55 replies to this topic

[DonValentino]

Do we really need to take pictures of everything? Who here is going to cheat this contest for a neopets prize? If you want to make up data and say you lost 20 lbs in a week for a paintbrush then go for it lol.

I'd like to do the weight gaining portion and I'm cool with submitting how much weight I added to the bench each week or whatever but I'm probably not going to take pictures of anything. Maybe you could give like a bonus point if you include a picture as an incentive? That would be fine with me because I'd just be competing for the actual goal, not a prize.

[Prisca]

Do we really need to take pictures of everything? Who here is going to cheat this contest for a neopets prize? If you want to make up data and say you lost 20 lbs in a week for a paintbrush then go for it lol.

I'd like to do the weight gaining portion and I'm cool with submitting how much weight I added to the bench each week or whatever but I'm probably not going to take pictures of anything. Maybe you could give like a bonus point if you include a picture as an incentive? That would be fine with me because I'd just be competing for the actual goal, not a prize.

I agree, i feel as though submitting some kind of measurements or log should be suitable. Perhaps if (@Shannon) you felt as though someones submitted record was suspicious (for cheating or lying) you could request some photographic or video evidence? 

[Shannon]

Do we really need to take pictures of everything? Who here is going to cheat this contest for a neopets prize? If you want to make up data and say you lost 20 lbs in a week for a paintbrush then go for it lol.

I'd like to do the weight gaining portion and I'm cool with submitting how much weight I added to the bench each week or whatever but I'm probably not going to take pictures of anything. Maybe you could give like a bonus point if you include a picture as an incentive? That would be fine with me because I'd just be competing for the actual goal, not a prize.

If you're doing weight gain, you'd only need to take a picture of the scale each week. Normally I'd think pictures of every little meal or exercise would be frivolous but I've recieved a PM about last year's contest where a user expressed concern that someone's blatantly suspicious lack of activity/proof was discouraging because they ranked so far above the more active participants. I've found a workaround for that bit, but I want to avoid any issues like that for the other categories that are new this year. I'm still open to suggestion on everything, though.

 

I agree, i feel as though submitting some kind of measurements or log should be suitable. Perhaps if (@Shannon) you felt as though someones submitted record was suspicious (for cheating or lying) you could request some photographic or video evidence? 

Yeah, I think DV misread what I was saying because the weight loss/gain division (which some will use for bulking up/increasing muscle) would only require one or two pics a week, if the user wanted to participate that week. It's the people who'd want to really crack down on their meals, workouts, and whatnot that would probably need to show some sort of proof they're actually participating. I'm not in it for the prizes or to win, but that really drives some people and I want to make it fair as possible for them, y'know?

[Swar]

I don't have any new idea, but I wish you good luck. This is already looking too complicated lol

[masxed]

 Assuming the gainers are probably targeting muscle tissue we should probably judge based on both weight and body fat percentage. When somebody takes there weight and sees an increase the cause of the weight gained usually goes in this order from most common to least. Water > fat > muscle.

 

 On forms like bodybuilding.com anybody from amateurs to pros use these basic stats as a quage. Height, weight, bodyfat pecentage. 

 

 Here is a basic BF% chart.

Spoiler

   

 

 A few things I find problematic.

 

 1. Using lifts as a gauge: The amount somebody can lift is a test of strength, not body composition. For example some of the strongest power lifters out there look very small compared to bodybuilders since they train for strength rather than hypertrophy. Also pushing for 1 rep records can be dangerous so we woulden't want to push somebody over the edge. There is also a huge variety of lifts to judge by, using just the bench judges triceps and chest strength but without the dead lift and squat we would be missing two lifts out of the famed "big three" and ignoring our legs, lower back, abdominals, etc.

 

2. Considering bmi. Bmi is useful for your average person but can get confusing or inaccurate for others. According to my bmi I am obese at 9% bodyfat and 203 lbs. 

