Lots To Lose Challenge - Week 1

KnottyJen

Hi there,
I wanted to follow up with everyone and see how you all thought this week went for the challenge. How does everyone feel about the points system? I've had a couple suggestions that the method of calculating points isn't entirely fair. I don't want anyone to feel that they're being short changed because of the way the points are calculated. If this is a common feeling throughout players, maybe a more fair way to calculate points is to go by calories burned? X calories burned = 10 points? And then we could keep the nutrition/exercise challenges at their current point values?

Speaking of the nutrition/exercise challenges - how did everyone feel they went this week? Were they too difficult? Not difficult enough? Anyone have any suggestions for other exercises we can do? This week, I focused on abs. Maybe next week, we can focus on another area.

I want to make sure that everyone remains motivated and on board!

Also, one last thing - does anyone have any team members that are not participating?? Please let me know. I want to be sure that everyone is on a level playing field.

Thanks all! I look forward to all of your feedback!

Princess626

Jen,
The only suggestion I have is to vary the exercises. For those of us starting out, doing 7 straight days of abs is a great way to pull a muscle (I pulled a lower ab muscle on day 2 and it still hurts, but I'm stubborn as well). Maybe do abs one day, arms the next, then do abs followed by legs... Just something with a little more variety so we're not putting too much stress on muscles we didn't know existed!
Other than that, I'm loving the challenge. I haven't had a much time to do distances as I'd like, but all day long I'm even more conscious of what I'm eating and drinking (not just focusing on calories now).

ohsointricate8

I'm fine with the points system, but if it changes that would be okay with me too.
I agree with maybe a little variation during the week with the exercises!

januarygal

I have found the distance challenge encouraged me to get out and walk more than once per day, I did not include my circuit time for mile though.
Distance on a bike and distance walking are entirely different things though. I have done two bike rides this week and will be going biking in a few hours. These rides range from 12-20 miles, which is something I could not walk. (I guess the same holds true for people on stationary bikes)
Soooo, maybe miles on bikes and walking should be counted differently or we could use time moving or as mentioned before calories burned, though different sized bodies burn calories at different rates.
Is every week going to have a different challenge, if so different weeks can reflect varied strengths in order to level the playing field.

Nikki_is_Knotty

Challenges seemed fine. I agree about the variation of fitness challenges in any given week, I was fine with all the ab work (and liked it) but the point was made about those just starting out and that is a very good point. Nutrition challenges were pretty easily attainable for me, besides sodium days but on the note of points, how do we find out how we are doing point-wise? I have a link to a spreadsheet but it doesn't have any info but team names and member.

mikonei

@ njava

If you go to the spreadsheet there are tabs at the bottom of the page where you can check how your team is doing

mikonei

As for the challenge itself, pretty much anything I had in mind was already covered. My main concern was biking miles vs walking miles. And right after that was varying the weekly exercises so we're not pushing one set of muscles all week.
Aside from that, loving the challenge.

AmyNVegas

Jen,
I do not think calories burned would be fair either since ppl like me at 296 pounds burn a lot more calories in 20 minutes than someone who weighs 160 just from more mass to move so I could do a lot less exercise and burn more calories. I like the miles but I understand those who are upset because they have to do a lot more time than someone who say bikes for a mile in 5 minutes. Not sure I have a solution though, sorry.

AmyNVegas

Wow Lean Green Machines you all are doing great!!!! Almost 2000 pts!:drinker:

k2quiere

I actually liked the whole focus on abs, because mine surely needed it, but I can understand about the mixing it up need. I think the distance is a fine way to judge. I know that my bike rides are much further than my walks and the laps I do in the pool, but we each have to make choices for our bodies. Also, Jen did add the option of using 20 minutes as a mile, which, at least for my swimming, tends to work out as more mileage than the actually calculations based on length of the pool. The same could be done with walking for those without pedometers or exact mileage. I think with the emphasis on pushing ourselves a little further means that we don't have to "keep" up with the other teams; we just have to do better than we did yesterday, or last week, etc.

I think the point system we have now is fine because weight loss is so individual that it would be impossible to create a completely "fair" system.

AmyNVegas

I found the challenges in general made me push myself to go further and do more for my team. I like January's suggestion maybe we can make bike miles count 10 pts for every 2 miles or something like that. I usually bike 5-6 miles in a 30-35 minute session so that would be worth 30 pts instead of 60 if we changed it. Would that level it up a little more?

The nutrition challenges were good, too and the sodium one is definitely hard I agree but it made me look at my choices better and the food I am buying that I thought was good and all natural I would never have noticed the sodium content if not for those days.

