Jonathan

Welp, confession time! I'm up a pound. That's actually better than I thought it would be. I get my first fill on Thursday, and I'm definitly going through the "last meal" stage again. But, screw it. Thursday will be here soon =)

Yeah, it's all just whole numbers But look at it this way -- you're only .1 lbs away from showing a 1 lb loss =) If only they were all like that!!

236? Last week you reported 237, so that would be a loss, not a gain!

It's just a body fat test. When you determine what your body fat is, you can determine what your lean muscle mass is. Let's say you weigh 300 lbs, and your body fat is 50%. That means you have 150 fat pounds, and 150 lean body mass pounds. If you lose 100 lbs (now weighing 200 lbs) and then are 20% body fat, you have 160 lean body mass lbs, and 40 fat lbs. So, even though the scale shows you've lost 100 lbs, you've really lost 110 lbs of fat, and put on 10 lbs of muscle. (At least, that's how the measurements work.) Keep in mind that scales that do body fat measurements work on hydration levels in your body, so you need to use them at the same time every day (hoping for the same hydration level) for them to be accurate over any short periods of time. (I'm sure the one at the doctor's office is of a higher quality, and thus more accurate than a $40 scale you'd buy for home.) The caliper tests are pretty accurate if the person using them knows what they're doing. And, of course, the submersion tests are very accurate. Jonathan

It's TOTALLY your choice. You do what you think will help YOU the most -- not what you think will help US the most.

Ok! That'll work. =)

We now have 25 participants. I still need to hear from Becca, Betty, Illsucceed and Nancy, unless I've either missed their posts, or didn't know they already replied under their username (and I didn't know their real name). I think next time I'll just use the usernames instead of real/nick names. Jonathan

March 10th? We're doing weekly Monday weigh-ins, and the end date is June 1st.

I want to root for Anthony, but he was off tonight. They were too nice to him. He had pitch problems the entire time (even the final note) and I don't think he "brought it back" at all. I think Bo was the best tonight -- I just don't know if rock 'n roll can get it done over all. I'm interested to see how he does when he's forced into some other genres. My suspiscion is that he'll pull it off. But I do have to say, I'm utterly in LOVE with Carrie Underwood.

I watch it, but I'm a little more interested in the girls =)

Whoops.. just missed the post I guess =)

Done =) We're up to 18. Becca, Becky, Betty, Illsucceed, Jamie, Nancy, and Wade all need to check in. Jonathan

I have everyone's weight in that has posted it. Hey guys, if you think of a feature that would be cool to add to the display, let me know... I'm enjoying the development. You can now sort by name, weight, or weight loss, just by clicking the table header. I've also added other stats, like total weight lost, average per person, etc. You can view the challenge info by going to: http://www.waistingaway.com/wlc Jonathan

I'll update it. All that matters is your starting weight for the CHALLENGE, which will be 262. Great job so far, by the way =)

But there's so much handicap to having that Y chromosome everywhere else :cool: There's the selective hearing loss, the inability to change diapers, etc. =) The *99 side-challenege is a go, Zoe =) I hope we both tie...soon!

Ok, it's updated with what I have so far. Some of you indicated your weight to the tenth's. I always omit the decimal when I report my weight. So, as long as I'm 299.9, I'm 299. That's the way I wrote the software -- using integers instead of floats (er, that just means it won't accept the decimal places). I can change it, if people want me to... Jonathan

I'll have the site updated sometime shortly after lunch. =) Maybe before even...