 

3. 8 weeks? For losing water weight on a treadmill, shaving 5-8 pounds of BF through diet and exercise, or increasing strength that is enough time. But for gaining muscle that is a very short window. Unless somebody is eating a LOT of the right foods, doing just the right training plan, getting a full night of sleep every night, supplementing, and has great hormone levels.. the before and after picture probably wouldn't show anything other than "pumped" muscles from the increased blood-flow during exercise.

 

 I'd say 12 weeks would give most people a fair chance though, and people who don't want to commit to the 12 weeks could always take breaks if need be.

 

 Hope this input helps in any way.

[Shannon]

I don't have any new idea, but I wish you good luck. This is already looking too complicated lol

Omg yes it is. On one hand, I want this to be as easy to participate in as possible because I want everyone to be healthy and happy, but on the other hand I want to prevent cheating because it bums people out when they're putting in work only to see someone not even trying shoot to the top of the scoreboard. Also, I know the neopoint prizes and FR diamonds or whatever aren't the draw to cheat. Some people are just narcissistic and want their name at #1. Crazy.

 

 Assuming the gainers are probably targeting muscle tissue we should probably judge based on both weight and body fat percentage. When somebody takes there weight and sees an increase the cause of the weight gained usually goes in this order from most common to least. Water > fat > muscle.

 

 On forms like bodybuilding.com anybody from amateurs to pros use these basic stats as a quage. Height, weight, bodyfat pecentage. 

 

 Here is a basic BF% chart.

Spoiler

   

 

 A few things I find problematic.

 

 1. Using lifts as a gauge: The amount somebody can lift is a test of strength, not body composition. For example some of the strongest power lifters out there look very small compared to bodybuilders since they train for strength rather than hypertrophy. Also pushing for 1 rep records can be dangerous so we woulden't want to push somebody over the edge. There is also a huge variety of lifts to judge by, using just the bench judges triceps and chest strength but without the dead lift and squat we would be missing two lifts out of the famed "big three" and ignoring our legs, lower back, abdominals, etc.

 

2. Considering bmi. Bmi is useful for your average person but can get confusing or inaccurate for others. According to my bmi I am obese at 9% bodyfat and 203 lbs. 

 

3. 8 weeks? For losing water weight on a treadmill, shaving 5-8 pounds of BF through diet and exercise, or increasing strength that is enough time. But for gaining muscle that is a very short window. Unless somebody is eating a LOT of the right foods, doing just the right training plan, getting a full night of sleep every night, supplementing, and has great hormone levels.. the before and after picture probably wouldn't show anything other than "pumped" muscles from the increased blood-flow during exercise.

 

 I'd say 12 weeks would give most people a fair chance though, and people who don't want to commit to the 12 weeks could always take breaks if need be.

 

 Hope this input helps in any way.

I'm also against the idea of ranking the amount someone can lift. There are people of all shapes and sizes on here so that simply wouldn't work. Same goes for BMI.

 

We could always do a continuation after the eight weeks for people who want to keep going, but maybe it would be in the form of a general chat thread until the next contest comes around. It really is going to be nuts to host this, simply judging by the first few hours of this thread, haha.

 

Your input definitely helps! Feel free to throw in any other ideas you have.

[Padme]

Do we really need to take pictures of everything? Who here is going to cheat this contest for a neopets prize? If you want to make up data and say you lost 20 lbs in a week for a paintbrush then go for it lol.

I'd like to do the weight gaining portion and I'm cool with submitting how much weight I added to the bench each week or whatever but I'm probably not going to take pictures of anything. Maybe you could give like a bonus point if you include a picture as an incentive? That would be fine with me because I'd just be competing for the actual goal, not a prize.

 

 

When have you ever had issues taking photos of yourself ;P 

 

I'm in and I offered to help Shannon wherever she needs it

[masxed]

I'm also against the idea of ranking the amount someone can lift. There are people of all shapes and sizes on here so that simply wouldn't work. Same goes for BMI.

