We're on a Quest! (or goal-setting for nerd-types)

In our first post, we, the Jedi Council let you know why we were doing what we're doing, now comes the all-important how. It's great to have lofty ideas of what you'd like to do, but without setting out specific goals, you're doomed to fail...AND WE REFUSE TO FAIL!

I've been spending a lot of time over at nerdfitness.com lately, and amongst the many articles, I've gleaned some tips for goal-setting, specifically goal-setting for nerds. It's much easier for our nerd-brains to make and stick to our goals if we turn them into a game. I explained this to the Council, and Kate came back with the perfect analogy:

"As good nerds, the Jedi Council decided that any sort of project like this is actually just a game. Think of it this way - My end goal is to weigh 180lbs by July 1st. That's my final boss. In order to get to my final boss, I need to spend the next six months doing side quests to earn XP, which will help me defeat mini bosses, which will prepare me for that scary final boss. If this all works according to plan, that boss won't actually be so badass by the time I get there, cause I'll have levelled up into an equivalent badass. You following so far?"

Thanks Kate! So, we all have our final bosses that we want to kick the crap out of, but we can't do it right away, we'd get clobbered! We need to tackle some smaller bosses, pick up some shiny new armor, get some new weapons, arm ourselves with some potions, all of which will make defeating that final boss, when we get there a piece of cake!

We all sat down and figured out what we want our main goals (quest) to be, and the side quests that will help us reach that main quest.

Sam:

Goals are an interesting thing, they are fluid and ever changing. You may start out with one goal and by the end it may have completely evolved into something else. My ultimate end goal is to lose 40-50lbs. However to achieve that goal I have to make mini-goals so my ultimate goal is not quite as overwhelming. For January I will be starting three mini-goals.

Bring my lunch to work Get up early enough to eat breakfast Utilize my step counter more

These may seem like very simple goals to start with so let me elaborate the difficulty.

Bringing my own lunch is something I have struggled with since I was around 12, when my lunch for school was no longer prepared for me. Even then I didn’t make great food choices, most of the time I would just bring an apple and a chocolate milk. Quick, easy, no thinking, no planning. As I got into highschool, the fries at the cafeteria or a bag of chip and a pop were my go to's for lunch. As an adult, I’ve always worked close by restaurants or fast-food places. Now I need to plan ahead and make sure I bring my lunch. Not only will this be healthier for my body, but also on my pocket book.

I've never done mornings

I don’t do mornings. Never have. I was told that would change as I got older, LIES! My normal morning routine usually consists of pressing the snooze button 4 or 5 times then rolling out of bed 15 mins before I have to leave. Now I have started to set my alarm earlier and press snooze only 2 or 3 times. Getting up with enough time to eat breakfast my mornings sure do seem less stressful now. Although, I battle with my alarm clock every day, however it is winning the war.

I have a vivofit. I love it. Now I have to utilize it more. Instead of just seeing how much I walked every day, I will make sure that it’s at least of the 10, 000 recommended daily steps. Walks at lunch will help. Taking the stairs at work will also help. If by the end of the day I haven’t reached 10, 000 steps, well then I will just have to chase my cats around the apartment. Give both them and myself some exercise.

Andrea:

Main quest for 2015: Lose 75lbs, (which may be slightly aggressive, but we'll see, it can always be revised) 

Quest for first 6 weeks of the year: lose 15lbs

Sub-quests for this first 6 weeks

1) Cleaning up my diet. I think I finally understand that I can't outrun my fork. No matter how much I exercise I need to eat better. I've been trying to eat Paleo, which emphasizes eating real food, cutting out sugar and processed foods. There are other 'rules' as well, but I'm not going to bore you with them. So far, I find myself eating Paleo 80% of the time, and it's not that hard. Planning ahead, shopping, cooking, are all important parts of keeping on track with this quest. And let me tell you, the new recipes I'm finding! YUM!

2) Working out 3x a week. I started working out more a year and a bit ago, so while I'm not nearly as weak as I used to be, I would still like to pick this up a bit.This quest will definitely require some time management to ensure the workouts happen, getting up earlier is going to have to happen. I will also endeavour to try new moves/workouts to keep things interesting, 'cause my brain gets bored of repetition. 

Maybe someday, if I work reeeeeeaaaaally hard, I can be as awesome as Natasha Romanov. It could happen right?

3) Increasing my cardio. I've been tracking my steps via my Jawbone UP! for almost two years now, and I love it. I know that I can easily get the recommended 10,000 steps a day without much extra effort, so I'm going to increase my daily goal of steps to 10,500 (and perhaps keep going up to 12,000 by the summer) and do my best to make sure that I get those steps in everyday. UPDATE on this side-quest! My best buddy Craig (you can find him and his fitness goals for 2015, here) and I have been going for walks during lunch instead of playing on our phones and I haven't been below 11,000 steps all week.

Kate:

My end goal is to weigh 180lbs by July 1st.

Kate at 17...when she thought she was 'fat'. Teenaged minds are terrible.

Here are my side quests for the month:

1) Move. Just move. Get off the bus 2 stops early and walk. Walk around the block before bed. Walk to the store, even if you only need 1-2 things. If you see a trailhead marker, go explore it. If there's a chance to get up and move around, take it. Try to do at least one big walk per week (big being over 45 mins. That definition will increase as the weeks go on!)

2) Meal planning. Sit down with that-guy-I-live-with every weekend and plan out our dinners for the week. Go shopping so we have the ingredients we need, and then stick to our plan so we don't wind up making poor food choices cause we're starving. Mac and Cheese is not a valid meal plan.

3) Cupboard Stocking. On a similar note to #2, make sure the kitchen is always stocked with healthy foods that take little to no time to prepare. This may mean spending a little extra money to buy the pre-made hummus instead of making your own. Yes, you know how, but we all know you won't do it when you're hungry. You'll grab a cookie instead.

If I can handle these side quests, I should have enough XP to level up and defeat this month's mini boss, which is to lose 5lbs. Next month I'll have some new side quests to work on, and a new mini-boss. Course, as any good gamer knows, sometimes you keep doing the same quest over and over to grind out XP. I will keep killing kobolds for their candles for as long as I need to, damnit!

So, those are our quests, and sub-quests, at least for the next couple of weeks, then who knows! They might need to be updated. What do you think?

Also, while I have the next couple of posts floating in my brain already, is there anything you'd like to hear about the Jedi Council and A New Hope? Is once every two weeks enough, should we try and update every week? Drop us a comment below!