8-Week Challenge (credited to SixSistersStuff) Starting October 9, 2016

Hello! I am excited about everyone's response!

I am new to the challenges also. So, please feel free to jump in and make suggestions.

The Directions link:
The link provides for the directions that can be downloaded. My program gave me a choice of formats and I chose Word and saved it to my desktop. I can now proceed to use it daily.

I took the liberty to modify the original directions to allow for partial credit for drinking water. Drinking water is so vital that I wanted to encourage everyone to drink as much as possible and still earn some points if not all.

The Chart link:
This is the means by which everyone will record their points by midnight on each Sunday. Simply choose a line. Someone has filled in line 6, which is fine. Names can be filled in for 2-5 yet.

The person who originally shared this with me used it in a church group where everyone new each other. I don't want to be trusted with people sending me in money so I have a couple of suggestions:

1.) We don't bother with the monetary reward and just bask in the physical and emotional rewards.

2.) We make a promise of a pledge for an Amazon gift card amount and then divide our pledge between the two winners by sending them a gift card via an email address. If we pledge $10.00, then at the end, I would send each winner a $5.00 gift card. I just tested this out by sending my daughter a $5.00 e-gift card. It works quite nicely.

3.) Each person picks for himself or herself but makes the commitment and sticks by it. Only those who make the pledge by an agreed upon date can be eligible for a prize.

I did originally say the Challenge started this past Sunday and today. It's a little confusing because the weigh in is completed on Sunday, which people generally do in the morning. However, one is still expected to keep track of all his or her points through Sunday night and "send them in", in our case it means posting them to the Google Doc by Sunday at midnight. Hence, Monday's are the start of a new week, but for the sake of sharing stats/point information, it is necessary to have everyone's info by Sunday evening. I think the purpose is to just help with the idea of fresh motivation for each Monday morning and the start of what is for most people, a new work-week.

I needed to get started pronto so I did begin my tracking yesterday. I am fine if everyone wants to jump in and start tomorrow. We will simply determine the winners based on 7 full weeks, or we can add a week to make it a full 8 weeks.

As for the name I chose, Brain Plasticity, it is to remind me that my brain is not too old to change. All my bad eating habits and cravings can be changed. My mindset can be changed! I recently watched a documentary on brain plasticity. It is quite amazing what science is learning with regards to our brain in this area of research. It's especially of interest to stroke and accident victims who are sometimes told they will never be able to do certain physical functions and their brains learn to do it a different way.

I wish everyone the best of luck and I look forward to touching base with you daily over the next several weeks!

Onward Challenge!

By all means, please go into the Chart doc and add your name so we all know who is interested and that I know you can access the Chart. Thanks! Everyone have a great Tuesday!

Hi, NineDogCircus. The confusion may rest in the sugary/treats category and the exercise category. One cannot simply add up each category and multiply the number times 7 days a week because the sugar/treat points are only added in for 6 days, and the exercise is only added in for 5 days (regardless of whether you exercise for all 7 days). I'm not sure why it was designed this way, but it was. I agree that it certainly would have been far easier to just give each goal one set of points for every day of the week and then multiply it by 7. You will see in the following weeks that they give double points and change up the double points that are given which adds variety. I am thinking that variety is probably the driving motivation and also maybe to try and reward people for their strengths. For example, drinking 64 oz. of water for me is a huge challenge, so I will most likely lose points in that category. However, I can make up some of those lost points during weeks where double points are given for easier things like consuming 2 fruits and 3 vegetables. The categories before exercise add up to 177 for the first week. Then you add in the total possible points of 35, if you exercise for 45 min. for 5 days, each worth 7 points. 177 + 35 = 212. I hope this clears things up.

Total points for Monday:28
Total Points for Tuesday: 27
Total Points for Wednesday: 24
Total Points for Thursday: 24
Total Points for Friday: 32
Total Points for Saturday:
Total Points for Sunday:

Hello, Ladies!
I haven't abandoned the challenge. It's been a rough week for me as I had a headache all week. This evening is the best that I have felt since last Sunday evening. Yay!! There's nothing like being sick to make one feel like a new person when the sickness passes!! Life is so relative! As you can see my scores fell because of the lack of exercise. I do wonder if my headache wasn't some kind of withdrawal headache from sugar and preservatives and additives. This type of headache, mild-but-long-lasting, has happened to me twice before in my life when I started to diet after periods of particularly bad eating habits. Just to give you an idea: There was a time when I could boast that I had no more than two Cokes in a year and a half. In the past three months, I probably had a case, 24-can case. And then add the sweetened bubble teas that I have been having on top of lots of processed and restaurant food. That's why I needed this challenge so badly. I hope you're still with me, but if you're not, I understand. I do have another friend that's not an MFP member who has also been inspired to do this 8-week challenge. Please let me know if you're still in the challenge.

My wishes for success to everyone!!

Total for this week:

TOTAL POINTS:
(212 possible for the week) 33 32 24 24 32 31 27

10 Points per Pound lost AND 5 points for Maintaining Lowest Weight.

Total Points from Week: _____203____ + Points from Weight Loss: ____2 lbs. lost = 20 + 5 pts for maintenance = 25

Grand Total of Points from Week 1: ______228____

I guess the interest in this challenge has changed? Any responses? :-)

No one has followed through with it, so it's been a bust. Feel free to download the challenge for yourself. Soon I will delete the Google Doc account, and the link won't be any good. It would probably work best with a local neighborhood group, friend circle, work, or church group. Best wishes!