Cal Fit Challenge is the latest version of Sac Fit Challenge, an exercise and weight loss competition 19+ years running. For 8 weeks, from Monday, January 30, 2023 - Sunday, March 26, 2023, participants will form teams of between 1 and 6 people, and will use https://www.calfitchallenge.com to track their hours of exercise, and/or their weight/inches lost. Points are awarded both on an individual basis, as well as on a team basis. All participants are able to see all other participants' points. If individuals choose to track their weight/inches, only the percentage change will be available for all participants to view; the actual weight/inches will be visible only to the individual participant. As with all fitness programs, be sure to consult your doctor/physician before undertaking this effort.
We'd be glad to - but to explain why we're changing our approach, we have to explain what we WERE doing, and why it wasn't working.
In previous years, participants made a single choice at the beginning of the competition, effective for the duration of the competition: to participate as an "Exerciser" or a "Loser." Exercisers were awarded points for exercising; losers were unable to log exercise, and received points only for weight or inches lost.
Try as we might, year after year, (and we tried a variety of mathematical-based approaches) due to the variety of human beings, weights, and inches, we could never come up with a "fair formula" for awarding points for weight/inches lost, and, inevitably, Losers worked very, very hard, and earned only a tiny fraction of the points of the typical exerciser.
Here's the thing. For exercisers, participation is often casual - it's easy to get in some exercise each week, when we're so generous as to count walking from the car to the office.
But our losers, typically a very small number of participants, tend to be VERY passionate about their weight/inches lost. Some just want to lose a few pounds. For others, Cal Fit Challenge presents an opportunity for them to work on weight loss, which may be a life-long struggle for them. And when we're not giving them their due, that's a problem for us, because we care about what they care about.
And here's where participants outsmart developers. This is kind of an awesome story, and the reason we made this change.
A number of losers expressed frustration to the Cal Fit Challenge Administrators (and some even dropped from the challenge in recent years) about how losing a little weight might take a month's worth of exercise - but they only received a few points. And the administrators (all developers) tried all manner of approaches to try and even out the points. How to take the few points losers were getting, and give them more points, like exercisers?
Then one day, when an administrator, some losers, and some exercisers were all together at an event, talking about this subject. The administrator was explaining how he and the others tried, but just couldn't for the life of them, come up with a formula that would give losers points similar to exercisers. Then, one of the exercisers said, "Hey, if losers always get really low points, and you want to give them more points like exercisers, why not just let them log their exercise, in addition to their weight/inches lost, and give them points for the exercise and the weight loss?"
It was so brilliantly simple. And that's exactly what we've done, and why we've done it.
SO HERE ARE THE NEW RULES:
All participants have the opportunity to log both exercise, and weight/inches lost. Points are awarded for all categories, although points for weight/inches lost will be similar to years past, and probably not have a significant impact. If you're going for the absolute maximum points possible, then, yes, you should log both your exercise, and your weight/inches. As with years past, should your weight/inches increase, there is no points penalty for that - you can only gain points by losing weight/inches, you can't lose points.
If you really don't care about weight/inches lost, you can simply choose not to log that stuff, and you won't be forfeiting much.
In years past, we've always had a "Losers Leaderboard" which tracked just the losers. We've maintained that, now called the "Reducers Charts" - while all participants will get points for tracking weight/inches lost, our generally small, previously "losers" group has always enjoyed tracking how just their points due to weight/inches lost compare to other dedicated losers.
Again, ALL PARTICIPANTS who log weight/inches lost will get points for doing so. However, if you're PERSONALLY really focused on your weight/inches, if that's important to YOU, you can opt to be included on the "Reducers Chart" as well. This is the equivalent of previous years' "Loser Leaderboard" - it figures out which points were due to weight/inches lost, and, if you opt to be included in the "Reducers Chart," it will list your points due to weight/inches lost, and your ranking relative to others who have opted to be included in this chart.
Again, to be clear - opting to be in the "Reducers Chart" is a display-only thing - you'll get points for weight/inches lost regardless of whether or not you opt to be listed in this chart. It basically exists for our small, dedicated core of "Reducers" who personally care about weight/inches lost to compare themselves, if they so choose, against others with similar personal weight loss goals.
1. Physically sign the waiver form attached to the e-mail invitation.
2. Pay the non-refundable entry fee as directed in the e-mail invitation.
3. Have 1 person in your team (up to 6 people) complete the "Team Member Form" attached to the e-mail invitation. E-mail the completed form to support@calfitchallenge.com
4. By 5:00 PM Pacific Time, Friday, February 03, 2023, create an account on the Cal Fit Challenge site:
https://www.calfitchallenge.com
If you are a "Reducer" (opting to track your weight/inches lost, in addition to exercise), be sure to add your starting measurements by 11:59:59 PM Pacific Time, Monday, January 30, 2023. This is so that, at the end of Week 1, the difference (if any) from the starting weight/inches can be calculated, and points awarded.
