Rules

Monday, December 23, 2013 10:31:21 AM EST

  1. The contest will start on Monday, January 12, 2015 with the initial weigh-in, height, and weight goal. Each Friday morning after that will be a weigh-in day until Friday, April 24, 2015 (15 weeks, Good Friday is April 3rd).
  2. Each location (Auburn Hills North and South) will have an official weigh-in scale. Weigh-in is done with shoes off, pockets empty. Clothing is optional, but highly recommended.

    If you cannot weigh in on Friday, please make arrangements with the person in charge of the scale at your facility. In Auburn Hills South, please see Andreas Knueppel. In Auburn Hills North, please see Emmanuel Garcia (A1016).
  3. Weights will be published on a website using an anagram of the participant's name. A participant may select an anagram, or an anagram will be chosen for the participant.
  4. Taunting is allowed, and sometimes encouraged. Complaining about the scale is tolerated, but fruitless. It is not broken.
  5. Cook Rule: There can be a total of 2 missed weeks that will be interpolated. At the third missed weigh-in, the previous week will be used. If 3 or more consecutive weeks are missed, then I will invoke mystical weight loss contest algorithms to make something up.
  6. Bonus points will be given if your starting weight is lower than either your starting or ending weight from the last diet contest, if you lost weight in the last contest. If your weight is lower than the previous starting weight, you will get 25% credit for that weight loss. If it is lower than your final weight, you get an additional 50% credit for being below that weight.

    For those engineers without reading comprehension, this can be summed up in the following formula:

    /* Bonus to be added to ContiScore (Percent_weight_change*200 + Weight_change) */
    if (prev_end_weight > current_weight )
    bonus = (prev_start_weight - prev_end_weight)*0.25 + (prev_end_weight - current_weight)*0.50;
    else if (prev_start_weight > current_weight )
      bonus = (prev_start_weight - current_weight)*0.25;
    else
      bonus = The_Zero_who_ate_too_much;

     If you have not participated in previous contests, no bonus points for you.
  7. Points will be awarded based on weight change and body characteristics, and how linearly you lose the weight. Please check the intranet for current point status. Highest point total wins the contest. The formula is roughly (or exactly, depending on your definition):

    ContiScore = (Percent_weight_change*200 + Weight_change) ;
    Score = (ABS(ContiScore)+Bonus) รท Linear_Density * ABS(Weight_Slope_Correlation) ;

     (Please note that by using absolute values in the formula, it is possible to get points by gaining weight.)
  8. All participants are invited to the BFLG lunch at the Chinese buffet on Baldwin somewhere after the end of the contest, or if participants have health concerns regarding this location, we can choose a different venue. (Maybe the mall.) The date is tentatively for May 1, 2015.