Weight Loss Challenge. I want YOU! (fat ass)

[Ook]

Hey guys, my compulsive organizational nature couldn't take it any more so I'm gonna try to start us off with setting this awesomeness up. So here's a few of the main questions I think need to be decided.

1. What stakes are we playing for here?
2. What info needs to be provided to make sure we keep it fair (pics, pics of scale, etc)?
3. How do we organize who wins? (% lost, lbs lost, %fat lost)?
4. How many winners do we have? (one, top 10% ala donkaments, etc)
5. How long does this last? (100 days, halloween, christmas, etc)

My personal thoughts:
1. This may be the most difficult to decide on. We definitely don't want anyone to feel like they're putting up money they actually need or eliminate folks from teh competition because it's too expensive. On the other hand, if the amount is too small, it's not an incentive at all.

2. This kinda depends on question one. Obviously if we play for $3 there isn't nearly as much incentive to cheat. I would think starting pics and final pics would be enough. I tend to be overly trusting on this kind of thing, so I'm not particularly concerned about it, but I realize others might want some sort of assurance they aren't getting ripped off.

3. I'd strongly lean toward % of lbs lost here. Body fat % measurements, especially done at home, are rather inaccurate. However we do it, the bigger guys will have a small advantage, but I think % of lbs lost minimizes this.

4. I'll throw out an idea that I'm kinda fond of, but others may hate. I'd like to form groups of 3-5 people and have teams compete against each other. This gives you a built in buddy system and makes you responsible to others. The winning team could split 50% of the total prize, with the top 2 individual losers or something splitting the other 50%. You could even have the team competition be optional where you put in a main wager for the individual competition and have a side bet running separately for the team competition. Kinda going back to #3, you could also pay out top % lb lost and top total pounds lost.

5. I'm rather partial to the idea of the competition ending around thanksgiving. 3 months is plenty of time to see real results but short enough that the end is in sight. Plus the holiday's can be rough on the waistline and getting a great headstart on that would help us all out.

Sorry this is so long. Please, throw out any other questions you guys think are important and any ideas you have. If OP doesn't mind, I'll put up a poll on Wednesday with the most important specifics so we can get a consensus (or not if there seems to be an overwhelming majority already). Then let's plan on a start date of Sunday Aug 19.

Sorry, don't mean to be a bossy asshat, just want to keep this ball rolling.