For challenge exercises have you checked out Spark Ppl? They have a whole exercise section and you can choose them by area worked and you can choose no equipment needed so they would be easy for anyone to do at home (well easy because of the no equipment needed not because of the intensity).

Can't wait to see the list I am hitting it hard this next week since it's my last full week before school starts and finding time to exercise and be good to me will get harder then. Want to get as much in as possible and as much off as possible.:bigsmile:

cklbrown

I'm ok with the challenges. They are a little much on the abs, but I do abs stuff daily. You could add Squats or lunges. Or do a nutrition challenge like fiber.

LMorrison1009

I agree. It's a bit discouraging to see someone earn 100 points because they biked for 10 miles, when I had to struggle to find time to walk for 3 and only add 30 points for my team. For me, I can only walk or jog a few times a week, depending on when the hubby is home to stay with the kids, so I like the idea of being able to count my cardio time as "miles" If it were up to me, I'd take a general mix of what everyone else has had to say. Focus on different body parts for the daily challenges, and have everyone earn their exercise points based on number of minutes or number of calories rather than number of miles.

dontstopnow

i think the points system is as fair as it can be for this type of challenge. if it is changed to how many calories are burned that would be more unfair, in my opinion. everyone will burn different calories just based on their weight. i liked the daily challenges but i would say if anything focus on two parts of the body a week since it's good to give the muscles one day of rest and repair. (: other than that i think everything is just fine and fair as is! thanks again for being so awesome miss jen!

sammy084

I don't know how to view the spreadsheet every one is talking about to check out how the teams are doing? Help me!! lol

Imsojen

The miles situation is surely a problem as is. I think there has to be a way to balance out the biking vs walking problem. The average rider goes 13- 30 mph. The average walker is 2.5 - 4 mph. You see a HUGE disparity in possible mileage this way. I walk at 2.8 mph I elliptical at 4 mph. I get that its a "choice" what exercise we choose but it needs to be comparable or why bother tracking and competing. And the 20 mins= a mile doesnt work bcuz the biker can go 20 miles in a hr= 200 points and cardio other gets 1 mile per 20 mins= a max of 30 points per hr. I am of course just stating my opinion here but mathmatically this isnt working. I enjoy the daily challenges and no matter what is decided there im good.

Imsojen

Perhaps instead of a miles= points we do simply a X amount of mins= X points. The calories burned isnt exactly fair either as not everyone uses a HRM and mfp figures are grossly off. Also people burn differently at different weights. Just trying to help :flowerforyou:

k2quiere

I know Jen's original idea was to get us out and moving distances, but I think minutes would work for the fairness factor. I'm down for whatever...I just keep pushing harder each day :-)

kjnicol

I loved the mini challenges but also recommend working different muscle groups within a week as your muscles should rest every 2nd day. I also agree with many of the above concerns of walking v biking. I was thinking the other day that I should change my cardio just so I can get more points for my team however I HATE biking and would rather walk/run. My suggestion is to look at the time it takes to walk a mile and then bike a mile, take these numbers and make it more even. For example taking Jen's numbers above it seems that at the lower end of the scale it would be a ratio of 1:3 so if bikers divide their miles by three this may seem fairer. Another way would be to do it in mins spent exercising. Just my opinion:happy:

kjnicol

Because we are in this for the long haul I was wondering how to increase motivation to groups that are not scoring that highly. I'm not sure how you planned to add up the points over the next few weeks but I had an idea. How about instead of adding up the points for each week we look at one week at a time. For example each week the top team gets awarded 4 points then 2nd 3 points and then third 2 points and then every team which has logged their numbers in every day gets one point. And these are the points that get accumulated not the weekly scores. This way it is still competitive (winners can still claim victory) but no one can become discouraged if their team has a really bad week. Just an idea as I think the long term goal here is to all be doing this challenge for as long as possible. I don't' know, just a suggestion

I also want to say thank you so much for all the work you have put into this challenge! You have really inspired me to be better. You rock!!!

katdanash

I think that making it time spent exercising (any kind of cardio ) instead of miles. 20 mins is still 20 mins wether you are , biking , running,, swimming or what ever. that would be the most fair. The calorie burn you get is only what you personally put into it.
I like the nutrition challenges. I also agree that we need to mix up the area of muscles we focus on. We don't want any injuries. I personally found the windshield wiper impossible for my back .. But i ddi try them.
kat

KnottyJen

Please have a look at the Week 2 Thread.
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/308959-lots-to-lose-challenge-week-2

This one is now DEAD!