I love this idea Vatts. I was planning on getting back in shape and working out anyways with the new year, but this will make it fun. One thing you might add to measure is chest as well. Call it the "HOBO Fit Club." Im down because 'I play fo keeps!'

Thanks jj, always a supporter. I was thinking of having monthly
updates....to keep everyone on track. What do you think?
jj

I am down, although I am not sure what "fitness goals" are. I love the fact that it starts AFTER my birthday, which allows for much ballywho without abandon tht weekend. We could even have a weigh-in/measurement there. Thanks for thinking Vatts. I was already planning on working out anyway, I need to get my fatass in they gym and this may help. I would propose though that it end on like June 30, that way everyone will/should be in B-Town for an official weigh/measure out. I must say though, that I am a bit leary taking a bet with the master schemer, what is up your sleeve(s)?

It's "The Biggest Loser: HOBO Edition." Well, I certainly know I could use some getting into shape. I'm sure all of us do. Let's see how much interest this does gather. It may motivate us more to have others we can compare and talk about it with.

"fitness goals" is like your own goal. One of mine is stop smoking, be able to run 5 plus miles again. Things like that.
jj

1) I want to be able to have a daily BM istead of weekly
2) I want to lose 15% body fat
3) I want my vision to get better so I don't have to wear glasses/contacts

Actually I just weighed myself and got my body fat %, yowzer! 6'6", 272 lbs, 30.3% body fat. I have a nifty scale that calcs body fat, water %, etc.., my sister works at Homedics, how sells the scales.

Also, I have created an excel spreadsheet for tracking my progress, which I will share here when I figure out how to(So what, I love to use spreadsheets).

Now that I look at the numbers I don't know if I can wait until 2/7 to start.

giant

Count me in as well.

I will gladly throw in some money into the kitty as well. But, instead of donating to the HOBO who makes the greatest strides I would rather donate based on how long people stay with it. Like $1 per week for everyone who is still trying.

That totally works. Anything to keep people motivated and involved. I was thinking the monthly measure/weight in...or even every two weeks. Were all sporting fellows (yea I said that...sporting fellows) so we need something like this to keep it competitive.
Also Justy/guy/cheddar/G-baby has offered his assistance to anyone seeking any type of advice or having any problems. Give the Guy a call and he'll have an answer or find one out for u.
Vatto

Getting people to pony up some bones would be a challenge for anything. Both ideas work well: Paying right away up front lets people know that your money is already in and you have to work at it right from the get go. Paying weekly would be harder to keep track of, but it gives you some flexibility. Hmmmm. If each of us could be sponsored would make it hilarious and fun. Thats a stretch. Just like any challenge the HOBOs have, we need an offical rundown of the rules for it. We have a great start, just need a final rulebook. Giant, your spreadsheet looks great. I just need to figure out my BFI to get started. Healthy HOBOs are Happy HOBOs.

This sounds like a great idea, since getting in shape is a 2007 goal for me too. So I ask can friends of HOBO join?

One technical quesiton? I am not sure how to measure body fat as was suggested by someone

It will probably be hard for many people to measure their body fat, so weight loss would probably be the easiest and best measurement (even if it's not the most accurate of overall fitness). I would suggest to keep a log of weight lost at regular intervals and then the percentage of total weight lost. Percentage would have to be the comparison between people. I could lose 30 pounds easier than someone who weighs 200 pounds. That would be just over 10% for me, but the person who weighed 200 could only lose 20 pounds and would have a similar percentage. Thus, making it a fairer way of comparing weight loss. It's also how it is done on "The Biggest Loser."

my only question is why are we waiting until the 7th...I started lifting tonight.