 

We could always do a continuation after the eight weeks for people who want to keep going, but maybe it would be in the form of a general chat thread until the next contest comes around. It really is going to be nuts to host this, simply judging by the first few hours of this thread, haha.

 

Your input definitely helps! Feel free to throw in any other ideas you have.

 

  Lol I wish you goodluck hosting this!   I can only imagine..

 

 8 weeks could be too little time though, even for the biggest losers. From my experience as a personal trainer there aren't very many people who can make noticeable progress in a short period of time except kids who are on the better side of puberty, "enhanced" athletes and people with endless financial resources for food/supplements/flexible scheduling. As a general health guideline losing more than 1 pound of BF per week is usually seen as unsafe or excessive. Similarly the average male would be lucky to gain 9 pounds of muscle in a whole years worth of training and dieting.  But as long as everyone knows to pace themselves and have fun I think this contest will be awesome no matter what!

 

 Also I'd be happy to help review any results that seem suspicious late on in the contest! I know that part by itself could end up a real pain.  

[Shannon]

I'm in and I offered to help Shannon wherever she needs it

Girl you're gonna be my savior with this hahaha

 

  Lol I wish you goodluck hosting this!   I can only imagine..

 

 8 weeks could be too little time though, even for the biggest losers. From my experience as a personal trainer there aren't very many people who can make noticeable progress in a short period of time except kids who are on the better side of puberty, "enhanced" athletes and people with endless financial resources for food/supplements/flexible scheduling. As a general health guideline losing more than 1 pound of BF per week is usually seen as unsafe or excessive. Similarly the average male would be lucky to gain 9 pounds of muscle in a whole years worth of training and dieting.  But as long as everyone knows to pace themselves and have fun I think this contest will be awesome no matter what!

 

 Also I'd be happy to help review any results that seem suspicious late on in the contest! I know that part by itself could end up a real pain.

I'll definitely take that into consideration. I lose weight quite fast because of some health stuff, so my idea of enough time is definitely skewed haha. I'm sure we could definitely use a lot of your help with this, since you're a trainer. Any tips as the contest goes along would be great!

 

Thanks so much! I'll definitely run anything suspicious by you - I just have to maintain people's privacy.

[pancakeface]

Thanks for those with experience giving input! For those of us who are completely lost in this, some ideas about what to expect is really good.

 

Does anyone think it would be more practical to come up with a guide on developing like a mix of goals? Like maybe some criteria would be personal, some would be across the board. Like maybe everybody needs to walk 35k a week for 1 point. But you can have a personal goal to walk another 35k on top of that, and you get 1 point for it. Whereas, I choose a personal goal of doing 3 hours of yoga over the week, which also gives me 1 point. And if we both fulfill our own goals along with the group goal, we get 2 points each. It's entirely based on honor and honesty though.

 

Or maybe a ranking system, beginner; intermediate; advanced; ultimate. And there'd be a slight discussion about what is the minimum requirements to qualify for the respective ranks, tailor it a bit when you know who's applying for what rank and come to a majority agreement on how much improvement they want to see in what areas.

 

Idk. Like val, I'm doing it for me. So I'll be participating no matter how things go just to see if I can achieve something.

 

@Shannon and @Padme, good luck yall! This is already getting super complicated but also really cool to see how everyone has a good idea about what they want to achieve and being very vigilant to make sure it remains supportive and healthy.

[Trichomes]

I think everyone is making this a lot more complicated than it needs to be. I understand everyone has different health/fitness goals, but I really think the focus of this particular competition should be weight loss. I also don't really like the concept of submitting (body) pics, anonymous or not. The only thing I would suggest changing is the length of the competition to 8-9 weeks, since that's when everyone seemed to lose all motivation last year.

[Shannon]

I agree with others that making people take pics of themselves is not really a great idea. I think the scale method from last year was fine.

Ah okay this has become super confusing for no reason haha. The weight loss/gain portion would remain the same as last year. The only trouble is dealing with the possibility of some new divisions. But those wouldn't require pictures of people, just maybe their food or their gym with a "time stamp" paper. I don't want to ask so much from people, but I also want to prevent anyone from cheating themselves out of a healthy lifestyle.

