Honesty and Integrity

INTEGRITY
The dictionary defines this as adherence to moral and ethical principles; soundness of moral character; honesty.
This program is based upon your personal integrity.  We trust that each of you are doing your best to complete the goals honestly and record your points correctly.  We understand that mistakes happen, and we also know that we can make errors as well.  
That being said I do my best to try to catch errors as we go along.  The Google Docs are helpful for me to see if someone accidentally recorded their beginning measurements incorrectly or have points that exceed the maximum plus their weight loss points.
I also reserve the right to see your before and after photos if I feel that their may be inaccurate reporting.
I do my best to touch base with captains and individuals when I see something amiss and I hope that you feel the challenge is honest and fair, as I intend for it to be.  Of course I cannot individually weigh and measure each person, so I rely upon you and your team to keep one another honest.
Some things to consider when being honest:
Weigh in at approximately the same time and situation at the beginning of the challenge as at the end of the challenge.
    For example:  

• It would not be fair to weigh the night before to begin the challenge and then weigh the morning of at the end of the challenge (you may weigh the night before during the other weeks of the challenge if needed., but the first and last need to be the same)
• It would not be fair to drink a bunch of water before the first weigh in (for water weight gain) and not drink that same water before the last weigh in.
• Measurements can be very subjective.  Try to remember where you took your measurements, perhaps even make a note of it.  

These are just a few of the things I have heard that people do. As this is an online competition, it is very easy to cheat, but that is not what it is all about.  I hope you are doing it to improve your personal health and wellness as well as to help those around you.  If something seems like cheating to you, it probably is, so don't do it.

I know we all want to see as much change as possible, but we should also do our best to be accurate and fair.
Lastly I trust that none of us would sell our souls willingly for about a $100.  So just be as honest as possible. 

That being said, everyone is going to implement this program a little differently.  The director of the first challenge I did said she didn't like low-fat cheese, so she just used less of regular cheese.  I thought "What, that's cheating as that's a negative!". (at least yellow cheese)  As I have completed this challenge over the past couple of years I have come to understand that some participants are stricter than others.  Some are using the challenge for maintenance and are not really concerned about "winning", because they are close to their ideal weight.  This challenge is still for everyone.  I'm not saying that I agree with the cheese thing - "I don't", but I use this example to say that we are going to interpret things differently.  All foods are not spelled out, and that is intentional.  You are to make the plan work for your particular needs.  As someone I love put it "There is room for you, in this challenge!"

Let's be honest, loving, kind, and forgiving!