[pamatga]

This is an open invitation to all 3FC (and roosters too) to join a structured 8 week weight loss challenge. The first one of 2014 will start on the first Monday of January which is January 6th. The weight loss tool that we will be using throughout the 8 weeks is an excel spreadsheet which has everything that you will need to "tick off" during the time you are participating in the challenge. It will include both diet and exercise.

Caveat: I am NOT a personal trainer nor a professional. I have participated in this same 8 week challenge, which will run concurrently throughout the calendar year, in the past. If you work it, you will see results. Also, I am NOT the originator of this "boot camp" challenge. It was created by a fellow weight loss person years ago and I have tweaked it since I have lead this challenge in 2013. However, I have not altered the "meat n potatoes" of the program; just some site references since I was leading it on another online weight loss site.

Disclaimer: Prior to accepting this challenge, if you have any serious health issues, please check with your personal doctor or trainer before becoming involved with this challenge. To make this so it is "user-friendly", it is up to you to choose a healthy weight loss food plan. I am NOT endorsing any particular food plan since I believe that "one size does NOT fit all!"

However, the rest of the program is both "common sense" (which I didn't always have when it came to losing weight) as well as "conventional wisdom". We are NOT reinventing the wheel here! There is no Magic Bullet in this challenge. The results you get are from "showing up" and "walking the walk" day in and day out.

Requirement: Report weekly to this thread once a week on Mondays. You will report your weekly weigh in as well as how you did the previous week with the "challenges" that week. You can be as brief or as lengthy as you wish.

IF you are involved in another group here or another site and your weekly weigh-in date is other than Mondays, you may report that provided you mention which day of the week you are reporting. I will make a note of this when I am tallying each weekly's results. Please be fair and only post your weight once a week, wherever that falls. Also, please have your weekly weights in by Tuesday evening 5 p.m. EST (unless illness, family emergency or traveling but let me know) so that I can tally the results for the entire group and then post the weekly results on Wednesday by 5 p.m. EST (ideally).

If there is a tie between people, the person with the most percentage of body weight lost will be that week's winner. I do like to award a prize of some kind by the end of the 8 weeks so this is why I ask for the weekly weigh in reports and why I keep track.

In order to receive the excel spreadsheet, please provide me in a PM (private message) with an e-mail that I can mail it to you as an attachment. We start on January 6th.

Good luck all! Pamatga (Pam)

[pamatga]

FYI: new challenge starting here for 2014 this coming Monday, January 6th.

For those people who PM me and provided an email address, I sent you the excel spreadsheet for the upcoming challenge. Please return here to report your first weekly weigh in on Monday January 6th and to start the discussion thread.


I look forward to meeting you all.

Pam

[Bluenose79]

Hi

How do I pm you?

Thanks

Donna x

[wannaskipandlaugh]

PAM... I think I will watch this one (8 weeks) and try and join the next one. This way I can see how this works! and maybe get more computer literate! LOL

Thank you and I will come and watch everyone meet their goals!

[pamatga]

bluenose79: I see that you just joined 3FC so you won't be able to give or receive PM(private messages) until the end of the month. However, "no problem", just show up here until you can get the spreadsheet and I will give you a recap of what we are all doing week by week.

Once you have made it 21 days, when you want to send someone a PM (private message) just click on their username (highlighted in blue) shown in their post and it will bring up an empty message box for you to write and send a PM. Then, the next time that you sign on, usually (I do anyway) you will get a pop up box that says you have unread messages. You follow the prompts and then you can take it from there.

sue(wannaskip) and bluenose: If you both want to still follow this then do the following below:

1) The first thing you need to do is post your first weekly weigh in this coming Monday or Sunday night if your work schedule makes it necessary.

2)Then, take measurements of these key areas: bust, upper arm, waist, hips, upper thighs and calves. Post those. You will take these same measurements again on Week 4 and then finally on Week 8.

I will be here on Sunday and post mine first so everyone will know the format. It is simple and I will explain everything.

I look forward to all of you who have shown interest in this. I will be running this 8 week structured weight loss challenge for the entire calendar year.

Let's lose some weight, y'all!

Pam

[pamatga]

Tomorrow starts the "Moving Forward" Structured 8 Week Weight Loss Challenge!"