The challenge runs for 8 weeks, and no, you can't wait until Week 8 to log all your points. Well, you can, but then they won't count, so pay attention to this next bit:
By 11:59:59 PM Pacific Time each Monday, from Monday, February 06, 2023 - Monday, March 27, 2023, log your points for the previous Monday - Sunday.
As an example, you have until 11:59:59 PM Pacific Time, on Monday, February 06, 2023, to log your exercise or weight/inches gained/lost from Monday, January 30, 2023 - Sunday, February 05, 2023. This rule is in place to prevent a person from, say, logging 100,000,000 points for Week 1 during Week 8 of the competition. Other people wouldn't like that very much. And it wouldn't be very nice. If you log your points for prior weeks beyond the deadline, you'll still be able to log them for your personal information - they just won't count toward the points awarded to you and your team.
We're pretty lax. Actually, we're ridiculously lax. Anything listed under "Activities" on the Cal Fit Challenge site counts as exercise. That currently covers everything from walking to mowing the lawn to repairing airplanes. Yes. We consider throwing darts to be a sport. No, we're not kidding. See? You're practically an Olympian already.
If you are curious what activities are available to log, see the list below. You can also search for activities by typing in the below search field:
Most people participating in Cal Fit Challenge choose to participate as part of a team. Forming a team is simple: Find a total of up to 6 people who want to share their point tally with you - teams can cross employers, projects, etc. It's okay. One person needs to take charge and fill out the "Team Member Form" and submit that to support@calfitchallenge.com so we can put together your team on the backend.
Being part of a team entitles you to your individual points, team points, and participation points. These are explained below, under "How Do Points Work?" (because we thought it made sense to put that explanation there.
As long as everyone's cool, and it's prior to the Monday, January 30, 2023, start of the challenge, we're cool. Add, delete, change members just by e-mailing in an updated copy of the Team Member Form. Once the challenge starts on Monday, January 30, 2023, teams cannot be changed, except to accommodate people opting to withdraw from the competition entirely.
We're SOOO glad you asked, as they have changed (slightly) this year in comparison to years past.
1. Individual Points:
1a. All participants, regardless of whether or not they are Reducers (people tracking weight/inches lost) will receive points for activities that they log. This is, effectively, the change. In years past if you were tracking weight or inches lost, you received points for the weight/inches lost, but were unable to track or receive points for exercise. The playing field is more even now.
1b. If a participant chooses to track their weight/inches lost, they will receive points for each 1% of weight, and each 1% of inches, lost. NOTE: IF A PARTICIPANT WHO TRACKS WEIGHT/INCHES LOST INCREASES THEIR WEIGHT OR INCHES, NO POINTS WILL BE SUBTRACTED. Why? Because that's how it's always been. Cal Fit Challenge is ALL about participation - we don't penalize for falling short.
2. Team Points
Team points are calculated by summing the total points of all team members in a given week, and dividing by the number of people on a team - averaging the number of points. This helps even out the playing field. If all members on a team of two people, and all members on a team of six people, log EXACTLY the same amount of exercise, the two teams will receive IDENTICAL team points for the week, as, on average, each team member did the same amount of work. No team points are awarded for individuals who choose to participate solo.
3. Participation Points
This might sound weird at first, especially if you're new. Well, welcome to our world.
As Cal Fit Challenge is ALL about participation, regardless of how much you actually exercise or lose, if all members of your team log into the website each week by the Monday, 11:59 PM Pacific Time deadline, your team will receive an additional 3,500 points for that week.
Note that these points are WORTH EVEN MORE, as they are NOT divided by the number of people on your team - they are IN ADDITION TO your team's team points for the week. No participation points are awarded for individuals who choose to participate solo.
The curious among you, especially those new to the competition, may rightly wonder why on earth you'd get participation points just for logging into the website - even if you don't log any activities or weight/inches lost. Allow us to explain the legacy for the uninitiated.
Prior to 2013, Sac Fit Challenge (as it used to be called) didn't have this nice web site. Instead, Reducers (then called "Losers" as we were less creative in those days) would simply e-mail their percentage of weight/inches lost to the administrators each week, who would manually calculate the points. As there was no way to determine if someone who didn't send an e-mail had simply not lost any weight/inches, or had forgotten to report, Losers were required to send an e-mail every week to be counted as participating. Because losers were required to send an e-mail every week, Exercisers (who used a different submission method) were required to do the same. Essentially, if everyone on a team "submitted" results on time, even if they had not done anything, participation points were awarded to that team. Now, we don't need your e-mails. Instead, if you simply log into the Cal Fit Challenge site (even if you log no activities or weight/inches lost) we'll count that as participation.
