Weight-Loss WL competition TEAM GOLD

[Omega]

Well done Justina and Quercus.

My results are as follows:

March 8 11st 1.8 i.e. 155.8 which is 1.4 pounds lost this week, 11.2 pounds (6.71%) lost in total
ex. points: 14 points i.e. 2 every day
mini chall. points: 10 points i.e. 2 * pilates "hundreds - level 2" on each of 5 days (Sun->Thurs)

 

[Omega]

I am proud of the way that GOLD is scoring excellent points while working as a proper team... We have maintained a full team and fully supported and encouraged each other to stay and work hard.

The other teams have leaked an amazing proportion of members. It is sad that they could not support and encourage each other to the same good effect. Checking the other team scores - there are only five people that are not already eliminated between both teams - while we have a full compliment of seven players.

Rather generous scaling rules as they currently stand on this current challenge could allow a single player to amass a higher total than we will collectively achieve. That is currently the situation. I know which team I believe has been more successful (or for that matter been a proper team).

I actually believe that there is a strong argument that says that the remnants of PLATINUM and VICTORY should be joined together to form a team of five players - and their total scaled up to give a seven player team... Naturally the single player in team PLATINUM hopes that will not be the case - and that Korrie will not return to her original team either.

 

[Steve21]

Rather generous scaling rules as they currently stand on this current challenge could allow a single player to amass a higher total than we will collectively achieve. That is currently the situation. I know which team I believe has been more successful (or for that matter been a proper team).

I actually believe that there is a strong argument that says that the remnants of PLATINUM and VICTORY should be joined together to form a team of five players - and their total scaled up to give a seven player team... Naturally the single player in team PLATINUM hopes that will not be the case - and that Korrie will not return to her original team either.

Honestly I think that's pretty poor Omega...

The same scaling has been applied since the start of the challenge, was even suggested by other members of the challenge, and has been fine until now.

So why would teams change on week 7-8 of a 10 week challenge? Just because it now affects the scores enough to matter as gold wouldn't be at the top?

If that's all that counts, just count me out of the team points, and gold can be on top, but please don't make it out like this is something I'm trying to make happen and don't want to merge teams just so my team is first. I wasn't the one who asked for scaling, nor the one who suggested that those who don't post were removed.

Steve

 

[Omega]

I just think that my team has acted more like a team than any of the other teams.

 

[Omega]

Oh, on an unrelated note - would anybody be interested in carrying this challenge on for, let's say, another three months, after this one is finished? Same concept, only that I wouldn't be able to offer any rewards to the winners (other than knowing that they lost weight and did something incredible, of course). Just checking if there is interest, because I definitely do want to carry on, and it's always more fun with others on the team.

Come to think of it San - you can probably count me out. I'd forgotten how sensitive people can get round here when people make logical comment on the way things go. I am best off elsewhere...

 

[Quercus]

We all agreed to scaling and You can't help being on a team of drop outs. I say we beat Team platinum and victory scaled or not. We can certainly do that. Please don't take offense Omega you've been huge help to me and I value your opinion even if we disagree in this instance.

I hope you'll reconsider the next contest as I'll be up for it for sure.

 

[Justina]

It's just a difference of opinion - so it's cool. You don't have to agree with what everyone else says - but you can respect it.
I respect what both Steve and Omega say.
Just like we all eat different kind of diets right?

Yeah - i m quite up for the next challenge too!!

 

[Justina]

LOL Justina - did I tell you about the time I went to Greece after I'd lost tons of weight... We had spent tons of time in a village there (spent two entire summers out there from spring to November)... Anyway we didnt go out in 2007 when I did my main weight loss... When I spoke to my friends on the phone I didnt tell them what I was doing... My friend Vicky phoned me the day before we travelled and we chatted and she said that she would not be in the village the next day but that I should call and get a key from her mother and we would see Vicky the day after...

