Kort's Going on a Adventure! (1st Challenge)

[Kort]

Whenever I start something new, all I can think about is Bilbo Baggins running down the lane "I"m going on an adventure!" Hopefully I can meet this challenge with the same level of enthusiasm.

 

First off the goals:

 

1) Do a minimum of 30 minutes of exercise on average 5 days a week, or 150 minutes total. I won't be particular about when those days are, just for sure 5 days a week.  This also means if I only exercise 4 days of the week but still reach my 150 minutes, I will count it.  

As far as grading goes I'll follow my fav. professors rubric. 92% and above= A, full points.  85%-91.99%= B, 80% of points; anything less= Failure, 0 points. (5STA)

 

2) Actually use my calorie counting app every day.  Even if I occasionally go over the recommended amount of calories, I have to actually use the app. This is an all or nothing type of goal.

Not every day = not any points. (3CON)

 

3) For every chapter of a book I read, 15 jumping jacks or pushups.  I can do this either right after finishing the chapter or I can just add them up and then add them to my weekly workouts. Regardless, it must happen.  

Standard grading scale 90, 80, 70, 60, Fail. (2STA 2STR)

 

4) I'm quitting my Kindle/Amazon cold turkey for 6 weeks.  This is not only going to be beneficial to my time management (less books bought=less time reading), it is also going the best possible achievable workout for my financial fitness. Who knows? Maybe next challenge I'll give up Target.  

This is another all or nothing goal. (3WIS)

 

So here's to adventure and the best of luck to all!

[girlonfire]

I love you #3. I'm really into reading and connecting it with exercise is a great idea. Memorized for next challenge!!

Good luck

[AddisonNemeth]

cool goals. I wish you good luck this challange

[Aubin]

Awesome Goals 

Keep updating at least once a week 

 

Best of luck!

[WeirdAbbott]

I really like the jumping jacks after every chapter goal, it's something I've never seen before and totally do-able. Best of luck to you!

[magi192]

I really like your 3rd goal! It's very creative. Also, tracking your workout sessions by time rather than by day is a smart move. It gives you a chance to make up for any last minute surprises life throws at you, so good thinking! *Takes note*

 

I do think the calorie counting app goal should not be all or nothing though. Developing a new habit is hard, so it might be best if you give yourself a margin for success. By the way, what calorie counting map are you using? I've been thinking of getting one, but there's so many out there that I can't make up my mind. @.@

 

I'll be checking in to see your weekly progress, so start today and start out strong girl! You got this!

[Kort]

 

 

I do think the calorie counting app goal should not be all or nothing though. Developing a new habit is hard, so it might be best if you give yourself a margin for success. By the way, what calorie counting map are you using? I've been thinking of getting one, but there's so many out there that I can't make up my mind. @.@

 

 

I think the only reason I'm doing it as an all or nothing is because I'm going to allow myself some wiggle room, such as: if I forget to log every single thing for a day but still log at least something, I will still count it as logging.  This way if I log something at breakfast but then forget the rest of the day it won't destroy the goal for the challenge.  

 

I'm using the free version of LoseIt! for iPhones.  So far I love it; it connects to an online account as well and you can log exercise and set weight loss goals to know how much you need to eat to lose and how much to maintain.  Being the 'gold star' kind of kid I am, I especially love that if you reach certain goals or log/exercise so many days in a row it sends you emails with badges that say you are awesome!

[ManicSpider]

Hello! We are in the NF Writers group together  

 

I really like your goals. I love to read and I think that I will have to remember your number 3 for next time I have to set a challenge. Do you mind if I ask about the grading scale for that? Is it that you get an A if you do 90 jumping jacks or push-ups, or is it if you do over 90% of the ones you "owe" yourself given how much you've read? Also, if you quit your Kindle, does this only count towards paper books then? 

 

The MyFitnessPal app is the one I use to keep track of my calories - funnily enough (given the name) it's terrible for tracking exercise! And I find that when I use it regularly I eat less calories anyway, just because I KNOW how many I have left and I can't err on the side of "Oh, I'm pretty sure I've been good today"  

[Kort]

Hi ManicSpider!

 

How i'm doing the grading scale for #3 is a percentage thing. I've made a spreadsheet to put on my Google Drive so I always have it on my phone and for my room created a super colorful chart to hang on my wall where I write down how many chapters I have read.  At the end of the day or reading session, I calculate how many jumping jacks/pushups I owe.  In another tab I have a rolling total of how many jumping jacks/pushups I have done towards my total.  At the end of the challenge I'll hopefully be at 100% but we'll see.

