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The Stats
The one thing doing phase 1 of south beach and working out like a demon taught me was, "Shit, you mean I'm not going to lose weight by just saying I want to lose weight?!?!?"
Why this challenge? I've always felt a disconnect between what it takes to lose weight and actually losing weight. There is so much misinformation out there, I thought if I could break weight loss down to the simplest essence, burn calories, a collective fog will lift and things we do or don't do will make sense.
For instance, you go down to 1500 calories of daily eats, opt out of exercising and 7 days later only lost ½ a lb. Well, if you BMR says you need to eat 1800 calories to stay you same weight, and you've essentially cut 300, 300x7=2100 not quite a full lb burned.
Now you can slap yourself on the head and say, Ahhh, ok, I can either eat less, or can dust off the jump rope and try to burn some more calories.
Not sexy, not glamorous, but this is weight loss.
Remember I said this is bare bones, there are tons of other factors that you may actually lose more, but for the sake of the challenge and dealing with a varied group, I'm going to keep it really simple: burn 250 – 500 calories every day.
Does that make sense?
I'm thinking by making burning calories a conscious and deliberate effort, you are taking a direct approach in your weight loss efforts. If counting calories ain't your thing, see how long it'll take you to burn 500 calories via exercise, do that and bam, your done.
Or, if you already do NutriSystem, Weight Watchers, South Beach Diet, or any other preset eating program, eat on program for the entire day, and log in that you got your calories burned.
Get creative, make a game out of it. Anything that keeps you engaged and motivated, will also make you successful. You may not burn 250 calories today, but maybe tomorrow you'll burn 500. You know it takes 3500 calories burned to lose a 1lb, you have 7 days to make it happen, mix and match how you'll burn it and even if you fall short a lb lost, remember this is guestimating, your true loss may show up the following weigh in.
In this challenge it doesn't matter how much you currently weigh, or even how much you want to lose, each week the goal is to lose at least 1lb, some may lose more, some may lose less, but that's the group goal. You can fantasize about losing 5lbs the first week and I'll throw a bit of cold water on you to say, ok, 5x3500=17,500 calories burned…go for it…
Makes that 3500 seem a lot more doable don't it 
By the end of next week, the Pick Your Poison post will go up, where after a week of letting this challenge marinate in your head, you pick how you plan to burn your calories and what day is your official weigh in day. The following week, the daily check ins will begin and the weekly weigh in will start the week after.
Depending on how many people participate, if it's under 10, I can handle being head cheerleader, but if it's more, I'll set up a round robin way of support, where each person will either buddy up with another loser, or each commenter will cheer on the person who commented before them. I'll know more when I see how many are gonna play.
As for the next 16 weeks, the posting will look something like this:
Daily check in, weekly weigh in, calorie burning tips, success tips, recipes, food reviews, walking/running routine. And two topics just for fun, a weekly advice column, where I post questions I tend to get asked, and put it out for the group to answer, think of it as group Ann Landers and of course, any books or DVDs or fitness related swag I come across, I'll do a monthly give away.
Today is September 1st, let's get a 4 month head start on January 1st and resolve to lose some weight!
Tools To Use
During the Burn Calorie Burn Challenge, you'll track your calories burned on a daily basis. If you chose to cut back on food, figure out your BMR, subtract 250, and that's your caloric allotment for the day. Keep in mind it'll take about 2 weeks to lose a 1lb via that method, especially if you do nothing else. You can subtract 500 but if your calories are so low you'll end up rebelling, stick with 250 and lose weight at a nice and slow pace.
For those doing the calorie burn via exercise, most cardio machines spit out an estimate of how many calories you burned during your session. If they one you use doesn't do that, or you'll do other activities, like weight lifting or roller blading or rope jumping, this is a really good site to see how many calories you burn through various activities.
The challenge officially kicks off next week, though for the holiday weekend and the fact that I'm moving, means it really launches on Tuesday. Next week will be dedicated to coming up with a plan on how you want to lose weight and committing to one of the methods of burning calories. This challenge is meant to go along with what you are already doing, it's not going to tell everyone to eat a certain way or do this particular workout, for the most part people have their own routines. The challenge will just be a hub where you can log your daily doing and check out what other people are doing.
For the duration, as I come across tips to burn more calories, whether it's something to eat or not eat, or a new twist on a workout routine, I'll share that too.
And lastly, if you are feeling a bit overwhelmed, not sure what routine to do I have a few basic walking routines I'll share on a weekly basis, and you can use that as a guideline to getting physical.