Of course Big M is welcome, as is all FOH. I hope to get T.O. and BIZ in as well. Measuring body fat isn't that hard, I have site that with a few simple measurements of your body can calculate your body fat.
Tom.....Feb 7th...it allows for a detox period and much needed time to mentally prepare. Not all of us are in the routine that you are, then again none of us have the position...I mean job that you do. I want Feb 7th to officially be known as the start of the "hobo off season"
Vatto

I think this is an awesome idea, and I will join you all in spirit though not in the competition since my fitness goals are probably different and the whole measurements thing is different for females. I *do* have some new workout goals for the new year though, so I'm down for the incentive/moral support to keep it going through to the pre-4th! This fits in nicely with my plan for instituting some healthier habits for 2007:

1. More fruits/veggies, whole grains, balanced nutrition
2. Better quality/more quantity sleep
3. Minimize/manage stress better
4. Less alcohol consumption (except for special events!)
5. Get back to regular lifting once hockey season winds down
6. Keep up my 2006 running/cardio capacity

As a science/biomedical person though, I need to add that measuring body fat accurately is a pretty wonky undertaking, unlike measuring your weight. Websites use equations that were developed using data from a large sample of people of unknown ages/genders/ethnicities/fitness levels/body types/etc. and therefore represent a sort of "average" relationship between your measurements and actual body fat that might not exactly fit you. Even the underwater weighing/DEXA measurements have a lot of +/- in them and the "body fat scales" tend to swing widely depending on hydration and electrolyte levels (among other things).

Bottom line is don't get crazy about the actual number because the good news is that these are all good methods for identifying *trends* rather than getting precise, absolute measurement numbers. That is, if you are taking ongoing measurements and the trend in the numbers is downwards, whatever you're doing is working and keep up the good work! If not, time to re-evaluate and make some changes.

Hooray for science and data :D (sorry if this was boring)

Good deal!!! Whereever there is a HOBO competition there is a member of the class of '93 lurking to steal the prize.

I am all for % weight loss but that only reflects my personal goals. Perhaps we could have two categories one for % weight loss and one for body fat.

Goddamn Class of '93...

well i'm against all the measuring! i think the whole thing should be based on looks! when i diet down i really try to keep my weight and size up, so all the numbers really don't matter, so i'm big on pics like other contests!
the bodyfat thing is messy too like molls said unless we get measured at the same times in the same place it still doesn't help! at least in the competitions sense! but if u measure urself the same way everytime and u see a drop in bodyfat, even if it's off by a few % it's still a good sign!
a few big things!
- drink lots of water
- get a multivitamin, hogan uses em!
- dont start off hardcore, u could burn urself out, slow n steady wins the hobo race!
- lastly there are a ton of supplements out there! i worked at GNC for a long time and i still use a ton of that shit so if ure thinkin about takin something just ask and i'll let u know if it's bs!

justono uno

I'm going to list some of the fitness/health goals which I plan to follow. It's always said that it makes it easier to follow when you tell someone about your goals. I will also try to narrow it down to measurable and planned steps that I will take, rather than "I want to lose weight" or "I'd like to run more."

Here we go. Current weight: 291.

1. I will run in the Hometown Run
2. I will run or walk at least 30 mins. daily
3. I will stretch every morning
4. Weight 240, come June 27
5. Drink 8 cups of water a day
6. Weight Training 3x a week (once I can afford the gym membership)
7. Play in the Bessemer 3 on 3, a Gus Macker, the local 3 on 3 here in GB, and the Spring Thaw at Gogo
8. I will take my daily multivitamin (I have a whole thing sitting there but I forget about it all the time)
9. Stop eating the WHOLE frozen pizza!

I'm also considering what kind of measurable goals I can make in the eating category. I already eat relatively well. I eat nearly all whole grains, low fat, and low sugar foods. Here's a couple possible things I'm thinking of:

1. Eliminate all pop/caffeine
2. No fast food at all (I try, but give in occasionally)
3. Drink Green Tea more often

Feel free to give me any suggestions on what I have posted.
3.

The Goal:
-Lose 20 lbs
-Improve my ice skating
-Improve flexibility and agility
-Run the Paavo with my boy Tommy Joe

The Strategy (Activity):
Running for cardio
Circuit weight training
Skating every saturday
Eventually some streching and sports training classes
Sauna (just cuz i like saunas)

The Strategy (Food):
WATER
More Natural Foods: whole grains, fruits, etc.
No Fast Food
Less Alcohol

The Challenge:
Weekends. Keeping it up during the week is easy, but not blowing it on the weekends is rough.