 

Since I gave up Kindle (hardest goal ever so far!) I'll be only counting the physical books I read.  Since I have stack taller than my current bookcase that are required book club reading for my job, I expect this to be a more difficult goal that I originally thought.

 

I downloaded the MyFitnessPal but I just never had as good of luck liking the interface as I do LoseIt; I'm not really sure why.  Also, I read your challenge feed, and I love your goals! I think allowing yourself wiggle room for a couple days on calorie counting is brilliant, and definitely beneficial!

[ManicSpider]

That's so organised! I'm envious What do you read mostly? 

 

Basically I have to leave myself some wiggle room, because my head is like a rebellious teen when it comes to food, and if I say "Okay, all you can eat is this for the next 6 weeks" it would do the equivalent of yelling "You're not the boss of me!" before running into the bedroom, slamming the door and playing Linkin Park with the volume all the way up. I once tried one of those detox things where you eat no solid foods for 8 days and just drink this horrible lemon and Cayenne pepper concoction and after a day and a half I caved and ate so much I put on a kilo. Definitely better to go slow and steady  

[Ben-Ro]

Great goals and best of luck!  I'll be following in the Losing Machines group!

[Kort]

#1 Update!

 

So it's been three days and I crashed and burned.  Think epic proportions of fiery, awful, disaster; that would be my goals this week.  I did fantastic on Monday and Tuesday morning.  Then I had to travel for work and things went poorly and I was stressed, so I did what any self-respecting book nerd would do.  I dealt with my stress by hacking my computer blocking program to unprogram the blocks I had installed to keep me away from Kindle Cloud Reader and 27 chapters later, I now owe myself over 400 push-ups and jumping jacks.

 

Now I am at a challenge crossroads: do I just say my goal #4 is ruined for the challenge or, in keeping with the true spirit of the goal, do I keep in mind that I didn't 'buy' any new books (even though my kindle was doing all these little "new release for you" ads) and say that I mostly kept with the goal and just not give myself the full points.  I did still write down how much I read and what that meant for exercise.

 

Thoughts or ideas of how to handle a day 2 breakdown?  I have figured out enough to know that if my Kindle is a stress coping mechanism, this may be a tougher challenge than originally planned.  That being said: On to day 4! 

[girlonfire]

Don't give it up, it was only 1 day. There are 5 1/2 weeks more to rock it. I think you are still on a good way because you wrote down how much you've read. So go, go, go! 

Don't expect from yourself, to change in one day what you have done for months or years. It's not about how often you trip and fell down, it's about standing up and going on strong afterwards 

[Ben-Ro]

I think you should give yourself SOME credit.  Having an all or nothing goal is a bit self-defeating, especially if you slip up, which just about everyone is bound to do!  And this early on, it gives you an excuse to give up on that goal, and you shouldn't give up!

 

I would also rethink the goal itself.  You shouldn't have to give up reading if it's something you enjoy, especially since reading is good for you, so use it as a reward.

 

Instead of reading a chapter, and then punishing yourself for it by doing jumping jacks, flip it around.  Do the jumping jacks/pushups FIRST, then, as a reward for doing them, you can sit down and unwind with your book.  15 Jumping Jacks/Pushups = 1 chapter.  So if you can do 30 jumping jacks in the morning when you wake up, and 30 when you get home at night, you get to read 4 chapters that night.  You just have to keep yourself accountable and ONLY read the 4 chapters you've earned.

[magi192]

Like girlonfire says, you still have 5 1/2 weeks to go. Chillax and think: Goal#3 says "jumping jacks or push-ups", not "jumping jacks and push-ups." It's possible to do 100 jumping jacks a day (not all in one session) and fulfill the 405 owed in 4 days. Also, I completely agree w/ Ben-Ro in reversing the mentality behind goal#3.

Regarding goal#4, you don't have to drop it. You can also change it from being all-or-nothing. Instead of looking to drop the Kindle cold turkey completely, drop it cold 5 days out of the 7 a week. Make the weekends your reading days if you want, or just make it a general 2-day free pass you can use whenever life comes hard-knocking.

Look, at least you've learned that reading is one way you cope with stress. That's a pretty good bit of personal info you can arm yourself with the next time you get stressed out.

Don't freak out. Keep calm. Move on.

[WeirdAbbott]

They say to make something a habit, you have to do it for three days. I think you can totally get back on track and not give up on the goals. Once you hit that three day mark, it will (hopefully) be easier to do (or harder to put off). Give yourself some slack, nothing changes overnight, and you still have 5+ weeks to complete your goals. Keep going and don't give up!