Tomorrow, how stats will be tracked and what to expect in the next 16 weeks.
Burn Calorie Burn Pt 2
As mentioned yesterday, the Burn Calorie Burn Challenge, starts next week and lasts till the end of the year. The goal is to aim to burn 250-500 calories per day through diet, exercise or a combination of both.
You can pick how you plan to burn your calories, cut 250 from how you eat. Or, burn 500 during 3-4 workouts each week. It'll all be guestimating, but one thing I hope it'll do is take away the mystery of losing weight. If you cut 250 calories and by the end of the week, feeling like you did awesome on your diet, but the scale doesn't budge, adding it all up 250x7=1750 or 1/2 a lb.
Seeing it in black and white, may give you the oomph to keep up the good work during the next week and all things being perfect, at or around day 14 your 3500th calorie is burned.
Sounds long and tedious, but how many times have you started a week on a weight loss mission only to be disappointed by the lack of or slow movement on the scale? Rather than let emotions cloud your progress, let logic and numbers work for you.
Next week will be all about organization and planning. There'll be new buttons added below the smileys that you can click to log your calorie burn for the day. At the end of the week, add up all your clicks and see if it matches what the scale says.
Now a few things to keep in mind, especially for those like me that will do the calorie burn counting for exercise. I personally don't count calories, but do keep my eating reasonable. If your eating is out of hand, it'll wipe away any deficit you are holding onto. Just because you burned 700 calories on the elliptical, making your daily goal, doesn't mean you can go hog-wild at the buffet. 
For the duration of the challenge, I'll post articles and ideas for eating sensible and realistic workout routines.
If you are already doing a preset eating plan, like Weight Watchers, NutriSystem or South Beach, your calorie counting already has been done and at least 250 calories less. You can do the 250-500 calorie burn via exercise. Your results will be even more amazing.
The nature of the challenge is ongoing, you can jump in or out whenever. Reading it today, you may feel it's not for you, but a post Halloween candy binge may send you running to the computer looking for motivation, the challenge will be here and it's never too late to get started 
Burn Calorie Burn
The moment you've all been waiting for, a preview of the Labor Day to New Year's Day Challenge. Starting next Sunday, there are 16 weeks left in the year. If you go by the suggested weight loss goal per week, you can be 16-32lbs lighter by New Years Day.
Weigh 180 today? Say hello to 148-164 on January 1st.
I mean why not get a 4 month head start on the resolutioners and resolve to lose weight now. If nothing else, it gives you 4 months to figure out a system to really kick into high gear come January and you can spend the early months already on a roll shedding the last remaining lbs vs. starting over, again.
Here is the challenge to help you make that happen. I call this one, Burn Calorie Burn. Why?
Simple. The goal of this challenge is to lose weight by burning calories. Naturally you already knew that tidbit, this site attract such smart visitors. But, after going through the BMR research, it became clear to me, all medical conditions excluded, by burning the appropriate number of calories, on a consistent basis, the fat will burn off.
The best explanation I found for fat that hit home to me is, calories are nothing but energy, excess fat is stored energy, burn more than you have, you'll lose weight. Again, outstanding medical conditions aside, this should work for the masses.
So how does this challenge work? Read on.
There will be 3 groups, you simply pick the group you want to be in.
Burn 250 to 500 calories by eating less.
Burn 250 to 500 calories by working out.
Or, burn 250 to 500 calories by combining both.
What's the catch?
Well, some people hate exercise, they can opt to cut 250-500 calories out of their daily eats. 500 calories is harder to cut if your BMR suggests you eat 1800 calories, you'll be eating 1300 and most likely feeling miserable and deprived. If you cut 250, it'll take you about 2 weeks to lose 1lb. It's not fast results, but it's the fact:
250/3500 = 14 days
Or you can burn 250 to 500 via working out. In this group, you'll figure out how long it'll take you to approximately burn 250-500 calories and which exercise will make it happen. You can focus on food, but if you are like me and counting calories or worrying about food is annoying, sweating away the fat may be best.
The final group can opt to do both, they can figure, they'll eat 250 calories less, burn 250 and aim to lose 1lb in 1 week.
Those are the base numbers, surely you can lose more, but figure 7000 calories equals 2lbs. Burn that up through a combo of food and exercise, or if it's too daunting, aim for the 3500 calorie burn per week. Each day the mission is to burn 250 calories minimum, and we'll have a daily check in/shout out along the way. At the end of the week, we weigh in and will see if our daily deficit matches the scale. If it doesn't, simply go back to the drawing board and see how accurate your week really is.