The Payoff:
I don't really care about numbers or being stronger or winning the contest. I just want to get into better shape and feel/look better.

i just want a 6-pac!
i'm bulkin for another month and a half then the diet begins 12 weeks out! cardio 5 days till the last month and a half then twice a day 3 times a week and once a day 2 times a week with my weights heavy and hard!!! i'm 245lbs in this pic 2 weeks ago, i think 230-235 would be a good weight!

good god...put your shirt on

Ok, I know websites are not going to give us accurate info on body fat. Yet if we all use the same one, atleast it will be some what consistant.
http://www.linear-software.com/online.html
Everyone check that out and tell me what you think. I know theres much debate about the body fat thing. But we can all measure, and use the site. This isn't about winning its about keeping people involved and staying with it. Measuring waist..and body fat/weight..then posting results every two weeks will keep people going. (I hope)

(rough draft)
Scoring system:
1.(10% of your total score) Weight lost
2.(10% of your total score) Body fat lost
3.(10%) % of weight lost
4.(10%) % of body fat lost
5.(10%) inches lost
6.(10%) inches gained (arms...neck...ect)
7-9.(10%) completion of personal goals
10. The x factor.
Quick Idea the X factor is way to keep people like Ruppe(In pretty good shape) = to those of us who have more to "work with". I was thinking once we get a final list of people this coming week...rannking everyone giving more points to those in the best shape.
I'm looking for ideas and help people.
Heres a sad and outta shape Vatto stats today.
Weight:178
Waist:37
Hips:34
neck:13 1/2
bi:13
thigh:21
chest:36
body fat: 26.7%

Goal: Stop smoking
Goal: be able to run 5 miles again
Goal: (impossible)Get my 6 pack back.
There it is. Ideas?! Sound off!
Vatto

I think its cool that everyone is getting involved. Im not really into all the measurements and the competition thing. But I like the fitness goals.

My three goals are:

1. run a 10k.
2. be able to bench my body weight.
3. give up drinking for 6 months.

I know my third goal seems impossible for a hobo. but ive done it before. I was on the wagon for 104 days last year. So 180 days is possible. although, this would leave me incredibly out of shape for poker running.

Anyway. its good to see all you mofos involved in another one of my brother Jaybles's schemes. This will be a really good challenge to keep us busy between now and the 4th. I hope we all stay dedicated.

p.s. Where is Big T.O. i put a hole in ya dome? This really isnt a fitness challenge without him.

Here's a great free web tool for tracking your food/calories/nutrient intake. It also lets you track your weight and enter your activity to see how many calories you are burning via basal metabolism (what your body would need if you were lying in a coma), your daily activities (walking around, climbing stairs, getting up and down from the couch), and exercise.

The built-in food database is pretty good, but you can also enter "custom food" for anything you can't find in there and then it becomes part of your personal database.

http://www.fitday.com

I'm into this 100% too. I'm really liking what I see so far. We should definitely agree on the metrics here. I realize that I've really let myself go, more than any hobo or foh. I think this is the best hobo idea in a really long time. I'm liking this, cash or not. I'll post my current stats and goals in the next few days. I think this is really going to work. I love the support idea. Good luck to all. Count me in.

I will now break away from my normal position on most things and say...I don't know that the money/prize aspect of this competition is necessary. While in most endeavors I support making things "interesting" and throwing some money down to get the blood flowing, I don't think we need to here. It's so hard to quantify a person's goals for this as we are all at very different places. I think a weekly or bi-weekly check in would be good to keep the peer pressure up...when you have to report in your stats....you're more likely to keep on it.

Another option would be to have "fines" for regressing on weight or whatever to be placed in the 4th party fund.

I guess I'm just waffling on the whole "competition" aspect of this. It is still a great idea....a healthy hobo, is a happy hobo

I actually agree with Ruppe for once. I don't think money is necessary either. The motivation to get into shape, which all of us seem to want to do is the driving factor. If we do award some type of prize, maybe just something non-monetary. Or maybe just a penalty system to benefit the whole like Ruppe said. If we do decide to throw money in, I'll say this now... If I win, all the money will be donated to the HOBO fund.