Anyway we turned up in the village and I did think that Vicky's mother was a bit cold and distant... aloof... Anyway I saw Vicky the next day and it transpired that Vicky's mother thought that Rod had taken another woman on holiday... It was only when Vicky assured her that she had chatted to me on the phone and I was in the midst of packing and it was definitely that the penny dropped that it was me...

It was so funny... No-one recognised me... Old women were crossing themselves when they saw me... For me it had taken a long time - but for them it had effectively happened overnight because they had been thinking of me as a very big person until that minute...

It will be just the same for you. No-one will recognise you.

HAHA - this is a great story - thanks for sharing!!
I yo-yo-d so much in the past few years... gosh - but i hope to impress people this time!!

 

[Omega]

I think that morally we have beaten them because we are still a team. One person is not a team. It is a person. Steve clearly doesnt agree. His team is highly likely to be announced the winner.

Frankly - all that is of little consequence.

I do object most strongly to the suggestion that we should not discuss the situation or comment on the fact that there have been a record number of drop outs in the other teams. To a level that removes the relevance of the term "team". The fact is that other teams have clearly not been supporting each other and dragging them back to post if they havent filled in their scoresheet. We message each other, rep each other, congratulate and nag to earn points... If the other teams had done that they would not have lost the fellow team members... certainly not this level of loss... San has been bereived, injured and hospitalised but is still posting and still earning points for our team...

 

[Quercus]

I agree that it really does stink that do many have dropped. I believe there was a discussion of some reward or points bonus brought up by Korrie at one point. I don't recall what became of it.

Team gold has kicked butt the whole contest and if we don't win in the end it is a shame. I just don't see punishing someone that has stuck with it despite have no team support. Steve has done s lot of work with the scoring and stats as well.

Steve is as deserving of the win as team gold. Since there are no points for being a team all of us are competing against him x 7, but that's the rules.

I say we focus on overcoming his lead and whoever wins we will be winners.

 

[transparent]

Hi guys, just checking in, hope that everyone's doing great.

Well after a stellar week of eating just as much as I could to see if I could gain the weight to try and break through the plateau, guess what??? did not happen, weight still acting the fool, hopefully this weekend I will see progress or it'll mean... well I don't know what it'll mean, but it'll mean something.

So in order to get my points for today.... sorry guys, the exercise points for today's challenge is a bust, I did walk more than I would to get the regular exercise points, but did not have chance to get the mini-challenge points, I am beat, so here's my menu for today.

Exercise - walking - 1 point
Water intake - ~4C - 1 point
Menu
B: coffee, eggs, grits
S: boston creme donut
L: medium dominoes mushroom pizza slice (X2), coffee
S: boston creme donut
D: N/A (too stuffed, see above )
Calorie intake: (~1975)

So that's me, hopefully I will be able to do the skipping and squats in the morning.

 

[San2]

Okay, I have to admit that I am a little confused as to all the scaling stuff and whatnot. So my question is - how is the scaling done? Is it just taking one persons points and multiplying it by 7? Because in that case, that's extremely unfair - it's implying that every single person in the team would have been doing the same thing, and getting full points, every single week. That's unrealistic. The scaling should take fluctuations etc into account. As I don't know how it works, I don't want to say anything else, but it really makes me sad that something as good as this challenge should be ruined by what is essentially a formality.

I still want to have a continuation of this challenge, even though I am wondering whether to continue it as a team challenge. The problem is that there will always be people dropping out and causing problems, and as great as it is to have a team to support you, it is also rather frustrating if you work your hardest, but other people just drop out and leave you fighting on your own. So I would most likely continue the format, but turn it into a single person challenge. I think we are good enough at keeping each other motivated to do it that way.

In other news, I finally had a decent week. Really did well with my eating, and managed to keep up the exercise. I struggled with the hundreds as you wouldn't believe, but managed to get a decent amount together - I can definitely feel that in various parts of my body though. Could barely get out of bed yesterday! *lol*
So, I'm back under 350, which is nice.

