I'm excited to be a part of this challenge and group! I'm starting now, so hopefully I will have at least a few pounds off by Jan 1!

Great idea! I'm IN!

I definitely feel the need to stay motivated and supported through tax season! It's a stressful time and I tend to stress-eat!

12qw34 wrote: »

For those of you who were in the Christmas challenge how does this challenge work?

Hi 12qw34,
I participated in the "Lose 20 lbs for Christmas Challenge". Most members targetted 20 lbs but were free to chose their own target (I was trying to get below the 200 mark so I set my goal at 25 lbs which took me to 199).

We kept it very simple. There were 18 weeks until Christmas. One of our members is a technical person and she developed a spreadsheet to capture our weights and calculate lbs lost that week and lbs lost to date, % weight lost, as well as our success in completing "Special Challenges" each week.

We each chose a "weigh-in day" and recorded our weights on that day each week. The Administrator for the spreadsheet closed it off a couple of days after the end of the week. In order to make it less onerous on her, she removed names after the members failed to report in for several weeks (unless they advised in advance).

A new thread was created on MFP each week where the members could report in on their progress. We introduced the concept of Special Challenges for anyone who wished to identify a particular issue that they wanted to address that week and how they planned to tackle it. At the end of the week, they could report on the outcome - what worked, what didn't.

Our group should be prepared to lose a significant number of its members over time. I estimate that only about 25% will continue beyond the first 6-10 weeks - that seems to be the norm. But that doesn't mean the remaining members are any less committed to this endeavour. If it was easy, we'd all be slim!!

I_can_do_this2 wrote: »

12qw34 wrote: »

For those of you who were in the Christmas challenge how does this challenge work?

Hi 12qw34,
I participated in the "Lose 20 lbs for Christmas Challenge". Most members targetted 20 lbs but were free to chose their own target (I was trying to get below the 200 mark so I set my goal at 25 lbs which took me to 199).

We kept it very simple. There were 18 weeks until Christmas. One of our members is a technical person and she developed a spreadsheet to capture our weights and calculate lbs lost that week and lbs lost to date, % weight lost, as well as our success in completing "Special Challenges" each week.

We each chose a "weigh-in day" and recorded our weights on that day each week. The Administrator for the spreadsheet closed it off a couple of days after the end of the week. In order to make it less onerous on her, she removed names after the members failed to report in for several weeks (unless they advised in advance).

A new thread was created on MFP each week where the members could report in on their progress. We introduced the concept of Special Challenges for anyone who wished to identify a particular issue that they wanted to address that week and how they planned to tackle it. At the end of the week, they could report on the outcome - what worked, what didn't.

Our group should be prepared to lose a significant number of its members over time. I estimate that only about 25% will continue beyond the first 6-10 weeks - that seems to be the norm. But that doesn't mean the remaining members are any less committed to this endeavour. If it was easy, we'd all be slim!!

Thank you so much for your detailed response!

I'm in!
I'm Greek so my easter is a April 12... Does that mean I get an extra week
Jk

Count me in too! I just can't seem to get motivated enough to lose the weight and need support.

What a great way to start the new year off. Count me in!

Yayyyyy finally loing weight buddiesssss

Hello everyone.
My name is Karina. I am 22 years old. I am a good 223 pounds right now. I am looking to get near or into Onederland by the end of this challenge.

My birthday is March 26th, this will be a great birthday present for myself. Its been quite sometime that I have actually used MFP religiously and unfortunately I gained all the weight back and then some.

So with that said, I am going to start the year off right. Tons of motivation here. If you all need a friend please feel free to add me or pm me!