I just lost my blog and don't remember what I was talking about. I think I was bitching about doing my weight average for the week and seeing that I had gained the sliver of weight that I had lost last week. Plateaus suck.
But the Utltametabolism plan only promises 3-5 pounds a month lost after the detox phase is over if you are no longer in the "obese" category, which thank heavens I am not. It's just so frustrating to me how I lose a big chunk in one week, then the scale doesn't move for 10-14 days. Grrr.
Fortunately, I have dipped below 154 for two days in a row despite eating out last night, so maybe I'm in for another "dip."
OK . . . LET'S TALK ADS. Everyone's complaining about the ads on Extrapounds. I have mixed feelings about them.
First, I hate the way they look. From a design standpoint, they're just detritus on my nice clean blog. Garbage. Junk. I'm a graphic desinger as well as a teacher and I HATE excess graphic "noise."
Second, I REALLY hate what the ads are for. They are almost all for things I don't believe in or endorse. It's one thing if EP has the ads on their home page, but when they're on MY PERSONAL PAGE, it looks like I endorse the products--these quick fix diet aids that I am 100 percent opposed to.
As I recall, when I joined last year I noticed that most users used Phentermine and was told that this site was initially created by the manufacturers of that drug as a form of support for its customers. Swimkatt, did you tell me that? So, if that's true, is it really suprising that they would be hawking diet aids?
HOWEVER, people. What do you want for free? I understand that EP has to make money and they're not getting any from us. I was just disappointed that the new 2.0 didn't include any enhanced food log or exercise items. That's the thing I always thought this site was deficient in. I know they jazzed up the interface, but not what we were interfacing with.
As far as the way I use this site, it isn't any different with the redesign. I am glad we can put in more pictures, though. I don't know if I'm willing to pay $6 a month just to get rid of the ads in six months. I don't see that the other things the "membership" is offering is worth the money. I don't have the desire to block people from my site or post via e-mail. I might pay $2.95 a month to get those ads off my page, but that's about it.
It's kind of strange, because I am a "value added" kind of consumer. I'll usually pay the upcharge to get more. But they're just not offering much more. If they offered a better food database, I would pay more. If they offered some kind of ways to print out progress charts and menu plans and fitness routines, I would pay extra. What about Live Chat! How fun would it be to log on and be able to chat live with the other EPers who are on at that time!
So, my question is this, what would make upgrading worth it to you?
Posted By: ashleyb
Comments to this post:
02/11/2007 10:52
hey ashley!
Workouts - the place is www.fontanacenter.com I really like it because the instructors are much more aware of those exercises which can strain one's lower back and neck. I appreciate that. They seem more mature and smart about their classes. The clientele is much older so that is cool too. I am sure the evening/after work classes are more intense, but I am working then. They do have pilates and yoga but I haven't done them yet.
I struggle with the same value issues, and look at things like basic blogger does exist for free. And Typepad offers a lot of features for a lower monthly cost (even on their basic level). While I do not like the look of ads, I have my own little way of dealing with them (and I'm certainly not about to let them know how!). So what would I pay for... More storage space, more templates, the ability to customize and bring in our own look and feel rather than the cookie cutter templates (a lot of which are just too ugly for words). Ad-free and privacy aren't worth $6 to me. If you want a private blog, you can get that totally free at blogger. I really think they are out of touch with what the rest of the blog market offers.
I don't think the upgrades are worth $6 a month. The ads I find funny. On my blogs about my dogs...the ads were about dogs, so they must have some kind of search that puts ads that correlate to what the blog is about. I ended up taking off the ads but I guess in 6 months they'll be back. I also didn't realize that this was a phentermine site. I guess that explains why so many people here use Phentermine. I guess I wouldn't have become part of EP if I had known that since I don't believe in drugs to help with weightloss. What would I like to see? That if I'm logged in, that I can write to everyone's blog and not have type in my username and password everytime. Unless there is a way around that that I haven't found yet. I also think that the food logs is up to par..I use another site for that.
Posted By:
02/11/2007 11:08
NOT up to par...
maybe an edit feature. LOL! Gosh!
Posted By:
02/11/2007 11:43
Hmmmmmmmmm...
I too removed the ads as soon as I saw them. Like you, I wondered how much I would be willing to pay to "keep them away". The jury is out on that one.
I do love the idea of live chat... that would be fun.
I already pay WW for online membership which has the ability to log my food, look up, and report my exercise -- so I think the chat feature would be my front runner.
Keep up the great work. With less to lose it seems to take a bit longer -- but that's a good thing (that there's less to lose! : ).
I can't think of a thing I would be willing to pay to get from a blog site. I won't pay to keep ads off my blog, so in 6 months I guess my tagline will change from "Seeking the middle way" to "Pay no attention to the ads on this blog."
I'm here because it's free, and there's a community of like-minded people here to share my experiences with. I cannot exaggerate what a tightwad I am when it comes to this sort of thing. There are no templates, bells or whistles I can imagine that would cause me to pay a subscription to have a blog. Not when I can have free ones elsewhere that are no more hassle to use than this one. Where they make their money from doesn't concern me, really, as long it's not from my pocket. So I guess what I'm saying is, when (if) this site becomes subscription-only, I'll be on blogger.
If, since my coming back to EP from my 4 month grease-gorge fest, found out that I could only blog if I paid for the site, then I would say that I would. Now that I am looking for help, I recognize that it is the wonderful, insightful and strong people, like yourself, that make this blog what it is. It is the community that is created and the fact that it is there to learn from, when one needs it. So, for me- though the ads are annoying, if I had to, I'd pay just to do regular ol' bloggin and reading. The value of this site are everyone's words. I missed everyone.