Ah, yes, the prizes.
Traditionally, pieces of paper (certificates) and water bottles (where contractually permitted). These might sound like cheesy, lame prizes. Well, we reserve the right to substitute other prizes. We just haven't yet, but it's only been the better part of a decade or so. You never know.
Depending on your employer and contract, you may not be eligible to be awarded any prize other than a certificate. It's okay, the water bottles are pretty cheesy anyway.
Here are the prize categories:
1. Individual Reducer (participant opting to be included on the Reducer Charts) with the most points, across all projects.
2. Individual participant (non-Reducer) with the most points, across all projects.
3. The team with the most team points, across all projects.
4. The team with the 2nd most team points, across all projects, who wins the EXACT same prizes as the 1st Place Team - remember, Cal Fit Challenge is all about participation and fun - if you're in it for the prizes, well, well, that would be weird. I mean, okay, but, really? They're pretty cheesy.
5. Every 4 weeks, the results over just the last 4 weeks will be calculated for potential prize determination.
5a. Individual Reducer (participant opting to be included on the Reducer Charts) with the most points over just the last 4 weeks, per project.
5b. Individual participant (non-Reducer) with the most points, per project.
5c. A person can only win 1 monthly prize. For example, if you are the top exerciser for your project for Weeks 1 - 4, and Weeks 5 - 8, you'll only get a prize for Weeks 1 - 4. You're still eligible for team and overall prizes, but we'll give the prize for Weeks 5 - 8 to the next eligible runner-up (i.e., the next person from the project with the most points for the last 4 weeks who HASN'T yet won a monthly prize). This rule is just in place to prevent the "uber-athletes" (marathon trainers, etc.) from continually "running away" with the prize every month.
6. Depending on the number of entrants, number of teams, number of people on the top teams, and budget allocation, the contest administrators may, at their discretion, award additional prizes based on objective criteria. For example, if there were sufficient funds remaining, all members who participated (submitted results) for all 12 weeks and were not on a winning team might be entered into a random drawing for an additional prize, etc.
7. In special circumstances, such as just 1 participant from a particular project, that participant may be, at the discretion of the Cal Fit Challenge organizers, may be considered to be "on that project" for the competition purposes. This is so that, should a project have only 1 or a very few number of participants, that same 1 participant will not automatically receive a prize every 4 weeks simply for being in the competition.
8. In years past, the top winning teams have won identical prizes, there was no difference between the prizes for first place or second place. If budget allows, the Cal Fit Challenge organizers may try for the same again, as it deters teams from trying "out do" each other in the last week or so. Cal Fit Challenge was always about the fun and exercise, never about the prizes. It may even be the case that the overall top prize and the monthly prizes are identical. Rather than giving more dollars to the top few, we'd rather give less to more people. Again, it's all about encouraging people to get out there and get healthier - there are probably easier ways to get cheesy prizes.
1. Log into https://www.calfitchallenge.com with your user name and password.
2. Click "Activities" at the top.
3. Fill in the Activity and Date, and click "Submit."
1. Log into https://www.calfitchallenge.com with your user name and password.
2. Click "Measurements" at the top.
3. Fill in your Measurements and Date, and click "Submit."
You must enter values for all measurements, but you can put 0 into fields you don't want to track. If you wanted to measure your combined chest, waist, and hips, and put that summed value into "hips", you're free to do that, and put "0" for the other two areas. Behind the scenes, all that REALLY counts is the total weight and inches. We add up the total inches, and then figure out if the total inches has decreased (regardless of whether or not some individual components of the inches (chest, waist, hips) increased). Effectively, the different "buckets" of chest, waist, and hips are there for your convenience; whether you use all three fields, or just one, the math on the points is the same.
Any participant may withdraw at any time by simply sending an e-mail to support@calfitchallenge.com and indicating they would like to withdraw. No reason needs to be provided. Note that once a participant withdraws from the competition, they CANNOT be reinstated. Entry fees CANNOT be refunded. Additionally, any unearned prizes will be forfeited. For example, if a person elects to withdraw from the competition on Week 11, and they win the final 12th week prize (based on previous results), or their team wins the overall competition, they will forfeit those prizes. The remainder of the winning team would still receive their own individual/team prizes. If a person from the winning team has withdrawn, that person's prize WILL NOT be divided up amongst the remaining team members. ('Cause how do you cut a water bottle or a certificate in 5 pieces? We suppose you could, but it would be even more worthless that way.)
