sorry! I meant *undated* :)

Miss-fit,

When you complete your packet, you must provide your start date and end date of your challenge.  You also need to provide some sort of measurement and answer a few questions.

Not all the before and after photos show the complete transformation.  There have been a few who did multiple challenges.  Checkout  Mina Hobbi, Day 74 and Diane Robertson, day 82 and Pam Brown, Day 50 in the Success Journal.  I personally have done 5 challenges to get where I want to be (the old me size wise).  

Everyone must be realistic with what it will take to reach their goal, you'll be surprised at what you two can accomplish.  Some can do it in one challenge others in multiple challenges.

Best wishes as you journey toward your goals.

Hi Sharon - Thanks for the reply. Perhaps I wasn't very clear about my question. I was just curious why before and after photos are NOT required to be dated (as in, holding up a newspaper in the photo)? It would seem reasonable to me that people prove they achieved the transformation in the time period they claim...otherwise, what's to stop some from submitting a before picture from 6 or 12 months earlier?

Good point....

I don't know but the person would have to be pretty darn desperate to cheat on something like this.  As far as I know, no one has cheated although if you watch the Body of Work DVD (you can order it via abbott.com), there was a question of a few contestants.  Back then they used a lie detector test.  I don't know that they do that anymore.

I thought I read something in the rules about a possible lie detector test..so I guess that would be a deciding factor if someones results were in question..

If the photos are taken with a digital camera, there is software available to tell when the photo was taken.  

hmm...seems like it would be a lot more straightforward to require everyone to hold a newspaper in their photo! Anyway, after veiwing some truely AMAZING transformations, it's hard not to doubt that all of them were completed in 12 weeks :)

I can't even read the print on the paper in some of those photos. :-)  I don't doubt any of them especially the folks I've met.

If you can swing it, you should attend the TN Champions Weekend in Nashville this October.  Once you meet the Champions, hear their story and share the tears of their journey, you'll see it's hard to doubt.

I live by the old adage of "What a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive".  

I can not imagine lying about what I've accomplished and then having to cover that up during an essay, during interviews and more importantly when having to look into the eyes of another challenger that wants to have the same success I'm having.  

I'm with Sharon, come to an event, meet these people face to face, you'll find the true meaning of Body-for-Life pretty quickly.

You can tell the character of a person by the way they treat someone who can do nothing for them.

Amen Michelle and Sharon!!! You both have accomplished soooooo much!

I can't wait until Tennessee!!! =)

Miss-Fit, It all comes down to the integrity of the individual...personally I'd feel sorry for someone if they felt they had to cheat their way through creating their Body for Life...it's an amazing journey!! =)

I have to agree that someone would have to be a pretty rotten person to cheat through this program! And I certainly don't mean to demean the process, just wondering if it was really a "fair" contest. All that being said, I am doing the challenge for myself, first and foremost, so no matter the outcome, I know I will have achieved my personal goal of living a healthier and better life.

Thanks for all the responses & good luck to you all ;)

Yea... I'm not doing the challenge to win anything other than my health & fitness back.  THAT is the greatest reward I could receive by doing the challenge.  And IF I decide to enter a packet... it will only be to record my successes and journey throughout the program and to share that with others.  If by some chance I won something monetary through the contest then that would just be icing on the cake but for me this isn't a contest... it is a challenge to myself and a call to arms get my health and life back in shape.

IF I do enter a packet with photos... my photos were taken with a digital camera with duplicate RAW/JPEG files so the date & timestamp is embedded in that unaltered RAW file if proof ever needed to be shown.  But if the validity of my success ever came into question I would probably withdraw my entry at that moment because it isn't about winning a contest, money or recognition... those are the last thing on my mind while doing BFL.  

sorry people but when there's money on the line people are willing to lie. I'm not saying that I think any of the winners have cheated. I don't. It just doesn't make sense to not have a built in check in the contest.  I'm sure they do check somehow probably via dated digital pictures.

As far as being able to "read" the newspapers you're not supposed to be able to read them per se.  It shows the first page of the newspaper so if the date needs to be checked the day that was the first page of that particular paper can be discovered.