I’m still pondering our next competition, which will hopefully begin next Monday, February 19th, and I have a question.
What would you think of a competition where you paid a five dollar entry fee which would then be pooled (pun very intended) to furnish a new swimsuit for the winner? In the form of a gift card to Lands End, that is, as they have great quality and an outstanding selection of styles.
The criteria for the contest are yet to be determined, but I like the Biggest Loser idea. (Using percentages, of course, to give everyone as fair a shot as possible) Another idea is to have certain targets that, if acheived, give people tickets into a drawing for the final prize. Like - 14 or more exercise points in a week. Or five days in a week where you had at least five servings of fruits/vegetables…. I dunno might be too complicated. 
Anyway - what do you think of the entry fee/big prize idea?
p.s. I don’t know about you, but I hit a personal best for exercise this week! Woo Hoo!
I like prizes and competitions. But that is just me.
Comment by Leigh Ann — February 11, 2007 @ 7:34 pm
Dear Drill Sargeant BWS,
I think too many criteria gets too complicated. I like the Biggest Loser idea (granted, it was mine) but maybe think it could be fun to choose one additional criteria (I like the fruits/veggies idea) that gives you an additional “loss” of a certain % (ex: if you eat 5+ servings of fruits/veggies xx days out of 7, your -1.5% weight loss becomes a -2.0% weight loss — or for every day you eat 5+ servings, you get an additional -0.1% loss). I’m not sure what extra “loss” % makes it fair, but I know you can figure it out
How would the entry fee thing work? I’d be up for $5.
Comment by Anne — February 11, 2007 @ 8:40 pm
Sounds cool…the entry fee idea. I’ll do whatever, I’m terribly easy to please!
I likey contests!
Comment by Bethany — February 11, 2007 @ 8:41 pm
And a new swimsuit would be great!
Comment by Bethany — February 11, 2007 @ 8:41 pm
I gotta tell ya, all this “math” stuff(figuring/adding %, etc.) makes me head hurt a bit;P
You just tell me what to do, and I will try to figure it out. And maybe offering tutoring?
Comment by lady laura — February 11, 2007 @ 9:58 pm
Sounds quite complicated, but so long as you explain it nice and simple and spell it out more times than might seem necessary, then I’m sure lots of us will jump on your bandwagon!
Comment by Debs — February 12, 2007 @ 4:03 am
Okay Blest,
For once I don’t care for the idea too much. I don’t shop Land’s End and honestly have no interest in beginning too. Also, sometimes I think you put up certain criteria that is just too much for some i.e. 80oz water a day. We are told everywhere we look and by dr.’s that we need 64oz a day so for some just getting 64 is awesome. 5 fruits and veggies a day. I only eat 3 of each. That is what my “plan” calls for therefore I would never achieve 5 of each.
Anyways…this is just my humble opinion.
Comment by Tami — February 12, 2007 @ 5:28 am
Humble opinion duly noted Tami. I don’t suppose you would consider offering alternative ideas instead of just shooting mine to pieces?
Comment by blestwithsons — February 12, 2007 @ 6:29 am
By the way, 3 fruits and 3 veggies adds up to 6. Which means you would actually hit the mark every day. I meant five servings of fruits and veggies total - which is recommended all over the place.
Comment by blestwithsons — February 12, 2007 @ 6:34 am
Blest, Sorry. Didn’t mean to make it sound the way it came out. My tummy is in another uproar! First I was a bit confused about the fruits and veggies. You know, some of the bags of fruit say “5 servings a day”. Secondly, like I said in another post, I do like the idea of biggest looser. Maybe a gift certificate to a place we all might use like Amazon or maybe we could get a shirt made that said something like “OWOA’s Biggest Looser” or something. I dunno. Sorry again about sounding a bit snappish. We are going on the 10th day of my gut killing me everytime I put something in my mouth. I guess it viral so nothing to do about it.
Comment by Tami — February 12, 2007 @ 7:00 am
Oh, man, I was totally looking forward to slacking off for a while!
Honestly, I’d rather have the cash. I could use it to buy a ticket to a certain concert. But I suppose a bathing suit wouldn’t be awful.
Comment by Jana — February 12, 2007 @ 7:04 am
You know, it doesn’t matter to me. I’m not a huge competitor. But some folks do like the competition… I don’t shop at Land’s End either. Maybe a gift card to some place generic, like books, is a good idea. I’ll probably not participate in this one anyway so you all just do what you want.
Comment by Anita — February 12, 2007 @ 8:03 am
((hugs)) Tami - I figured you must be feeling pretty aweful because it didn’t sound like you at all
Praying that tummy bug exits soon.
As for the competition thoughts….I’m interested but I do agree that simplier is better. I’m not a fan of the “ticket” idea…I think if someone works really hard, it would kind of be icky to have it come down to “luck of the draw”. I’m cool with percentage of weight lost. Maybe each week we could have a “bonus” option? Like one week could be the fruits and veggies…one week could be workouts, one could be water intake (but have each individual calculate what amt of water their body requires as not all bodies are equal)…etc…
Just some thoughts - I’ve got to get back to lessons…
Comment by Blair — February 12, 2007 @ 9:03 am
Ohhhh. Blair, great idea! I like the thought of mixing up the “bonus” options
Comment by Anne — February 12, 2007 @ 9:22 am
Blest - I like all the ideas… just minus the swimsuit…. and that’s just because I won’t wear one until I don’t look like a rhino (hee hee). BUT, that being said, I still think it would be fun to particpate, and would even do the monetary thing just because it would be fun.
Comment by Kat — February 12, 2007 @ 11:08 am
Maybe the winner of the next competition could get something special from each participant….Like blest does jewelry, my husband works for L’oreal so I could ship off hair products or make-up (really GOOD hairproducts), etc. I’m sure we all have special things that we do whether it is crafting or whatever…I think it could be really special to get something from each person. We could set a price limit so no one feels burdened but I like the idea of a personal touch.
I also like the idea of having a different thing each week for bonus points (like drinking water, eating veggies, bible reading, exercise, etc.) And I definitely like the concept of doing the % of weight lost.
Comment by Mandi — February 12, 2007 @ 11:42 am
I can see what people mean about the swimsuit things.
Mixing things up so it’s a different bonus thing each week could be cool.
I love Tami’s idea about OWOA’s biggest loser shirt, or something like that! Maybe it could be a transfer thing that the winner could put onto something of their own, that would eliminate some of the what is it\style\colour issues that might arise!
Comment by Debs — February 12, 2007 @ 11:52 am