Welcome!
The booze part is tough, i’ve got no problem cleaning up my diet and getting strict until the IPA’s and red wine comes out. I just try to cut back during the week and use calorie free mixers.
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Alright gang, after getting the blessing from this thread’s esteemed creator, @HaveOuimet, I’d like to propose a v2.0 challenge if there is interest from those who missed out the first time or just want a second chance.
I know December sucks for a lot of people to start something like this, and I would hate to exclude any late comers - so if there are any ideas on how to make more of a rolling enrollment work let’s hear them.
I’m thinking maybe we could take this duel-style and have 1-on-1 challenges or “pods” with their own wagers. Or grouped by monthly sign-ups?
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Fat bastard buck reporting. 48 5’5 (on a good day) 247…Just started back to the gym and trying for a “dry” december (or at least until xmas when I can party with jesus). My biggest problem is the beer…the good stuff and lots of it. Knees are killing me, golf swing sucks, miserable with life. Hoping to drop 20 by the summer and maybe get to 200 by this time next year.
I’d be down for some type of accountability/ challenge.
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I’m not a big boy these days, but when I was in junior high I was 5"6 and 170…which is husky. I remember crying in a JC Penny the day I realized it. I accepted my plight for a few years, but got into soccer my freshman year of high school. Initially started casually, then I got serious and wanted to be better. The first thing to go was Coke (I’m from the south, it’s all Coke down there…even Sprite). I went cold-turkey on no soft drinks for two years; only water. Granted, I was also working out a lot and running sprints a LOT, but I got to 145 and have been between 140-145 since 2004.
I’m convinced that even if I hadn’t worked out at all, dropping soft drinks alone would have given me 10lbs back. That stuff is absolute poison. Delicious, delicious poison.
Good luck on your journey. Don’t get down on yourself on the days you slip, and embrace the really good days!
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Well, that’s certainly rock bottom lol.
Great job on keeping the weight off! The soda is a killer. I gave it up too. Now my problem is red wine. Delicious, delicious red wine.
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Skipping about 500 posts here because I have a flight to catch soon, but to those of you undertaking this - you can do it! I got up to nearly 200 at the end of last year. I was working full time as a consultant for a few years and flying every other week, which didn’t leave a lot of time for physical activity (barely played any golf as well). Started grad school in Sept 2018 and was still working, which was even more of a slog. So a year ago it was really showing.
Last january I started biking at least 5x a week (20-40 min sessions, high resistance on the pedals so I really had to push) and added other workouts with it a couple times each week. Cut my calorie intake to 1200-1500 a day. That’s cheap and easy to do on a bunch of $2-3 lean cuisine microwavables. If you need to cut beer calories, drink whiskey, or just don’t drink at all. By March, when I was headed on a ski trip, I was back down to 177 and hiking all over the place like I was 22 again. Kept the diet regime going into april and was at 170. As the weather warmed up I got back into golfing more as well, and that helped.
I’ve come up a bit again into the 180’s (#thanksgiving) but I’m feeling way, way better. I’m sure some folks also struggle with different metabolisms or other health conditions in a way I never did, but it’s always achievable one way or another. You got this!
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I’m glad I hit my low point at 13.
Red wine is a wonderful gift. I haven’t stopped drinking it and won’t! And I like @jandywlu suggestion too. Drop the beer and go for whiskey and that’ll help on calories too.
I’m in for this, need to lose about 30-40 pounds before Maxamania I at Rackham. Similar to you guise, I’ve been enjoying the red wine a little too much the past two years. Also, need to cut back the spending on Doordash/Uber Eats/Postmates, that stuff really adds up quickly. Monthly sign-ups on a Google doc seems like a good idea to me.
There’s a city in Georgia called Ball Ground because that’s where the Cherokee used to play against the Creek in their crazy lacrosse-like game (with hundreds of participants over huge areas.)
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Yeah, I’d be in. I knew I’d been letting things go a bit, but I’ve got a formal Christmas party to attend next weekend, so figured I’d better throw on my tux to see how tight it was gonna be. Let’s just say I really wish I didn’t have to spend the time and money this week buying another tuxedo.
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We are definitely planning on a second challenge, targeting New Years for start date.
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I own a tux too. Thicc tux owners unite!
I am starting today. I created a new tab on @HaveOuimet’s original google doc in the first post.
My proposal is this:
- Sign-ups accepted now through Jan. 2
- End date of May 15? That gives 4.5 months from cut-off, which is about what the first challenge ran (was that long enough? Could do June 1 just as easily)
- If you want to sign-up now as extra incentive through holiday season you should be allowed to list your current weight as your start weight, not your Jan 2 weight
- For those who participated in the first round, there should be some sort of accommodation to account for the percentage of weight already lost, but I’m probably not smart enough to figure out what that should be
- Also open to feedback/suggestions on how the monetary obligation portion worked for everyone?
Google doc is re-linked below. Feel free to add your names to the second tab whenever you are ready. I’m happy to be the administrator if everyone is comfortable with me doing so.
I think we should give it at least a week past New Years so we can get the New Years Resolutioners.
Hard disagree, the bar is the same for everyone, we’re not going to bring into question any personal info (are you already dieting, etc, etc).
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January 6 is a Monday, January 10 is that Friday. I’m cool with either as long as we are allowing starting weight to be registered now, since I can’t afford to wait to start getting my shit together (unless my office adopts a sweatpants are ok policy)
And, as a non-participant in round 1 I am definitely ok with everyone starting from where we are now, but I didn’t want to overlook the effort put in the first go-around.
Refuge Heavyweight Tour doesn’t support net championships
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I don’t know, man, this just rubs me the wrong way. Just start moving the needle now, the challenge will fall when it will.
I (we) want you to be healthy and make sustainable changes for the long term, that’s the goal here. Not to “win” a challenge or “have it start early” or whatever. This group is designed to help its members make better decisions, and that should be independent of whatever financial incentives (much, much stronger).
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For sure. No one would argue that. Similarly, not everyone is going to have the same “lose 12.5% weight” goal.
So maybe this next version of the challenge (do we even need to call it that?) lets people jump in when they are ready and set their own goals.
We talked about this for a while and set this as the minimum bar, you’re always welcome to raise the bar on yourself but you shouldn’t be allowed to lower it.
Anyone can jump in anytime, but there is going to be a hard date cutoff and a hard weight loss cutoff (both are minimums).
I’m with @anon26814599 on this. If you are going to have any sort of challenge component to this you’ve got to have a defined duration and minimum weight loss. If you’re not doing something that looks an awful lot like that, then it’s just a support group. Which would be fine, but it’s a different thing.
My only suggestion would be to give some thought to a somewhat shorter timeline, maybe 3 months? It gives you less time to procrastinate. If you do that, you would probably need to adjust the percentage too.