I'm up 5 :cool: I need a fill, badly. 315 for me. Jonathan

I wrote a new mambo component (mambo is the content management sytem I use on my website) to handle a weight loss challenge. You can view my "test data" here: http://www.waistingaway.com/index.php?option=com_wlc&Itemid=50 or go to http://www.waistingaway.com and click on "Weight Loss Challenge". Like I said, if you want, we can just link to this. It will be easy for me to update, since it's all done through a control panel. In fact, if Paula wants to help, I can give her access to it and she can update it too -- or I can do it, I don't care. =) Having the list here would be nice too, but HTML is turned off, so we wouldn't be able to use tables to make it pretty. Trying to import an excel spreadsheet might work, but I'm not sure if the spacing would look right. But, whatever =) Jonathan

Since everyone keeps saying "what rules do we want" and nobody's saying what rules we want, I'll start with an idea, and you can all tell me to be quiet. (That's how the male-female relationship works at my house anyway =) ) I suggest we do monday morning weigh-ins. You can either start your weight at whatever your weight is monday morning, or you can start at "0" if you don't want to disclose your weight. Then each week, we'll keep track of your weight and the weight change, or, just the weight change, depending upon your personal preference. June 1st is a Wednesday, so we'll have the Monday weigh-in that week, then a final weigh-in Wednesday morning. If you guys want, I can set up a page on my website with everyone in the challenge and update the challenge on a weekly basis. Then maybe we can sticky this thread, put the link on the first post in it, and use it to update. That way when you click on the thread, you need only click on the link in the first post to see the current status. Are any other "rules" needed? Jonathan

Is there something we can do to make it fair? Multiply (or divide) my weightloss by some ratio? Maybe guys have to lose 3 lbs for every 2 the girls do? Or 2 for 1?

I'm in, if guys are allowed to join =) 12 lbs will put me under 300 for only the 2nd time in the past 13 years. I figure I'll have a pretty hard time until March 10th when I get my first fill, then I should be on track... Jonathan

I think most morbidly obese people would agree, on the surface, with the statement "I'm miserable because I'm fat". I also think most morbidly obese people would agree, after reflection, that the truth is, "I'm fat because I'm miserable". Or, optimistically, "I'm fat because I *was* miserable, and I developed eating and lifestyle habits that led me to where I am now." It feels kind of "cheap" telling my "story" in a post on a forum, because it took me over 3 years of therapy and a LOT of soul searching to understand why I am the way I am. And I'm not sure knowing has helped much. (In fact, in OA/AA programs they say, "Self knowledge avails us nothing." But that's a discussion for another post.) My mother abandoned me when I was 11 months old. I was adopted by WONDERFUL parents who gave me a far, far better life than I would have had. But I've come to realize that I developed a severe fear of abandonment, and for some reason, the emotional/physical "high" I got from eating abated that fear. Although I am at an age where fear of abandoment is irrational, I have not been able to overcome the eating habits I learned over the course of my life. Nor have I, as of yet (though I suspect I'm on my way, thanks to the band), been able to break my addiction to whatever physiological response my body goes through when I eat foods in large quantities. As far as your post, DeLarla, I'm with you in every way. My biological father is a non-functional alcoholic and my brother is bi-polar. I can only assume some mental disorder from the woman who left her 2 1/2 year old and 11 month old child and never looked back. And I do my food damage (even now) after 7 PM. I'm great during the day -- controlled, responsible. When night comes, all I want to do from dinner until the time I go to bed is eat. Jonathan

It could also be the 10cm 4cc band. There are 4 sizes of INAMED bands... 9.75 cm, 10 cm, 11 cm, and "Vanguard". The 10 cm band is the most commonly used of the INAMED bands today (or, at least, my doctor tells me), and holds 4 cc's of saline. The 9.75 cm band also holds 4 cc of saline. The 11cm band holds 9 cc's of saline. The Vanguard band holds 10 cc's of saline. From what I can tell, the Vanguard band is normally used for those with BMI's of over 50.

Betty 54 Paula 43 Kelly 65 Becky 77 Carol 102 Alex 110 Nana 49 Rich 20 Larae 22 Maureen 73 Marie 56 Wyld Blu 73 Penni 54 Vera 60 Darcy 59 Kelly 39 michelle 135 mary 65.4 greg 77 Sharon 35 Tricia 60 Darcey 23 cindy 88 Melissa 39 Michelle 80 Jonathan 27 Lisa 70 Lauren 23 Babs in TX 150 Bright 82 Jamie 5 Megan 60 Katie 29 Bobby H. 46 Estela 23 Angela 37.5 Terri 43 Teresa 86 Kristie 187 Total 2426.9