Persons who withdraw will not be used in the calculation of future team points. For example, since team points are the sum of points on the team, divided by the number of team members, if a team of 6 people has a person withdraw, once the person has withdrawn, future team point calculations will be divided by 5 people. Previously earned team points will not be recalculated or adjusted.
This issue hasn't ever actually occurred, but we've come close on a number of occasions.
If at the end of the competition, two teams have exactly the same number of points, both teams will receive the top team prizes (as there are only prizes for the top 2 teams, and the prizes are the same for the top 2 teams) and no other teams will be awarded this prize. If three or more teams have the same number of points, then the all the tied teams will have their team names placed into a "hat" (or similar container) and one of the Cal Fit Challenge organizers (or a delegate if the Cal Fit Challenge organizers are on the tied teams) will draw 2 team names out of the container. These two teams will receive the team prizes.
If, at the end of the competition, two or more people are tied for the overall "Top Exerciser", then their names will be placed into "hat" (or similar container) and one of the Cal Fit Challenge organizers (or a delegate if the Cal Fit Challenge organizers are among the tied individuals) will draw a name out of the container. This person will be awarded the "Top Exerciser" prize.
If, at the end of the competition, two or more people are tied for the overall "Top Loser", then their names will be placed into "hat" (or similar container) and one of the Cal Fit Challenge organizers (or a delegate if the Cal Fit Challenge organizers are among the tied individuals) will draw a name out of the container. This person will be awarded the "Top Reducer" prize.
If, in a given 4-week period, two or more people are tied for the 4-week "Top Exerciser", then their names will be placed into "hat" (or similar container) and one of the Cal Fit Challenge organizers (or a delegate if the Cal Fit Challenge organizers are among the tied individuals) will draw a name out of the container. This person will be awarded the "Top Exerciser" prize.
If, in a given 4-week period, two or more people are tied for the 4-week "Top Reducer", then their names will be placed into "hat" (or similar container) and one of the Cal Fit Challenge organizers (or a delegate if the Cal Fit Challenge organizers are among the tied individuals) will draw a name out of the container. This person will be awarded the "Top Reducer" prize.
No. Simply not making progress will not result in disqualification. Participants may withdraw according to the rules described in the "How Do I Quit" section of this FAQ.
The Cal Fit Challenge is intended to be a fair, friendly, and fun competition. No one wants to participate in a game that's rigged. The reality is that there are always some uber-athletes - marathon runners, champion weight lifters, we've even had some mountain climbers. Odds are, somebody's going to do WAY more than you ever can, and they'll end up with more points.
The point of Cal Fit Challenge is the little guy - the person who barely or rarely exercisers. The person who has always quietly wanted to lose weight, but who never felt comfortable trying because they didn't know anyone else felt the same way.
Don't worry about the other guy/gal, or points. The point is to participate the way you want to. And no, we're not going to restrict or penalize the marathon runners, the triathloners, the mountain climbers, or even the occasional just plain exaggerator. Because we don't have the energy, the resources, or the will to do it. What we DO DO, is we award big points for just participating. And we make sure that if you win one monthly prize, you can't win a second monthly prize - helping give others a fair shake.
With so many varied participants from so many backgrounds, there is no magic formula that we can use to totally level the playing field. We'd love to have you participate - just know we can't make everything even for all people all of the time. A few bad apples may cheat. Such is life. All we can say is, "Be a good apple."
Want to see where you and your team stand? Just log into your account, and click on "Statistics" or "Leaderboards." You'll see the results as we have them!
We think you'll agree this is WAY more efficient than the old way: Sometime after 11:59 PM Pacific Time each Monday, the Cal Fit Challenge Administrators start quasi-manually computing the data and points, and send out spreadsheets to all participants with the results - about a WEEK later. No kidding!
We think you'll agree - real-time is better!
Yes! Navigate to Account > Connected Apps and click the Fitbit option. From there, log into your Fitbit.com account and authorize the connection.
Once you connect your account, you have several options regarding automatically importing your end-of-day steps, and when that happens.
You can also manually import Fitbit activities by navigating to Activities > Import Activties.
Check out the below presentation on how to connect and utilize this new feature!
Not at this time. Apple does not offer a web-based API to access your data. Garmin charges $5,000 licenseing fee, and Samsung only offers an API to strategic business partners. If any of these change in the future, we will be sure to update the site.
Please see the e-mail invite and attachments. Still have questions? Odds are, someone else does, too. Help us help you help them. (Got that?) E-mail the Cal Fit Challenge Admins at:support@calfitchallenge.com