Please post your initial weekly weigh in tomorrow as well as your measurements:

Use this format- (here is mine for an example to follow)

Current Weight(CW): 245.2 lbs.

Measurements needed:
Height –5" 6.5" (medium frame)
Upper Arm (at the largest part) – 15"
Bust – 51"
Waist (at your belly button) – 47"
Hips (at the widest part) – 51"
Upper Thigh – (at the largest part) - 27"
Calf - 16" (thickest part)

For those of you who have shown an interest in this and requested a spreadsheet to follow this weight loss program, turn to Week 1. You can record your efforts daily. I would not wait longer than 2 days to fill it in because memory is one of those things that plays tricks on us. We "think" we may have done something but then again we "may not have" either.

For those of you who have shown an interest but for one reason or another do not have a spreadsheet, still check in on Monday. I will summarize what you will be keeping track of each day and for the week. The advantage of having the spreadsheet is that you can just check it off once completed. Also, it does all the math for you.

At the end of each week, preferably on Sunday, you will report your efforts for the previous week. You can also choose to report them along with your weekly weigh in on Mondays. In the interest of keeping the bookkeeping going, please do not wait any later than Tuesday at NOON. I like to report each previous week's numbers by Wednesday. This way you see how you are doing in relation to your fellow "chickie".

The "tradition" with this structured 8 week weight loss challenge is that there are prizes awarded for the three categories. I am going to continue that but in order to qualify you must report your weekly results every week.

3 separate prizes will be awarded (a gift card from Subway that I will provide) for:

1) most points ( you will see that as you work the worksheet)
2) most steps (you will need to begin wearing a pedometer every day)
3) most weight loss.

In the last bullet if there is a tie than the deciding "winner" will be the person who has lost more body fat percentage. For example, two people both loss 10 lbs but one has 10% body fat loss and the other has 9.5% body fat loss, then the first one wins.

So, welcome again and I look forward to working this program with y'all!

Pam

[Em Coconut]

Pam, thank you for starting this! It's such a great motivation to get back on track

Here are my starting measurements:

Current weight: 245.3

Height –5'4.5" (Large frame)
Upper Arm (at the largest part) – 15.5"
Bust – 45.5"
Waist (at your belly button) – 44.5"
Hips (at the widest part) – 52"
Upper Thigh – (at the largest part) - 27.5"
Calf - 18.5" (thickest part)


Good luck in the first week, everyone!

[Natasha567]

Hello!
I'm Natasha and I'm excited I found this site and hoping to make some weight loss goals and reach them but more importantly to motivate and be motivated by a supportive group. I'm looking to lose about 35lbs and tone and firm to get to my pre pregnancy body. Even though I don't have excel sheet to work of off, hope you don't mind that I still jump in. I will post tomorrow all measurements
Let's do this!

[pamatga]

Good day everyone!

all newbies to the 3FC site as well as to this 2014 8 Week Weight Loss Challenge. For those of you who are "brand new" and can not give or receive PMs (and therefore can't send me an email address to receive the spreadsheet) "No Problem!" I will outline each week's "challenges" and then you can follow along until you can receive the spreadsheet. I do not want anyone to lose out on the benefits of this structured program. "It will work if you work it!"

Week 1's Assignment:

Post your initial weigh in today and no later than tomorrow. I will relax this rule the first week ONLY. Post your measurements as well. If you don't feel comfortable sharing them in a group then at least keep them handy for yourself to review. We will be remeasuring again for Week 4 and then on the last day of the challenge.

Top O' List: Exercise Minutes Goal for January: 1000 minutes!

Every Week's Daily Challenges:
[Note: these will remain the same throughout the 8 weeks]

1) Drink 8-10 cups of H20 (64 -80 oz.)
2) Stay within a specific calorie range-follow a reputable proven food plan.
3) Measure ALL food and/or drinks w. calories-use measuring cups/ spoons.
4)Track your food min. of 3x per week. Can use any app or device or plain paper. You will also be writing down calories. There are many sites available that have free apps for this and will do the math for you.
5) Post to this thread ONCE A WEEK-MONDAYS FOR WEIGH IN-REQUIRED to be eligible for prizes awarded at end of challenge.
6) Take a good multi-vitamin and any other supplements you wish.
7) Cardio conditioning-your choice min 3x a week- max 5-6x a week.
8) Building muscles and getting strong!- alternate days and/or body parts. Do NOT exercise same muscle groups two consecutive days in a row!
9) Count those Steps-must wear a pedometer or other tracking app for this.

