February = Fitness First. (or alliteration is awesome)

WE DID IT! We made through January! One of the reasons we’re not calling this adventure in health ‘resolutions’ is because all three of us would’ve already broken them by now. The nice thing with goals is that they can be worked towards, re-jigged, and amended. We’re building new habits here folks! That’s going to take some time!

For the end of our first month the ladies of the Council went over their goals and made sure that they were SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable/Attainable, Realistic and Timely). Sam went specific, for her new goal of learning to run, and Kate went broad, making sure that all the things she’s trying to do in this upcoming month are SMART. I think I’m somewhere in between. Which brings me to an observation I’ve made over the course of the first month. Having the Jedi Council has been absolutely indispensible. I know that Weight Watchers has recently introduced a chat feature to their program, but I don’t think it could compare to our Jedi Council conversation. Being able to turn to friends who are battling the same mini-bosses as you for support is amazing. Being able to see Sam’s super-dedication and Kate’s amazing insights on a daily basis is just great. I feel like in the past, trudging through it alone, feeling like no one really understands how you’re feeling (even though I’m sure there are many who do) made being healthier so hard. Having these cool ladies around has made this thing so much more fun and easy. If you’re going to do something like this, I’d really recommend forming your own Council.

OKAY! On top of making sure we haven’t gone too crazy with our goals, I’ve also challenged the Council to be selfish in February and put Fitness First. You’ll be unsurprised that I got this idea from my favourite nerdy fitness site, nerdfitness.com. Here’s the general idea from nerdfitness.com founder, Steve Kamb:

“That’s right, you get to be as selfish as you need to be in order to accomplish three goals:

·         You do NOT miss a workout. No matter what.

·         You consume healthy calories that allow you to reach your goal.

·         You can say no to any obligation that would keep you from getting enough sleep or working out.

When you are trying to build healthy habits, especially if you are going all in, it’s often quite difficult to give yourself permission to “be selfish” when society and your duties tell you “fitness isn’t a priority.”

We all say “I’d love to exercise more,” but the reality is this: it’s not what we say is a priority, but rather what we DO that’s the real priority. This is me giving you permission to give yourself permission to be selfish for a month while you’re getting the ball rolling. Because it’s going to be a challenge to bust through bad habits and societal pressures, this might be what you need to finally build that habit.”

Have I mentioned I love this site? I HAVE? For reals though, it's great. You should TOTALLY sign up for their newsletters. So, Steve challenged nerdfitness readers (ie: me, and Sam), I’ve challenged the Jedi Council, and Craig from thenoblehero.com. Are YOU going to accept the challenge?!

NOW! On to the Council’s updates!

 Kate:

Ah, February. Cold, rainy, icky. The month where I most want to curl up under the covers with some tea, cookies, my cat and a book. So what am I going to do?

Exercise.

Yeah.

The Jedi Council has decided that we're taking this whole February Fitness thing seriously, so instead of snoozing the month away, I will be spending it becoming a fitter version of me. And oh, do I need it. Without further ado, here are this month's quests:

1) I'm buying a one month pass to the rec center. That's not the quest though. The quest is that I must get my money's worth out of it. Given the cost of the pass and the cost of a drop-in visit to the gym, I need to go at least 9 times this month. Even if I just go and walk on the treadmill for 20 minutes, I must walk through those doors 9 times.

2) Increase my daily steps on my pedometer. I've been averaging 6000 steps per day, which is nowehere near enough. Next month I would like to average 12000 steps per day.

3) I have never been able to touch my toes. So, this month I will stretch every day, for at least 10 minutes. Yoga counts, but so does just standing there and reaching for my toes for 10 minutes!

Andrea has challenged us to make sure our goals this month are SMART, and I've made sure mine are! I've been focusing more on picking goals that outline a process, rather than a result, as I feel that it's less likely to set me up for disappointment. If I go to the gym 9 times this month, I've made progress, even if the scale doesn't budge at all.

Andrea:
I’m amping up my goals this month! (But making sure they’re still within the SMART parameters, of course!) 

My big quest is staying the same: 75lbs by the end of the year. And the first two sub-quests are staying the same: 1).eating 80% Paleo (ps, the recipes I’m trying? SO FUN!) 2) working out 3x a week (I wasn’t 100% great at this in January, but since we’re putting fitness first in February, it’s the top priority). 

This is where I’m upping my game, sub-quest 3. I was extremely successful in upping my steps in January, only missing the 10,500 mark twice. So now we’re going to run. Wellll, kinda. I’m restarting (for like, the fourth time) the Zombies Run 5K training app (which is AMAZING! But I apparently suck at the follow through). And signed up for the Sun Run. Yup, cardio, you and I are going to be friends if it kills me! Last year, it kinda did, I signed up for Sun Run in 2014 as well, but got walking pneumonia, and was advised that it was probably in my best interest to not try and even walk the 10K…BUT THIS YEAR?! This year, I’m Sun Running.

Sam:

The first month of any life change is hard, and this month has been no exception.  I was successful in losing some weight this month, so that is something for me to be proud of.  I brought my lunch to work everyday except for one and I got up early enough every day to eat breakfast.  I accomplished two out of three of my goals.  Of the third goal, making sure I get in 10, 000 steps per day, well, I didn’t do so great on that.  Some days were amazing, almost 20,000 steps, other days, I was lucky to break 6000.

Even though I didn’t get in my steps per day in January, I’m ok with this as my ONE AND ONLY goal for February is to exercise more. Bringing my lunch to work and getting up early are now my dailies, no longer first time quests I have to complete. So for February, I will rock those dailies and concentrate my efforts on the biggest badass boss there is, exercise, and I will be SMART about this exercise thing.  

 S(pecific) = Learn to Run 5K without stopping.

M(easurable) = I have my vivofit & various apps on my iPhone to help me keep track.

A(chievable) = Getting out there at least 3 times a week to train.

R(ealistic) = I’ve never been able to run (even as a kid), so even being able to run a little bit without losing my breath and needing to slow down will be an improvement.

T(imley) = The training program I have chosen is 8 weeks long.

To help me motivate myself I have done what I may later consider to be an insane act of my part and I signed up for not only the Vancouver Sun Run in April but also the Whistler Mudderella event in September.

 Yeah. That’s right, we’re going to Mudderella it up in September. Yes, we may in fact be crazy people, but after reading about the event, and their motto of “Own Your Strong” sounds like it’s right up our crazy alley. See you on Friday, for your regularly scheduled mini-update!