[snark]

I definitely recommend something like Ben-Ro's suggestion of structuring such that reading is the reward for the jumping jacks, rather than jumping jacks as a punishment for the reading (even though it really comes out in the wash). I have to admit that I have a tiny internet crush on you now for being someone who reads so much that you consider it a vice worth two goals!

Good luck on everything, and enjoy your reading!

[Kort]

So, I'm actually kind of an odd duck and really enjoy jumping jacks.  I guess they just make me feel like a little kid in gym class again.  

 

For goal #3, the mentality is less that I am punishing myself for reading and more of I know that I love reading and will continue to do that no matter what, so now there is an active part to go with it.  It is also a time management technique (which is the same mentality with quitting my Kindle) of knowing that whatever time I spend reading I will have to also spend time doing jumping jacks or pushups so I had better make sure the rest of my work is done first.  

 

And sorry I forgot to clarify this in the goal portion. (Note for next time, be really specific abouts both for myself and others!)  By quitting my Kindle, I'm not quitting reading.  I have an insane amount of print books that need to be read for work, school, the LSAT, and other such things.  I keep forgetting to read those because on my Kindle are my fun books.  It is also way too easy to finish a book on the Kindle and *click* buy another one.  So by quitting the Kindle, I am making myself actually read the books I need to finish and better control my spending on books.

 

Luckily I'm home again, my first ever major work project is done (the cause behind the stress and subsequent freakout), and I've already made plans to meet a friend for running in the park!  Thank you everyone for the support and suggestions; I really appreciate it!

[magi192]

I love jumping jacks too and I do get what what you're trying to say. Knowing that you have to do JJ's and push-ups after reading each chapter helps you keep in mind that you should limit the amount of reading you do, since you're only capable of so many JJ's a day. However, even though you do not see JJs and push-ups as punishments, I still think Ben-ro's suggestion stands as the more effective time managing plan. It's just a lot more direct. You'll become more aware of the amount of time you want to give yourself to read by doing the JJs beforehand. You go in knowing the allotted time you gave yourself. If you pass it, you can still do more JJ's, but I imagine it'll be more easier to stop reading if you know you went past a certain amount of time than calculating up to how many JJ's you owe.

 

Whatever you stick with though, I'm glad to see you've cheered up! Congrats on completing the project! Keep it up girl! =D

[Kort]

Well, week 1 wrap-up!

 

As witnessed, I had some really awesome moments and some pretty epic freakouts.  Overall though, Week 1 went pretty well.

 

G1: Yea, definitely did my 150 minutes of exercise. My week involved a tradeshow that had me walking over 5 miles a day place the various bodyweight workouts I did in the morning. 

G2: Every single day, and even stayed at/under my calorie level!  Woot!

G3: I got a little behind this week on amount of jumping jacks/push-ups owed, and due to some fantastic recommendations I will be changing this goal for next week, but I am going to catch up on everything I owe so I'll hopefully have full points in the end.

G4: Only caved once, and more importantly didn't buy anything new for the Kindle!

 

In other news, I got rave reviews on my first work project as a real graduated adult and started to learn French.  I also publicly committed to my first half marathon (last time I take a dare without asking more questions), so that should be interesting to start training for during this challenge!

 

All in all, it was a good week and I'm super excited to do even better next week!

[magi192]

*Awesome diligence, awesome consistency, awesome awesomeness affirmed.*

 

Now that's a beautiful Week 1.

 

[Ben-Ro]

Great job, Kort!  Keep it up!

[WeirdAbbott]

Great job! One fantastic week down, five more to go...keep it up!

[Hiraedd]

Super great week, Kort! 

 

How have the first days of week 2 been?

[Kort]

Week 2 has been most excellent so far!

 

Probably the #1 reason this whole week started out better is because I told my roommate about the awesomeness of Nerd Fitness Rebellion and so every time she walks by my room she'll say "Have you done your 30 minutes for the day?"  My personal favorite quote came yesterday when she saw my charts that said I was behind on jumping jacks and just casually mentioned in passing "hmm, I wonder how many jumping jacks you can get done while waiting for your morning tea to brew?" Cue, raised eyebrow and tapping foot.  I swear she's the smirking, sarcastic version of a personal trainer.

 

So really, I have no idea where this super motivated productive burst of fitness energy came from, but I'm going to roll with it for as long as possible!