And with all things, this is aproximate. Some weeks I work out like a demon and see the scale go up, or stay the same. What we are aiming for is being consistent and over time watching the daily deficit, add to up a loss.
That's the overview, tomorrow: breaking it down further. Later in the week, tools to use, how we track our stats, what each of the 16 weeks will bring.
Oh and I know next week is a short holiday week, at least in the States. The focus is not going to be jumping in and losing weight. Instead, we'll spend the week getting organized and coming up with a plan of attack to get through what I affectionately call, Holiday Eating Season™.
The Big F.A.T. Challenge
First rule of F.A.T. Challenge, no talking about lbs lost during F.A.T. Challenge
The sole focus of this 8 week challenge is to get healthy. While losing weight has numerous health benefits, I think, as a society, we are too tied to the scale. Now it doesn't mean you toss it out, I'm still tracking my weight week to week, it just means during the challenge, please don't make "I want to lose xxlbs in 8 weeks" or whoop it up that you lost 4lbs last week and the following week bum out that you gained 5.
Second rule of F.A.T. Challenge, anyone can join!
The stats we track are health related. Anyone can join in. You don't have to be overweight to participate. If you weigh 50lbs less than me, but I can outlast you on the elliptical machine, you my friend are out of shape. Join Up!
If you are at a "healthy" weight, but skip breakfast, eat fast food for lunch and can inhale an entire bag of Doritos while watching TV and consider the pumping action your arm does to cram the chips in your mouth to be your daily workout, you my friend are not very healthy. Join Up!
Challenge Goals
Looking at the challenge a different way, rather than make lofty goals, we are going to make 1. It won't be extreme, it'll be cutting back and replacing. For example, say you smoke 1 pack a day. Your goal will be to cut that in ½ and replace the other time you did smoke with something healthy. Maybe a glass of water instead, maybe a piece of fruit, or just walking up 1 flight of stairs.
If you don't work out, you won't jump in head first to 30 mins/3 times x a week. Instead, try for 10 mins 6 days a week and after a few weeks, add another 5 mins or so till you make it to 30, or more!
See what I'm getting at?
Your first homework assignment is very easy, spend the next few days thinking about your health, your families health, your friends health. If you keep going the way you are going now, what are you putting yourself at risk for?
Then think of 1 thing you can get a handle on and will focus on improving in spite of anything else. Even when the scale fluctuates back up, you will still drink your water because it keeps your skin soft and supple or will still walk 10 mins because your heart is benefiting.
When I get the challenge forum up, you can answer your "homework" assignment and/or list your 1 goal for the next 8 weeks. (Please don’t post them here, they'll get deleted and I'll ask you to repost them in the forum)
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Over the weekend I am going to set up a private forum for the challenge participants. The way the blog is set up, comments automatically close after a certain amount of days, and there are quite a few lurkers, which is really cool, I love that people read, commenting isn't necessary, but people doing the challenge may not feel comfortable listing their goals in public and may rather share their stories with others who are willing to talk about themselves too.
Challenge FAQs
These are some of the more commonly asked questions I’ve answered about the challenge. If your particular question/concern isn’t listed, leave it in the comments.
What is this challenge about? Why did it start?
What do the levels look like?
How do I get signed up? How does this work?
I forgot to check in or I missed a walk or I didn't lose weight or I missed a week. Will you be mad?
You guys are in week XX, I just found this site. Is it too late for me to join?
I hate walking, do I have to walk?
Do I need a blog, be on the FitRoll, WebRing or listed in the directory to participate?
Should I check with a doctor before I start this or any other exercise program?
Do I have to reveal my weight?
What's the real point of this?
What do I win?
When does it start/end?
Who are you?
Are you a doctor or trainer?
Can you give me specific exercise advice?
Why are you doing this?
What is this challenge about? Why did it start?
After seeing and participating in many one-shot challenges, I decided to start an ongoing one called The Fat Fighters Yearlong Fitness Challenge, FFYFC for short. It runs every 10 weeks and there are 3 levels, beginner, intermediate and advanced.
Roughly 5 challenges will go on this year. Conceivably you can start round 1 as a walker in the beginner program and by round 5 be a walker in the advanced program. Or start round 1 walking in the beginner program and by the end of the year, still working the beginner program but as a runner. It's very flexible.
