Summer Sopranos

theparnellssean

Leading this challenge in May has indeed been a challenge in itself. It is shown by my lack of reporting results for the week. And sometimes tardy posting the daily challenges. I am sorry to all of you for that. We are very very very busy where I work right now, so I have no ability to do any posting during those hours. I have one day off a week, and have my own busy exercise schedule. Throw in shopping, gardening, cooking, cleaning, etc. That leaves no time. From soldiers not participating, captains dropping out I believe many have similar circumstances. That is life.

I believe the Sopranos challenge has been a successful format for many. I enjoy running it and I enjoyed all of you. I do not want to quit on this nor do I want to dissolve this. What I believe we should do is take a summer vacation from this and start it back up in September. That will leave us three months to recruit, establish captains, communicate with each other, set teams, and brainstorm together to try to make this a more efficient challenge.

As far as the rest of May is concerned, I will only have the ability to do a final report, of total earnings weight-loss per team etc. Captains please report to me for the end of the month total earnings per soldier and total weight loss for soldier for the month of May. Get this to me by the first week of June if possible.

I have lost weight, many of you have lost weight. We have all stayed busy, active, I believe we all ate better. I think the Sopranos played a part in that. I believe everyone will continue that same lifestyle through this whole summer. We will continue to communicate with each other. I may start a group called Sopranos summer vacation for the sole purpose of us communicating with each other in preparation for Sopranos September.

Please give me your feedback good or bad.

The Don

karendee4

I have loved the challenge. As someone who ran their own challenge (on another site) before I understand. It is a LOT of work!

I appreciate everything you have done. I would like the summer vacation group to chat in though. Sounds nice.

I support whatever decision you make!
Karen

andersonjo0306

I know a lot of my team have left due to life circumstances. There has been a huge desire to come back to this so I think September is reasonable. I would love to be a part of this in September. For my part I am going to continue with my group to see if we can max out our losses for this month and I will report back to you before the first week of June

ChristineDiet

I have done challenges with small groups before and it's been a lot of work on my party so i can only imagine what you have taken on board yourself - a lot!!!!

I am once of those people who unfortunately 'life has got in the way'! I think September would be fantastic as the summer holidays/vacations will probably be out of the way and everyone is refreshed (hopefully) to start a new challenge.

I wonder if I could suggest that the Captain's post the challenges on each person's wall - sometimes with the time difference and forgetting to check the group forum's I have missed some of the challenges, sometimes it is lack of time etc.

Also can you clarify when we start back up in September, do we post our results in a group forum or on the Captain's profile page?

Thanks and great job for starting this - I hope September Soprano's is a success. Brilliant idea. x

Super_Mama

I completely understand how much work this must be. I have to admit I will be sad to take the summer off but understand that if that is what needs to happen then so be it. But if I had my choice I would LOVE to see it continue on through the summer as I personally have used it as a springboard to help keep me accountable in my own journey and I really enjoy the daily work outs.

If it helps, and others are interested in keeping in going over the summer, I would be more than willing to work with you to come up with a monthly schedule behind the scenes and then post them to the group daily. Maybe someone else would be willing to coordinate the troops and someone else to tally everything up.

This is such an amazing challenge that you have created and I feel like there is no reason why you should have to bear all of the labor intensive tasks and with such a wonderful and supportive group I hope others would be willing to step up to the plate and take on more of an active role that could better distribute the workload.

dsgoingtodoit

I have appreciated this challenge so much, and thank you for it!

Whatever is best for you is fine!
I am supportive of whatever decision you make.
Love the summer "keep in touch" idea.
We could all throw out occasional challenge ideas to each other...just for kicks....
still post our weigh in weekly...
something like that?

I like the idea that supermom above me is proposing too...to divide the work...if that helps you.

Again though...
whatever is best for you and your family!

SavvyGurl0528

Echoing Super_Mama. I'd be glad to help compile results, etc. You could add some Consigliores or something.

I will support whatever you do and understand completely, but this challenge has been awesome for me. Thanks so much for hosting it! Some of us just need the competition to keep things motivated!

ImprovingEla

I would love to do another round of the challenge in september.
Being a captain was not as easy as I thought it would be and so I can hardly imagine, what it is like to make a whole challenge "stay in line"!!!
Thanks for the opportunity to be part of this challenge the las 2 month and have a great summer!

I would love to see everyone back in September!

mdcjmom

Believe sean youn know I understand. We have all been there and kids and work always male the summertime harder.

shelleycolton

I love to be part of the challenge in September, I do like Christine's idea about the occassional team challenge to keep us all in contact over the vacation

info_nrs

So glad to hear that others are having the same difficulty right now with the Summer starting, I was starting to feel that I was just lazy and unmotivated because I couldn't get things done for the challenge that I use to!!! Not to mention bronchitis 3 weeks ago and then a re-injury last week, I'm just a mess!!!
I am all for staying in touch over the summer and starting back up in September, it is a great motivator and I love the groups (even friends with people not on my team :flowerforyou: )

I think the first challenge in September would be to shortly recap our summers and show how well we worked and what we accomplished.

Thanks for all you have done and I look forward to working with you guys again!!!

mrsjas2000

with summer and kids out of school and my own vacation I kept thinking it was going to be hard to always check in, starting up again in Sept. sounds like a good idea and also having the odd challenge just to keep us on our toes sounds great also.
Have a great summer

missmegan831

I being a Captain totally agree with you Sean... it has been very disappointing at times and actually stressful.. I have had 4+ members totally go MIA and I felt as thou it was my fault that I couldnt keep them participating. I had already made up my mind that after the end of this Challenge that I would not continue on as a captain due to lack of participation, excuses and complaints. However, my 2 children are currently out of school for the summer already and I havent been able to put in as much support, communication or participation as I feel is needed to properly help motivate, organize and support 17 people along with my other MFP friends that are not in the challenge.

