Tips for a Challenge

A few of you are taking me up on my challenge, and I am SO glad you are even considering it! It is also NOT too late to join! Jump on in, the water's fine...!



Some things I have read have said that 10,000 is a less-than-scientific ideal. 10,000 is what makes an adult considered to be 'active'. I still contend it is a good goal to aim for -- yet I will confess that I RARELY make it. Remember that the winner of the challenge (one of them) is for total number of steps.



If you would like some tips on how to improve your numbers for the November Challenge, think about these things:

1) First and foremost: your feet. You MUST wear shoes that you can tolerate all day. That's one of the reasons I have a 'rest day' so that my feet can have a 'cute shoe' day! Tell your co-workers about the challenge and that you may be looking a little sportier than usual through November. Wear your tennis shoes EVERYWHERE. Have your co-workers sign up for the challenge while you're at it.

2) Unload your groceries one bag at a time. Seriously. Put the entire bag away, go back for more. Think about laundry, trash, etc. the same way. Steps won't kill you as long as you are in comfortable shoes.

3) People have been saying for years: park at the far end of the parking lot. This alone will not make you in shape, but it will help.

4) You HAVE to have enough sleep, as well. You will feel so much better and be able to get in your steps much easier when you are well rested.

5) Enlist a buddy. Mindy and Keith are in the challenge together (I think Mindy has an advantage as an elementary school teacher). They will do great as they can go for a walk after dinner together and talk about their day while they add up steps.

6) Do not be discouraged no matter what your first few readings may be on your pedometer. It is a measuring device -- like blood pressure or cholesterol (or, yes, the scale). The best part about a pedometer is it takes just a few changes to make it better the next day -- unlike the scale. Another thing I read said to aim for improving your average number of steps by 500/ week. So, if you are hovering around 3,000/day right now -- aim for 3,500 by the end of the week. By the end of the challenge you should be around 5,000. BIG improvement!

7) If you do other forms of exercise that will not register as 'steps' you can use this chart (though I think it measures EXCESSIVELY high) to convert it to steps. This is for 30 minutes of activity.



I think that's all for now. Any questions? Any more takers?

Friday -- Clean Up and Fun Day

Don't forget to look into the November challenge. You know you want to do it. What's stopping you? We'll all have so much more fun doing it together!

Drumroll please...... WINNERS!!!

Here is the official Cleft of the Rock choosing bowl, full of Monday's entries:

At which point, one of my offspring with writing all over her hand even after a shower dug into the bowl and drew this name:

Please trust me that the bowl full of Tuesday's entries looked virtually the same as the bowl full of Monday's entries. A different offspring's hand dove into the bowl and pulled out this name (no writing on the hand, but still dirty fingernails after a shower):

So, congrats to Stephanie and Christy Cate. Thanks to one and all for playing along. More prizes/ give-aways coming up! Start with the November challenge -- Target gift cards...! Woot!

Don't you want to be the voice of this booth?

I get a date tonight! Then volleyball tournament and soccer tomorrow (and the end of both seasons are in sight! Awesome!) and worship with my church family on Sunday.

Who has an awesome weekend ahead? What's going on where you are?

November Challenge

Friends of the Bloggy Kind:

I initially was going to offer this challenge to only my friend Roxanne, but then figured I would let us all in on the fun!

Here's the deal:

I am finding that age is catching up to my rear, as well as my whole "to write I have to spend time sitting my buttocks in the chair" philosophy. So I have invested in the most expensive pedometer I am willing to buy that gets rave reviews, and I have set about aiming for that elusive 10,000 steps per day to help ward off the 'expansion of time', if you will.

It was working, as long as I was getting in my 10,000 steps, then I got lazy and am not getting it. So, how about a challenge? The best part about this challenge is that it is 100% within your control -- it isn't pounds lost or calories consumed or whatever. It is simply steps taken per day. Short of a catastrophic injury over a pecan, you should be able to manage it.

Who would like to join me in logging steps for the month of November? How 'bout a Target gift card for the person who logs the most steps for the month of November? (Yeah, NOW you're paying attention, right?)

How to enter:

A) Secure a pedometer. Seriously, you want a decent one. Here is the one I have that isn't OUTRAGEOUS, and you may be able to have it at your doorstep by next week!

B) Email me at sarah [at] thecoffeegroup.net. Please notice this isn't my usual email address where it could potentially get lost with Kohl's sales and forwards. Also, do not assume you are actually signed up until I have replied with "You are on the list!"

C) Put a link to this post on your blog, facebook, Twitter, etc. so that we can get the whole country walking off their Thanksgiving meal before they ever eat it!

How to play:

A) Starting November 2, wear your pedometer 6 days/ week. Sundays are always my day of rest, you may pick a different day. Your pedometer should come with instructions on where and how to best wear it.

B) Email me your daily total. You can do this how you choose: at the end of every day, morning of next, or keep the total for the week yourself and send in that total, or just wait until the end of the month and send me THAT. Whatever works for you. I assume it would be easier to simply email me the number on the pedometer when you take it off at the end of the day, then punch 'reset' for the next day.

C) The November Challenge will run Nov. 2-30 for 25 days (figuring a day of rest per week). You have through December 1 to send me your totals, and I will figure and announce the WINNER on December 2. TRUMPET FANFARE!! Target gift card, just in time for Christmas shopping!! Woot!! Also -- lotsa walking steps just in time for Thanksgiving!

I will calculate the winner based on total number of steps for the month, so you could potentially only walk 2,000 steps one day and then walk 450,000 steps the next and collapse in a heap in time to claim your card!

Since I do have a philosophy of "Anything is better than nothing" when it comes to exercise, there will also be a category of "Most Improved" or "Most Consistent" or some such of my choosing that I haven't settled on yet. Mainly, I don't want anyone to launch down this path and get discouraged at how far they have to go and give up.

Remember, the goal is 10,000 steps per day.

So... with or without a Target gift card, who would like to try to take a lot of steps throughout November? November Challenge -- are you in?