Just wondering, what exactly counts towards this week's challenge? Just any kind of exercise that goes beyond the hour for the exercise challenge?

Edit:

My food log from yesterday:
2.5 ltrs of water/calorie free flavoured water
Breakfast: 2 slices of rye bread with 1 slice of ham and 1 slice of cheese
Lunch: - (couldn't be bothered)
Dinner: Chinese style mixed meat and mushrooms, egg fried rice

That's it.

Last thing - are we a week behind on challenges? I mean, Tasha was the one with the highest loss last week, but her challenge starts this week? I'm confuzzled.

 

[Steve21]

Okay, I have to admit that I am a little confused as to all the scaling stuff and whatnot. So my question is - how is the scaling done? Is it just taking one persons points and multiplying it by 7? Because in that case, that's extremely unfair - it's implying that every single person in the team would have been doing the same thing, and getting full points, every single week. That's unrealistic. The scaling should take fluctuations etc into account. As I don't know how it works, I don't want to say anything else, but it really makes me sad that something as good as this challenge should be ruined by what is essentially a formality.

I still want to have a continuation of this challenge, even though I am wondering whether to continue it as a team challenge. The problem is that there will always be people dropping out and causing problems, and as great as it is to have a team to support you, it is also rather frustrating if you work your hardest, but other people just drop out and leave you fighting on your own. So I would most likely continue the format, but turn it into a single person challenge. I think we are good enough at keeping each other motivated to do it that way.

I think the problem is the fact that it's been taken as an evil plot to win the challenge, as others dropped out which boosted the teams points to an extent it would be on top. As I've already said I'm more than happy not to be counted as a team if it's an issue, but I dislike the fact it's specifically being made out that I'm trying to cheat and win by using what was suggested by other members of the challenge, not myself. The exact scaling has been the same since the challenge started, ActiveTeam members multiplied up to 7 members (as gold had 7).

But as it seems it's still an issue with Omega it seems either option won't be accepted, so what else is there to do? Either count platinum, or don't, but there's nothing I can do about other members dropping out *shrugs*

Steve

 

[San2]

I don't see it as any plot or whatever, nor do I think that anybody is trying to boost teams or anything like that. If the rule was like that from the beginning, then that's how it is. I don't recall any discussion about scaling, but I wasn't there from the beginning, so again, I simply don't know.

Personally, I think if that was what was decided on, it was simply not a good decision, and for future contests of this kind, we should look at doing it differently. Simply multiplying by 7 does give people an unfair advantage if the rest of the team drops out - don't get me wrong, I am not blaming you, Steve, it's nothing you have any influence on, and you're in a shitty position due to the people who dropped out. It's just technically unfair to everybody else to assume that everybody in the team would have done exactly the same thing, gotten all their points etc. It never works like that, so the scaling should be done differently.

That said, for this challenge, my suggestion would be to combine the two teams that lost members, add up their points, take an average value, and use that value to scale for the missing members. Example: Combined, there are 5 active members in the team. For exercise, they get 9, 10, 14, 14 and 12 points. That's 59 points altogether. Divided by 5 members, that's 11.8 pts average. Add those 11.8 points for the missing members (so, 11.8 x 2 = 23.6). So you get 23.6 points added to scale for the missing team members.

That ONLY works if there are at least two people in a team though, that is why I would combine teams. That's only me and my humble opinion/idea though, not criticism or anything of the likes, so please, nobody take it the wrong way.

 

[Omega]

Last thing - are we a week behind on challenges? I mean, Tasha was the one with the highest loss last week, but her challenge starts this week? I'm confuzzled.

Tasha lost most in the week ended 1st so she announced the mini challenge which started yesterday.

crap lol thanks Omega

I'm going to do a 2 part mini challange
To skip a minimum of 10mins a day (its hard work) and do a minimum of 50 squats a day, 2 points per day if completed.

for 1 extra point per day you must log your food,exercise and water intake.
If you can't log on everyday make sure you write it down to updated when you can log in.

you can earn a extra 21 bonus points by completing this 2 part challenge

hope this is ok with everyone?