So I am with you on this summer vacation 'break'. and I love the communication thread so we can all keep in contact with one another, ask questions, leave suggestions throughout the break time and hopefully have a better foundation for a fantastic fall kick off.

Thanks again for everything you and Lisa do to put into this group for all of us. I too have lost weight, gotten stronger and made great new friends so it was an experience that had awesome rewards... I will report all info to you by the end of the month.

Take Care xx

WeightWatcherCindy

I love this challenge ! I appreciate all your hard work running it . I will be looking forward to a September challange .

graced111

Thanks for all that you have done. This is a busy time of the year for all. I look forward to September.

Crystalagain22

@Sean, Thank you so much for all the hard work you've put in organizing all of this! It's truly been inspiring and fun! I totally understand the need for abreak and look forward to joining again in September

Crystalagain22

@Megan, you've been an amazing coach, but I can definitely understand your frustration. Please know you did everything you could for the team. The members that dropped out chose that, not you. Thanks for all of your hard work!

emilyc85

Life happens I would love to keep at this even after a summer break. I think that this is a wonderful idea and have appreciated everything you have done!! I am getting busier and have noticed that my participation has bee lacking greatly. A break may just be what we all need, expecially you. Another group for summer contact would be great

MurallyAnn

I think that would be a wonderful idea to start back in September. Maybe we can all keep track of our weight and see who can lose the most in the next few months starting from June?? It is a very busy time of the year. I have vacations planned and know it would be hard to keep up. I thank you all for the hard work you put into this. I look forward to September and will help out in any way needed!

kellieanney

I would appreciate a break, but would love to stay in communication for the summer. Thank you for all you do for our group, it has really made be be accountable in my workouts and making better food choices, and I appreciate the feeling of community. I have lost some weight, have toned a little, have gone from just treadmill at the gym to adding weight machines, and plan on moving onto the "Big Boy" free weight area in the back of the gym as I have been getting stronger , and have gone up in my weight sets, reps, and how much weight I am lifting. I am even going to do a short run in my area in August. I do look forward to new challenges in the fall and to see how everyone, including myself, does during the summer.

MissJen84

I completely understand how much work this must be. I have to admit I will be sad to take the summer off but understand that if that is what needs to happen then so be it. But if I had my choice I would LOVE to see it continue on through the summer as I personally have used it as a springboard to help keep me accountable in my own journey and I really enjoy the daily work outs.

If it helps, and others are interested in keeping in going over the summer, I would be more than willing to work with you to come up with a monthly schedule behind the scenes and then post them to the group daily. Maybe someone else would be willing to coordinate the troops and someone else to tally everything up.

This is such an amazing challenge that you have created and I feel like there is no reason why you should have to bear all of the labor intensive tasks and with such a wonderful and supportive group I hope others would be willing to step up to the plate and take on more of an active role that could better distribute the workload.

I completely agree with Mama. I would be willing to step up and help somehow. I love this challenge and would hate to give it up. What do you think Don? Let us help you! We don't mind :-)

glenner

I am enjoying my first month with you and find it does make me work or try when I might not have on my own. But summer break is fine- I am on different life mode in the summer- trailer, not always at computer, busy or lazy, away lots so I am fine if we take a break too! But if not I will keep going!
But in case I want to keep something up does anyone have suggestions for other challenges? I am not a spring chicken so I don't want one where you have to run 50 miles a day or something too too too tough!

Kimberly3013

I don't know if this idea will help or not but what if you cut it down for the summer to be weekly challenges instead of daily. At work we have a health program that has weekly goals...ex. walk 20 miles this week, no fast food this week, eat (pick a number) of vegetables this week, do 30 minutes of cardio 3 times this week. These are just a few of what we do through work. It might make it easier to track everyone on a weekly basis instead of on a daily basis and since we weigh in each week we can use that same day to report if we completed the challenge.

I do love these challenges but I also know myself that I have a hard time reporting everyday. Even if I have done the challenge I still find myself sending a message several days later with many days on there and all the challenges at once.

Which ever way works for you let us know

Prephred

I have really enjoyed these challenges. I hate to cut back for the summer but life interferes sometimes, sometimes for a lot longer than we expect too. So starting up in September again would be cool. Having the communication thread over the summer would be cool (along with some weigh-ins, for me accountability helps even if I sometimes don't send timely messages). Doing the weekly challenges would be cool. Divvying up some of the duties would work too.

Please do what is best for you and your family and know that we "the family" have appreciated all that you have done.

glenner

Hey I like Kimberly's idea- weekly challenge would be more doable

shelli1982

I had a lot of fun with this challenge and saw my weight loss increase. Win win! Thank you both so much for all the work you've put in to this!!

sassynkp

Thanks for all the hard work and the challenges! See ya in September!

meaghan2008

Id love that idea!!!

monica2410

Thank you Don for running this challenge!
See you in September:)

hmuh

No worries, sir! Im sure that trying to balance it all has been very challenging. Thanks so much for facilitating this awesome challenge! I look forward to joining it again after summer. You rock, Don!

dmdegrassi

I understand completely! Being that I just joined and don't want to lose momentum over the summer, I'm thinking of offering a Summer Camp Challenge. This would only be for June, July and August. Weekly activity itineraries. Anyone interested? This camp director would need camp counselors and CITs. Email me if interested. In the fall I'll GLADLY hand back control to the Don!