What do the levels look like?
Read this post for specifics about the challenge and also to see what the levels look like.
How do I get signed up? How does this work?
For the purpose of the challenge, the week starts on Sunday. An entry listing the goals for week will be posted. If you wish, use that entry to check in by telling us what team you are on, beginner, advanced or intermediate. And as a bit of mental exercise, restate (commit) to how many walks you plan to do and that you will lose 1lb that week.
On Monday evening a check in entry will go up and stays at the top of the home page for the entire week. Use that entry to check in when you finished a walk or wait until Saturday to list all your walks in one shot.
I forgot to check in or I missed a walk or I didn't lose weight or I missed a week. Will you be mad?
Um. No. Life happens, It's why this challenge is yearlong. Don't worry about it. As for me being mad, we are all adults, I'm not going to chase anyone down for their stats or demand they check in. It's all optional. That being said, don’t avoid the place if you fell off track, though I understand why you may want to. Contact me offline, and I’ll try to motivate you back on track.
If you feel you have missed too much time and are wondering if you should scrap it all and wait till round 2, my advice would be to keep on going on. Go back to week 1 or 2 of your particular program and do that till the end. Don't let the habit you worked on building go to waste.
When the next round starts, you can synch back up with the group. Say we are in week 6, just keep doing week 1 or 2 for the remaining time of the current round. Something is way better than nothing.
You guys are in week XX and I just found this site. Is it too late for me to join?
Not necessarily. Look over the programs. Either join us in our current week or start with week 1 and follow along until we start the next round. This way you are still working out.
I hate walking, do I have to walk?
No. Some people are running, another will use an elliptical machine. Walking was just the safest exercise for a broad group of people to do. You can modify the exercise to do anything you see fit, swimming, biking, roller blading. The idea is to follow along week by week, if there are 3 walks for 15 minutes, ride your bike 3 times for 15 minutes, if you can.
Use the programs as guidelines. Notice how they increase a small bit each week and tailor those increases to your exercise program of choice. All the walking levels increase a ¼ mile/5 minutes every week or two.
That may be too much of an increase on say an elliptical machine. Instead you can increase it by 1/8 of a mile or 1 minute. Keep it reasonable and realistic and you'll keep at it.
Do I need a blog, be on the fitroll, webring or listed in the directory to participate?
No.
Should I check with a doctor before I start this or any other exercise program?
Yes.
Do I have to reveal my weight?
No.
What's the real point of this?
The point is to get people moving and if a group setting and challenge motivates them, they are in the right place. It's not about being perfect, or trying to keep up with others. Walk whatever level you are at. Stick with it for a few rounds and over time you will improve.
What do I win?
Round 1, your health. In future rounds prizes will be given away. I haven't decided what or how just yet. Round 1 is also a trial for me running a group challenge. No guarantee it’ll be in place by then, but by round 2 I'll have a better idea of how this all plays out and how to fairly give out awards or prizes. I’m not Oprah, you won’t be getting a car 
When does it start/end?
The dates are on the left side of the home page. As well as the week we are currently in. Each round last 10 weeks, there'll be a 1 week break for all to recover and a new round will start that following week.
Who are you?
Me? Why I'm Renee.
Are you a doctor or trainer?
No on both counts. I'll never be a doctor, but I am interested and becoming a certified personal training sometime this year.
Can you give me specific exercise advice?
No and I'd rather not. For one, I'm not certified nor can I evaluate some virtually. What I can do is help you make your goals doable vs. telling you to drop and give me 20. Your major goal may be to run 5 miles a day but you don't know how to break it down so you don't get overwhelmed. I can help you strategize and build up to it over time.
The difference is, I'm not telling you to run 5 miles to lose weight as a professional or doctor would. Rather you are coming to me with your own exercise program and just need help implementing it. Think of it in the same way as how life coaches help people get their personal lives in order.
Why are you doing this?
Over the years I've always had a weight loss blog and/or participated in some sort of exercise forum. I like challenges and group participation. This is a natural combination of the things I already like to do and now that I want to be a trainer, I can practice my motivational and organizational skills, albeit virtually.
More questions? Leave them in the comments, and be sure to check the “notify me of replies” box, as I’ll reply to all questions in the comments section. I'll add them to the master list later on.
FFYFC Intro
Welcome to the Fat Fighters Yearlong Fitness Challenge, FFYFC for short. Round 1 starts this Sunday 1/22. Over the weekend I’ll add more info on the left site for ongoing reference. Next week is dedicated to all things walking. Thing such as, warming up and cooling down, target heart rate, using a pedometer etc.
