make sure I do the things I need to do in order to lead a healthy life. We all know what we really need to do in order to be healthy, some of us need others to help us be accountable to ourselves so we don't slack off on our own. If we didn't want some type of accountability, we wouldn't be here in this group. We all know what we need to eat to be healthy; we all know we need to exercise to be healthy; and we all know we need to drink water/hydrate to keep our bodies healthy. The challenges remind us of what we may be lacking in our diets as far as fiber, protein, freggies, water or whatever the case may be. In order to accept that the challenges are holding us to our accountability means we are also accountable to our teams to at least try to win these challenges.
There was a time during the summer challenge when I was resentful of these people basically calling us out if we didn't find time in the day (most of the team seems to be on the east coast, so I'm later to post than others) to get our numbers in early enough in the day to win the "land the plane" challenge or to remember to get your weight entered by the deadline. I was like, what a nerve they've got to be so rude! I was in a slump and had other things going on in my personal life and why couldn't they just leave me alone for a bit? Sometimes I felt they were treating us like children, were being bullies, and unreasonable; and, at one point, I almost just quit and left the entire program and I didn't even "speak" to anyone on my team for a few weeks. I just put in my daily habits and did the work that was required to be on the team, but didn't "socialize" or contribute otherwise. Plus, there was the fact that my firm cut us off from social media and personal email, so I couldn't even access some sites depending on what browser I was using. And then I realized, it was kind of silly, when I think about it now, that they were doing exactly what I expected the challenge to do: make me get up and be accountable, if not to the team, then at least myself and to respect the amount of time and energy our leaders put into making this a successful way to keep ourselves healthy-which is why we're all here in the first place.
So, my point is, instead of grousing about what they leaders come up with, let's just go with the flow, do what we have to do and move on to the next challenge; maybe it will be different than the last one. Not one of them has really been the same since I started earlier in the year. I don't like all of the LTGLs or HHs, but I do them because they are helpful in one way or another to move forward.
@Ronnie_happy2ranch ahh yes, you do belong to one of the top teams for Breaking the Ribbon and yes, the leaders do call us out. Ronnie and I are both on PS4L one week Ronnie, I hadn't reported Sunday, I got a text as a reminder. I did giggle because I was the CL who used to send them out and I forgot. I love and appreciate your honesty about all you were going through and the leaders were doing exactly what you expected to do do: make you get up and be accountable. I go through this often myself. There are many days I'd never exercise or eat well. At first, I was doing these things "for the team" but, now they are a part of what I do for myself. Does the team benefit YES!
For those commenting on the protein I was the OAL who did that one. At first it was restrictive until a few members mentioned it to me and at once we did not cap a limit on the amount of protein. As @Hicim705 and @Ceriusly1 mentioned and I agree we are a work in progress. We are trying new things. We love the feedback.
This is a labor of love.2 -
This is a Weight Loss Challenge (not an exercise challenge) so more focus on food in the HH's was greatly appreciated. Both the fiber and protein HH's were much needed and a great new focus. Maybe in the future there could be a minimum amount (USDA standard?), to collect points. I think maybe most have set the bar too high on their MFP tracker, hence an unattainable goal. If someone is currently only achieving 15 gr protein or 11 gr fiber and you are expected to double or triple that instantly it will be a fail for most. Baby steps...
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