100% open to more ideas about the possibility of the additional divisions.

[LittleBambi]

So much respect to all of you for being motivated enough to do this! I would never be able to. I should, but yeaaah I just know I wouldn't keep to the schedule.

[Rocket]

Just to be clear, for last year to make it fair I didn't require body pics of any sort. The only requirement was to submit a picture of you standing on the scale with a sign of your username. Basically I got a lot of feet pictures and that's it, there was no cheating, I made very sure that didn't happen.

 

i also agree that this should be kept as a "losing" contest, if someone wants to host a "gains" then I think that should be a separate entity.

 

that's my two cents.

[Shannon]

Just to be clear, for last year to make it fair I didn't require body pics of any sort. The only requirement was to submit a picture of you standing on the scale with a sign of your username. Basically I got a lot of feet pictures and that's it, there was no cheating, I made very sure that didn't happen.
 
i also agree that this should be kept as a "losing" contest, if someone wants to host a "gains" then I think that should be a separate entity.
 
that's my two cents.

Yup, that's all I'm asking for in the weight loss part. Nothing fancy. I'm definitely leaning towards just doing weight loss, because I can't see getting anywhere with the other divisions when some users flat out say they're not going follow any rules if it's too much work for them (looking at you, DV).

[Rocket]

Yup, that's all I'm asking for in the weight loss part. Nothing fancy. I'm definitely leaning towards just doing weight loss, because I can't see getting anywhere with the other divisions when some users flat out say they're not going follow any rules if it's too much work for them (looking at you, DV).

Basically if people aren't willing to give you the proof and info you need to follow the rules then they can do the competition themselves, without any prizes and not be counted in the official participant category.

[Shannon]

Basically if people aren't willing to give you the proof and info you need to follow the rules then they can do the competition themselves, without any prizes and not be counted in the official participant category.

Totally agree. I want to keep it fair for the people who really do thrive off of the competition aspect, and that means at least a picture of the scale every week. Not a big deal. Also, thank you for your bluntness, because I was trying to say the same thing haha.

[Swar]

As much as I would enjoy joining this to be more motivated to exercise, I think it should be only about weight loss, because it's "The Biggest Loser" after all. It's an award that I'll never get, but that's fine

[KaibaSama]

I would join again if we took out the divisions and just made it weight loss. I could use a bit of that, and some exercise, since I can't walk up a hill without panting. 

[Shannon]

As much as I would enjoy joining this to be more motivated to exercise, I think it should be only about weight loss, because it's "The Biggest Loser" after all. It's an award that I'll never get, but that's fine

You could always join and just focus on maintaining your weight!  The participation award doesn't require you to rank above others.

I would join again if we took out the divisions and just made it weight loss. I could use a bit of that, and some exercise, since I can't walk up a hill without panting.

Right there with you. I'm thinking we'll probably just stick to the weight section and anyone who wants to focus on the other stuff can do that separately.

[Guppie]

I really like that there's so much thoughtful discussion surrounding the planning of this event. I love that you guys are trying to keep this health-oriented and inclusive.

 

You guys are awesome

[Padme]

As for healthy eating, I'm willing to start a healthy eating thread where we can post photos or food logs if folks want. 

It can be for those not partaking and those not partaking if they want, just an ongoing thing? a good habit to get into!  

[Swar]

As for healthy eating, I'm willing to start a healthy eating thread where we can post photos or food logs if folks want. 
It can be for those not partaking and those not partaking if they want, just an ongoing thing? a good habit to get into!

I like this idea! I'll need help with food because I have no idea of what's good or not lol

[Shannon]

As for healthy eating, I'm willing to start a healthy eating thread where we can post photos or food logs if folks want. 
It can be for those not partaking and those not partaking if they want, just an ongoing thing? a good habit to get into!

Love this! And its even better because it'll be year round. Healthy eating 5ever