10) Weekly Challenges: these will change week to week.

Week #1 "weekly challenges" are:

1) create a "clean" kitchen. This means clearing out all of those foods which will not support your new lifestyle. This includes all "empty calories" (meaning nutrient poor-yes, chips and candy count!) and replacing them with whole foods (think of complete nutrition all wrapped up in an apple, banana, an egg, a slice of turkey, etc.)

2) track your exercises on an app or Fitness Tracker. There are plenty of free sites to choose from. If you don't know of any, ask a friend or here. We can lead you to find some good ones for you to use.

When you look at this initially, this seems like a lot of "work" BUT stick with it and you will see the kind of results that you have always wanted. It is all about creating good healthy habits that you will use for the rest of your life.

Be patient with yourself. No one expects you to be "perfect". These are guidelines for losing weight and getting fit. Think of when you were learning to ride a bike or drive a car. At first, it will seem mechanical but one day you will "just do it" without realizing that you have created a new (and hopefully lasting) habit.

WE CAN DO THIS! Pam

P.S. I will compile a list of participants on Wednesday after the "dust has settled" so you will know who all has showed up for this challenge.

[diyana]

I want to join the challenge. I'll post my weight and measurements tonight.

[Natasha567]

Current Weight(CW): 166.2

Measurements needed:
Height –5'1" (medium frame)
Upper Arm (at the largest part) – 14"
Bust – 42"
Waist (at your belly button) – 40"
Hips (at the widest part) – 43.5"
Upper Thigh – (at the largest part) - 25.5"
Calf - 15" (thickest part)

Exercise minutes
1/6-70minutes

[jitterfish]

Sorry for delay, I've been away on vacation. I am looking at the spreadsheet, it starts on Fri, do you want us to start on Mon or back track to Fri? Also for the steppin line, do we just put 100 if we do more than 5000? Or are we suppose to put in the number of steps?

CW: 80.4kg

Measurments
Height: 164cm
Upper Arm: 37.5cm
Bust: 99.5cm
Waist: 115cm
Hips: 112cm
Upper Thigh: 66cm
Calf: 43cm

Exercise min goal: 400min

[Rated]

Current Weight(CW): 171.4 lbs.

Measurements needed:
Height –5' 2" (medium frame)
Upper Arm (at the largest part) – 12.5
Bust – 40.5"
Waist (at your belly button) – 35"
Hips (at the widest part) – 45.5
Upper Thigh – (at the largest part) - 27.75"
Calf - 16" (thickest part) 16.5

[pamatga]

Please fill in your numbers (only) of what you did in the shaded blue areas. This is linked to the formulas for each cell and then will do the adding for you. Also, I have sent multiple copies of this out. If one of yours is filled in some spots please erase it and fill in your efforts.

Also, if you do the suggested individual strength exercises, put your numbers in the corresponding light orange boxes.

The only boxes that are left white are Daily Point Total. Do NOT fill in anything here since the sheet should be filling these in for you. All you have to do is fill in each shaded blue box with what you did that day only. If you follow the line across the last white box will have your weekly totals for that particular "challenge".

Also, at the end of the week, where it says "Weekly Weight In at end of Wk 1" it has a shaded blue box. Put your weight in here.

Scroll up to the upper right hand corner and you can see your totals being added up throughout the week. As we get closer to the end of the week, I will ask for these numbers when you report in next Monday.

This is a numbers worksheet. Do not put comments in any of the boxes since the formulas are math-based and will not "read" your words. For example: if you drank 8 cups of water, put 8, not eight. If you did 30 reps of crunches, put 30 not thirty. You can make comments but put outside of the working cells.

If you have any additional questions, please continue to ask.

Have a great day, all!

Pam

[Rated]

How is everyone doing so far?

I am still sorting my way through the spreadsheet but I am really excited. I feel like this structure is exactly what I need. I planned to start c25K and New rules for weight lifting for women and so far I have successfully completed workout one for each program. I have been bang on with my calories with a 1000 calorie deficit each day.