I get they need the ads to pay for the upgrades, I do, but the ear stapling ad?
That said, the ads don't bother me enough that I woudl pay $6/month to rid myself of them. They just create clutter, whcih I find unappealing. Nor do I particularly want to go blog elsewhere, I do like that we are all trying to lose weight and live a healthier lifestyle here.
I am pretty cheap to be honest, partially out of necessity. I don't think there is ANYTHING they could do to make it worth $6 a month to me. But that is just my opinion. Perhaps $2-3 a month for no ads, a better exercise log, a more user-friendly food log, a reliable server (this one does seem reliable so far), a EP Email. Even then, I'm not sure.
I would have to agree that there isn't much I would pay for to blog. I love this site just for the social interaction so to be able to chat would be great. However even that is something I am not to fond of. I am not one for chatting with twenty people at once online, to much conversation to follow. I would love to be able to one on one chat, to get some inspiration when needed.
You look so pixie-esque with your new do. Is that what you're going for?? Or maybe it's an angle thing. Anyway you look hot!
I couldn't agree with you more about plateaus. It doesn't help that PCOS does whatever the hell she likes with my body too. I know this isn't a healthy comparison but you're plateauing at a much lower number. I'm still at 178 and god knows when will I ever reach 150.
Posted By:
02/12/2007 09:05
Firefox
I don't see the adverts cos I use a blocker on Firefox which doesn't display the adverts.
Same with Live Journal. you can upgrade to a plus account as long as you agree to display adverts on your blog. I upgraded but while there is a 'place holder' for the advert, I don't see them.
(Nor do most of my friends list)
I'd pay extra money here tho, like you said, for the extra functionality of a 'better' food list. I'm from the UK and we don't measure in cups. so I'm finding that I'm transcribing all the info from the back of packets on to my personalised list - so that I can find say 40g of something that I've just flung in a salad.
(I'd also like the portion numbers to have fractions = to be able to add half a portion of something, for example.)
OH for the day when I make up my own data base thingie!!
(I wrote a long reply and my pc ate it., so this will be much shorter you'll be pleased to know!)
I use Firefox as a browser and use an Advert blocker, it's great. I don't see any ads. Nor do I on Live Journal - where there is a free account but if you agree to display adverts, you have a few extra features.
Here, I'd like better functionality in the food logs, the ability to select HALF a portion of something. but better quantities of things. I'm from the UK and we don't use 'cups' so I end up adding even the most basic things into my personalised log so I can add 40g of something that I've just flung into a salad, or whatever.
Oh for the day that I have my own but meantime I'm very happy to have found y'all !
better food/exercise trackers with an option to publish them (or am I just not aware of how to do that now?)
partnerships with other online diet programs--like a way to use the WW online tracking tools and import that log over here. I'm sure there are similar things with JFC, NS, and South Beach.
a way to stay logged in to comment on others' blogs
Hugs to your sore back and the damned return of the 4. Take those films to your regular doc quick! I'll be back tonight with more . . .
Thanks a lot for all your comments concerning the ads and other features you'd like to see on this site. Here are our thoughts
Ads:
Our goal at extrapounds.com is to make sure that this site remains independent and has enough resources (well money) to be here for a long time. Unfortunately in this world, nothing is free and a site like extrapounds.com requires a lot of money to be operated.
To finance Extrapounds.com, we have chosen to keep Extrapounds.com free and to have some ads. We understand that people don't want to see ads and also want advanced features. For that reason, we have decided to offer 'Gold membership'. Prices have been kept low. We think this system is fair because it gives you the choice.
About release 2
New servers Release 2 has been implemented on a new server which will guarantee a better response time, more reliability and more room for growth. We are now able to absorb 10 times more traffic. How much did it cost? around USD 40 000 only for the server (well it's a nice cluster made of 6 HP Proliant servers )
New features implemented Post by mail: some people use it and love it.I have posted from my cel phone sitting in the street. Believe me, it's really cool. Food database: we have completely changed the way you can navigate through the database. You can now browse by category which makes it very easy to find food. Concerning the food database itself, the situation is more complex: the data we have is related to the US market but we have members from the UK, Canada, The middle east, etc... when you use cups in the USA, our friends from the UK use grams. You can also add chinese, japanese, indian, italian food, because you may eat these foods if you go out in the evening with Hubby. Updating the database by hand IS difficult. For example, we added all Jenny Craig's food in our database by hand and it's really time consuming. More trackers for more goals (final goal, hubby come back goal, ...) You can customize trackers too and have a specific text for each tracker. More pictures, albums
What is planned in the next release: - chat: yes we are working on it. - the ability to create support groups, for example you will be able to create 'the miami group', 'the sex group' , 'the no-ads group' etc - a system to create challenges - etc ...
Cost for the new release: around USD 100 000, mainly programming and software.
Money , Money You can see that we are investing a lot of money into this project and hope you'll like what we are preparing. We are also making little improvements when we notice that something can be improved quickly.
How will Extrapounds be in six months?
Very very different: what is coming is really cool and we do believe that you will love it.
I would like to take the opportunity to THANK YOU for your feedback and your comments. It is very important to understand what you want and need.
How about an a la carte type system...we check and they bill?? No ads for $25 a year...you got it...email posts...$10 per year...yup...extra trackers...$5 a year...ok...but not $72 for stuff I will NEVER use! I agree ashley...and txmommie...I am cheap too!!! LOL
I missed everyone.
but meantime I'm very happy to have found y'all !