Sorry everyone I haven't been able to log back on till now
Alternative to the skipping either do 30 extra squats or for transparent if you do a extra half hr of any exercise you can still have the 2 points that's for anyone not able to do squats or skipping I have to be fair to everyone

I'm also sorry that the challenge wasn't posted till late but I didn't actually know I had to pick it sorry

 

[transparent]

Hi guys, just checking in this morning to check up on everyone.

So how is everyone doing? Hope we are all doing great. Just want to add in my 5 cents worth. I really joined the challenge to push myself. I just needed the extra motivation. The two weeks when I was the biggest loser I surprised myself because I never entered into this thinking I would win, I just wanted a push, something to look forward to.

What I am trying to say is that, I don't want us to lose sight of the goal by these few speed bumps in the way. The end line is reaching your goal weight, anything else is just scenery on the route. So let's not let who wins/scaling/dropping members cause us to lose sight of this. Since I doubt the majority of us will reach our goal weight by the end of this challenge lets not quabble about the lil stuff and focus on the big stuff, for me that 195-200lbs weight, worrying about anything else in the words of Sir Charles "is just uncivilised" (at least as it relates to me)

We have about two more weeks in this challenge, then were on to the next. We are here to encourage and motivate, that's the goal, please let's not lose sight of it.

 

[Omega]

But as it seems it's still an issue with Omega it seems either option won't be accepted, so what else is there to do? Either count platinum, or don't, but there's nothing I can do about other members dropping out *shrugs*

Steve

I never said that it was a plot.

What I actually said was

I actually believe that there is a strong argument that says that the remnants of PLATINUM and VICTORY should be joined together to form a team of five players - and their total scaled up to give a seven player team... Naturally the single player in team PLATINUM hopes that will not be the case - and that Korrie will not return to her original team either.

It is natural that Steve would hope that would not be the case.

I agree that according to the current rules - PLATINUM will take the challenge.

There are precedents where teams have been joined together to deal with drop outs.

Here is an example of teams being joined together:
http://weight-loss.fitness.com/threads/19959-The-Amazing-Race-Challenge-Determined-Divas-Team/page6

There has never been a precedent where a challenge runner has moved themselves out of one team that has gone on to lose all but one player.

I suspect that my use of the term generous regarding the scaling has been disliked. Any scaling is generous regarding all precedents of this style of challenge.

I understand from various friends that have been checking this forum in recent years that there have been very few challenges of this type running.

If anyone is in any doubt as to whether any use of scaling could be considered by old challenge players as San and myself as generous - they can check out an assortment of rules from the old challenges of this style.

Here are some examples:

http://weight-loss.fitness.com/threads/19757-Amazing-Race-Style-Challenge

4. Each week the team with the most weight loss will be safe from elimination. Teams will also get pts for weight loss. If there are 10 teams, the team with the most weight loss will get 10 pts, the 2nd place team will get 9pts on down to the team with the least amount of weight loss. That team will get 1pt.
5. Each week the team with the lowest pts may be eliminated. There will be 2 non-elimination weeks, but no one will know until the end of the week if it’s a non-elimination week or not (not even me). Unlike my previous challenges, points will not be carried over to the next week. All teams will start at 0pts at the beginning of each week.
6. Each week will start on Friday and end on Thursday. All teams must update their weekly progress and weigh in by midnight EST (GMT -5hrs) each Friday. (like the BLS Challenge) If a team fails to do so, they will not receive any pts for that week.

http://weight-loss.fitness.com/threads/19960-Summer-Solstice-Challenge-Red-Team-Thread

