Costume Changers FAQs answered!

Options
Hi everyone!

I received an overwhelming response from MFPers interested in the Halloween challenge I put together, and I'm so excited about that! Along with a lot of interest came a lot of questions (totally fine!), so I decided to post this to answer a lot of the questions I received. Here we go!

WHAT'S THE CHALLENGE?
The challenge starts on 9/19 and ends on 10/31 (6 weeks), and the goal is to lose 5% of your current body weight as well as log 100 miles (by walking, running, biking, swimming, etc.).

WHEN DO WE REPORT OUR STATS?
Since the challenge starts and ends on Mondays, we'll check in every Monday! :)

HOW WILL I KNOW WHEN IT'S TIME TO REPORT THE STATS?
No problem - I'll post a link to my status every Monday morning as a reminder! If you're part of the challenge, definitely add me as a friend! As a leader, I'm here to support and encourage you every step of the way. :)

HOW DO WE REPORT THE STATS?
Please go to (then bookmark/favorite/etc.) this Google doc: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AmK9A0h-0IAXdFV4ejZkZWhiZy1QQU5NLU5hSUxVUXc&hl=en_US#gid=0
You will enter your user name, challenge starting weight, and challenge goal weight to begin with. Then each Monday, you will log your weight and miles for the week. I will take care of totaling all of your stats each week!

WHAT SHOULD MY STARTING WEIGHT BE?
Well, that's up to you! It can either be your current weight now, or what your weight is on Monday.

HEY, HOW DO I GET THAT TEAM BANNER IN MY SIGNATURE?
Take this URL and place it in your signature page:

[xxx]

http://i.imgur.com/mAaAy.jpg

[/xxx]

and replace the "xxx" with "img"

IF I'M DOING ANOTHER EXERCISE (i.e. Zumba), HOW CAN I COUNT THE MILEAGE FOR THAT?
The best way I know how is to track your steps with a pedometer. I don't want anyone buying something that they weren't planning on having already, but it's definitely an accurate way to get credit for doing exercises like that! 2000 steps = 1 mile. :)

CAN I STILL JOIN?
Definitely - I had tried to "close" the group early on, but lots of people were still interested (awesome!). By having the Google doc, it puts a bit more responsibility on each person, so it makes having a larger group feasible. If you're definitely committed to this (effort is key! I can't say for sure that I'll be able to hit my 5%, but I'm going to try as hard as I can!), then join away!

If you have any other questions, please let me know and I will update this!! :) Costume Changers: let's do this!

Hugs,
Elana
«13456

Replies

  • wutamunkee
    wutamunkee Posts: 440 Member
    Options
    AWESOME!!!!!!!
  • Biglovelovesme
    Biglovelovesme Posts: 133 Member
    Options
    Thanks Elana.
    You are doing a great job organizing this and I am confident that I can speak for most of us in saying that we really appreciate it!
    Cheers
    :drinker:
  • CaptainMFP
    CaptainMFP Posts: 440 Member
    Options
    Great job in organizing this! :smile:
  • jvinmill
    jvinmill Posts: 279 Member
    Options
    Thanks Elana! Your leadership skills are commendable! Very excited to change costumes :)
  • ASPhantom
    ASPhantom Posts: 637 Member
    Options
    Yeah!

    This will be fun!

    Thanks so much for getting this going and everything!
  • musicgirl88
    musicgirl88 Posts: 504 Member
    Options
    can't wait to start...hopefully this time the image will work in my signature! thanks for starting all this!! :)
  • Amandalovesfood89
    Options
    Awesome!! :D
  • killerqueen17
    killerqueen17 Posts: 536 Member
    Options
    The Google doc is a great idea for a group of this size! Thanks for doing this :)
  • shankleefranklee
    Options
    I really have no idea how to use google docs. I guess that sounds so silly.

    When i view it will i view myself as #1? or did i do it wrong?
  • DawnLosing
    Options
    Great idea, can't wait to start!!
  • ActiveFaith10
    ActiveFaith10 Posts: 230 Member
    Options
    hi. put in your name on the next column (along with weights preceding), right below the previous user. and right click A and hit sort A-Z and you should be fine
  • jenkamac
    jenkamac Posts: 61 Member
    Options
    one final question for me: for this coming Monday the 19th, should we input the total miles we "hope" to accomplish that week - since the challenge starts that day we won't have logged any miles yet. Does that make sense? Thanks!
  • omardragon
    Options
    I deleted the first entry username I'm very sorry it was my laptop touch pad
  • ActiveFaith10
    ActiveFaith10 Posts: 230 Member
    Options
    I really have no idea how to use google docs. I guess that sounds so silly.

    When i view it will i view myself as #1? or did i do it wrong?
    you click on the cell you want to fill then type.
    no problem, i put you in a cell and put it alphabetically
  • gods_gal
    Options
    I'm in. I have already figured how many miles I will need to walk each day of the challenge and I can totally do this!! So excited!! I love challenges!! Thanks, Elana!!
  • Deathwithab
    Deathwithab Posts: 462 Member
    Options
    I'm pumped for this to start! My legs are ready for that 2.4 miles or more a day :)

    I also agree with the rest , you are doing a fantastic job running this challange
  • missyyclaire
    missyyclaire Posts: 572 Member
    Options
    Thanks for starting this Elana, and for keeping it open to all of us, I really appreciate it. All your info here made total sense to me and I was able to sign up on the Google doc and add the banner. Great instructions!

    I did a 'test drive' today at my favorite mall and learned that 3 laps around it, including the little side kick sections equals 2.55 miles. So, if I can get my tail over to that mall each day, I should be in pretty good shape to make the 100 mile goal.

    Thank you again for starting this. It's a reasonable goal to aim for, yet it pushes me just a little more than I've been doing the past couple of weeks.
  • caroln3
    caroln3 Posts: 217
    Options
    thanks for starting this challenge!
  • Dandersonjr32
    Options
    This will be fun. Every I repetition I do now will be motivated by the fact that I have to show EVERYONE my silly Halloween costume. Nothing like the threat of abject personal humiliation to motivate your work outs.

    Or, I should say, the desire to impress.
  • butters1
    butters1 Posts: 1,540 Member
    Options
    thanks a ton Elana!