I was going to launch a forum to support the challenge, but for the near future, we can gab amongst ourselves in the comments. Especially since it appears that Round 1 will roughly have 10 folks or less, an entire forum will be pretty impersonal. Comments are more cozy. *If* this grows, the forum will be launched.
Who can join? Anyone! It is not limited to sites in the directory, on the fitroll or in the webring. Matter of fact, you don't even need to be a weight loss blogger, or even have a blog. If you want to lose weight, be active and do a structured program, you're in.
At first glance, as I was typing up the program from the walking booklet, it seems very doable & scalable. Something you can grow with overtime and tweak to challenge yourself when it gets too easy. The beginner’s program starts off with a goal of 15 minute /.75 miles/3 times per week walk. It gradually increases over the next 10 weeks and by week 10, the goal is 30 minutes/2 miles/4 times per week.
What I like most is that it doesn’t jump you right into the 30 minutes 3 x a week level; instead it gradually gets you there over the course of 2 months.
Once you “graduated” from the beginners program, you can try week 1 of the intermediate program. That one starts you off with 25 minutes/1.25 miles/4 times per week. By the week 10, you’ll be walking 50 minutes/3.25 miles/5 times per week.
And finally, for the more fit or after another round or two of the intermediate program, you can try the advanced program. In week 1 you start with 35 minutes/2 miles/4 times per week. By week 10 you’ll be walking 60 minutes/4 miles/5 times per week.
Ideally, if you do all 3 programs back to back, by the end of 30 weeks/6 months which is around July, you would have gone from walking 15 minutes 3 times to walking 60 minutes 5 times a week.
Excess weight can not survive in that climate
Over the weekend I’ll also add some downloadable documents that you can print out for home use.
The documents will include the walking program you see here as well as a weekly checklist for you to tick off what you’ve done. Oh and at the top of each checklist is a 1 line pledge, vowing to finish the program. Granted you do sign & date it like a contract, but if you have extenuating circumstances or simply no longer want to do this, you won’t be sued by me
Speaking of sue, now that I’ve agreed not to sue you, please make a mental note not to do the same to me. Agreeing to and following this program on your on accord implies that you have seen a doctor who has given you the ok to do such an exercise program. As you all know, I’m not a doctor or trainer, the information I provide is simply reprinted from an existing book, not unlike searching the web for a walking program. All I’m truly providing is a space for people to come together and record their weekly progress. Since you know your circumstances better than I ever will, you are free to modify anything listed as you see fit. Rather use the weekly format to run or bike? Have at it. We'll cheer you on every step of the way.
Now that the pseudo legalese is out of the way, let’s see what these programs look like:
The Beginner Program
If you are fairly inactive, overweight or recovering from an illness, starting with the beginner program may be best.
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The Intermediate Program
If your doctor informs you that you are physically fit and you already take part in a regular exercise routine, the following intermediate program may be recommended for you.
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The Advanced Program
If you are in excellent physical shape and already have a regular walking routine, the advanced program may be recommended for you.
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As for how I’ll run it on the site.
Every Sunday starts the week, you have the next 7 days to get your walks in, if you miss a walk or week, it’s up to you if you want to repeat it or just move along. Whatever you feel most comfortable with. If at any point you feel like you missed too much time, or the group is in week 8 and you can’t keep up, my suggestion would be, go back to the week 1, or the last week you successfully finished, of your program till a new round starts.
For instance, say you are doing beginner program and wham in week 4 you get sidetracked until week 6. You’re wondering if you should just chuck it and wait for the next round, I say keep the habit going by using the last 3 weeks repeating an earlier week. It’s not a race or competition, the end result is the same for all of us, be consistently active 3 or more times a week so we can lose weight. Every little minute towards that goal, helps.
On Saturdays there’ll be a weekly wrap up/check in post, where you can brag that you got all your walks in, or sob about anything that kept you from walking.
On Sundays I’ll post the week we are currently working on and the goal for each program. In the comments you’ll reply with only two things. Remember earlier this week I had a post about writing yourself thin? On Sunday you’ll write 1) that you will lose 1lb that week and 2) that you will walk xx, where xx is your walking goal from the program. That’s it. It’s more an exercise in mind over matter, to get you mentally prepared for the week ahead.
Ok this post was crazy long 
. I’m done here for the day. See you guys tomorrow.