Here's how it works: Every Friday you will weigh-in. Please edit your original post with your weight instead of posting a new chart each week. This will make it easier for me to find. This will not only be the weigh-in thread, but this will be the thread that you can discuss things, and cheer each other on! Every Saturday after weigh-ins I will post who got eliminated. Eliminations work like this: Every week the 3 teams will weigh-in. The team with the highest weight loss percentage will keep all of their members. The other 2 teams will each lose 1 member. There will be a few non-elimination weeks throughout the challenge, but I will not announce them until the day eliminations will have been posted.

http://weight-loss.fitness.com/threads/17835-Biggest-Loser-Style-New-Year-s-Challenge-Sign-Ups

HOW IT WORKS:
1. There will be 3 teams of 12. The first 36 people with at least 20 posts to sign up will be placed on a team randomly.
2. Each week the two teams with the lowest amount of pts will lose the 3 people with the lowest amount of pts
3. Team pts will be weighted so as not to give teams with more members an advantage
4. At the end of week 4 there will be 12 people left. At that point the team phase will end and it will be individual until the end.
5. During the individual phase the 3 people with the lowest pts will be eliminated. During week 7 there will be 6 people left. At the end of that week, the person with the most pts will be the winner.
6. When a person is eliminated the team loses that person’s total pts. Only the points of the people who are still in it will carry over.
7. Sign ups will start Jan 1st. The challenge will start on Friday, January 4th and end on February 21st.
8. In the case of a tie, the person with fewer points that week will be eliminated. If there is a tie in the first week, the person with the lesser amount of weight loss (or most gained) will be the one eliminated.

HOW YOU GET POINTS
1. You’ll get 1pt for every pound you lose and -1pt for every pound you gain. If you lose .5lbs you’ll get a half point. If you gain .5lbs you’ll lose a half pt. If you gain .8lbs you’ll lose .8pts and you’ll get .2pts if you lose .2lbs. If your weight is the same from the previous week you’ll get 0pts
2. You’ll get 3pts for every 30min that you exercise each week for a max of 21pts per week. For every 30min you exercise beyond 210min, you’ll get 1 pt for a max of 3 additional pts. So 24pts total are available for exercising 5hrs each week.
3. Each week there will be 1 additional bonus that will be announced the Wednesday prior. The pts for these bonuses will vary from week to week.

Please note: due to the elimination factor of this challenge, your stats must be updated weekly by midnight EST (GMT-5hrs) Friday. If not, you will be considered eliminated (unless 3 people on your team also fail to log their stats and you have more pts than them--highly unlikely to occur, so please be timely.

If you'd like to join, please reply to this post.

Since none of these challenges suffered the level of drop outs that have been seen in the other teams - it does raise the issue of whether the scaling concept has worked to make teams act as teams.

As it happens - I have certainly no axe to grind or desire to manipulate things to win (which has been implied). Winning challenges means so little to me personally that I have a record of resigning from challenges on the last day to encourage others:

http://weight-loss.fitness.com/threads/32221-Summer-Shake-Up-Challenge-Chat-Thread/page32

I continue to believe that this team should be proud of doing this as a team. That is the point of a team challenge.

 

[San2]

Tasha lost most in the week ended 1st so she announced the mini challenge which started yesterday.

Yes, that's exactly what is confusing me. The weeks before, it was the person who lost the most that week who would announce the mini challenge for the commencing week. So the challenge from Tasha should have been for the week 1st to 8th of March, and the person deciding on this week's challenge (8th to 15th) should have been the person who lost the most on the March 8th weigh in...or am I totally confusing myself here??

 

[Omega]

Yes, that's exactly what is confusing me. The weeks before, it was the person who lost the most that week who would announce the mini challenge for the commencing week. So the challenge from Tasha should have been for the week 1st to 8th of March, and the person deciding on this week's challenge (8th to 15th) should have been the person who lost the most on the March 8th weigh in...or am I totally confusing myself here??

LOL - you are confusing yourself here...
There has been a one week gap every week... honest!

 

[San2]

Uhm....well, yeah, apparently. Sorry for the confusion. My brain quite obviously isn't fully cooperating with me today! *lol*