MAYhem Monthly Step Challenge--MAYbe it's time to step it up and get a little crazy with your goals

[Baltoscott]

So April was a reset month, a restart of the January goals you dropped in February ;-).  For the MAYhem challenge this month, get a little creative; sure, get your steps — always gotta do that — but add some floors, or do a 5K, or post a pic of something 2 or 3 miles away from your couch! You get the idea, it’s MAYhem!!

   
How It Works:

The primary purpose of these monthly challenges has been to keep track of your daily step goals for the month; though many of us track other things as well, like body weight exercises, sleep, trips to the gym, logging food, etc. This is not a competition to see who can do the most of whatever, instead it is a challenge to measure your consistency. So whether you do 1k, 5k, 10k or even 40k steps a day, this is measuring how many days out of the monthly total you can hit your goal.

Some might have a constant goal of 10k steps every single day and others might have a variable goal throughout the week, (and some might even plan days off!) for example.
Monday -> Friday = 10k steps a day
Sat & Sun = “6k steps a day,” or “not tracking”

Regardless of how you structure your daily goals, the only thing that matters for the monthly challenge is whether or not you reach what you set out to do.

Suggested Posting Format
1) Post either your constant or variable step goal.
2) Keep track of the # of daily goals achieved out of the monthly minimum and or monthly total

Although you certainly don’t have to post daily, you’ll likely stay closer to what you set out to do by updating the thread several times/week and that will give the rest of us incentive to update our own progress.

Injury Notice
If you injure yourself during the month and need to scale back due to the injury, then all you have to do is adjust your goal for that period. If you normally do 10k steps a day but pull a hamstring and decide to do minimal walking (2k steps a day), then all you have to do is change your goal.

[Jotex]

Will have to make up for today’s deficit of 3,500 steps tomorrow, I’m afraid. Dr visit this morning, meet-ups with friends, and came home this evening with a very upset tummy. I am beginning to realize I really am gluten intolerant and need to be stricter about avoiding it. 😐

[Baltoscott]

May 15

-15K steps/day for all 31 days. 15/31
-1 pushup/day for all 31 days 15/31
-13 16 weight-lifting days: 7/13 16 
- 50 floors or more for 20 days: 10/20
-Sleep 6+ hours 12 days: 2/12
-sign up for and do one organized event: 1/2

Halfway through the month.  Looks like I am pretty much on track for everything except, of course, the sleep goal.

[benvegi]

Time flies, have missed reporting due to some recent health issues (now resolved) my wife was having. Trips to the Dr., etc.  Then, last week my laptop chose to die a lingering death. Couldn't get to the compter doctor until today. He fixed it in 92 seconds and didn't charge me!

So my May goals are to Average:

14 k steps per day 

30 floors per day

7 miles per day

Week one May 1 to May 7

Average of 16,843 steps per day  but one day of 8.8k steps, countered by two 20k + days

     "                      42 floors per day  one day of 14 floors

     "                      8  miles per day one day of 3.98 miles

Week two May 8 to May 14

Average of 19,843 steps per day

      "                    51 floors per day

      "                     9 miles perday             no days below goals.

[A_Lurker]

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@A_Lurker wrote:

1) 10,000 steps each day

2) some other form of exercise (rowing, elliptical, strength training... may include gardening)

3) 7h sleep average each week

4) checking in each day

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1) 15/31

2) 5 (rowing), 5 (elliptical), 5 (resistance)

3) week 1 (6hr31m), week 2 (7hr41m), week 3 (so far) 7hr 26m

4) 14/31

Sigh, so much for plans. Was still awake at 3am I couldn't get over that sleep barrier. That meant when I finally got up at a decent hour I just fed the cats and went back to sleep. I think my goal needs to be in bed by a certain time. It was going to be 10pm... but I'm 33 mins past that now. So, off to bed I must go.

@Ennay- I am a huge procrastinator on the decluttering. I'm slowly pushing myself, but I admit I'm a disaster. I joked about getting a dumpster out front and just filling it, but I feel this will divert too much to landfill when some of it can be used elsewhere.

@Jotex- I have an ex-coworker (and friend now) who has a horrible time with gluten.  It can be a rough lifestyle to stick with, but I've discovered that stew made with just red wine and beef broth boiled down tastes actually better than a gravy thickened with flour.

@benvegi- glad to see you posting.  It's nice to see a number of people continuing with the original thread even though I goofed off for a while.

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[Jotex]

@A_Lurker wrote:

“. @Jotex- I have an ex-coworker (and friend now) who has a horrible time with gluten.  It can be a rough lifestyle to stick with, but I've discovered that stew made with just red wine and beef broth boiled down tastes actually better than a gravy thickened with flour.”

@A_Lurker — thanks for the tip. 

@A_Lurker and @Ennay - we’re also ‘working’ on decluttering. For me it seems to get done in spurts. If the weather is nice, I’m outside puttering around with my flowers and plants and decluttering the weeds that seem to crop up on a daily basis. I can relate to your comment about not just throwing things in a dumpster, too, @A_Lurker. Yesterday I mailed a kingsize flatsheet and two pillow cases (nice cotton) to my Mom ... in Texas! We don’t need them and she does. Mind, after paying the postage, I probably won’t be mailing any more items any time soon!

[NellyG]

16 May  Beautiful weather here at the moment so my steps are coming pretty easily!

Steps 10,000 per day                                       14/20

High step day over 20,000                              1 👍

Swim twice per week                                       1/2     5/8

Fitbit Coach or bike ride - one per week      2/1      4/4    

Dance 6 hours per week                                 1/6      11/24

[rylohnes]

Good morning, Good morning, Good morning!!!! Remember, whats worth the prize is always worth the fight!!

Happy Wednesday!!!

So far:

87000 steps/wk - Nailed it the first two weeks and on track for week 3!

15000+ steps/ day - 10/8

[Jotex]

May 16
10,000 steps a day average - 14/31
15,000 steps a day x 5 - 4/5

As promised, made up my steps for yesterday, and extended it to make it to 15,000 steps today. Whoop!

[Baltoscott]

May 16

-15K steps/day for all 31 days. 16/31
-1 pushup/day for all 31 days 16/31
-13 16 weight-lifting days: 8/13 16 
- 50 floors or more for 20 days: 11/20
-Sleep 6+ hours 12 days: 2/12
-sign up for and do one organized event: 1/2

[Ennay]

12K steps yesterday. 

Second half of the garden is in except for laying the drip hoses.  Just using a sprinkler for now.

Dealing with the angst, depression and irritability surrounding the board meeting again.  Had a hard time making myself DO yesterday. and today.

[NellyG]

17 May

Steps 10,000 per day                                       15/20

High step day over 20,000                              1 👍

Swim twice per week                                       2/2     6/8

Fitbit Coach or bike ride - one per week      3/1      5/4    

Dance 6 hours per week                                 1/6      11/24

@Ennay lovely looking garden!

[GershonSurge]

The good news is I've figured out a control mechanism to arrest a weight decline. The bad news is I didn't have time to get enough exercise the past couple days. I need to get motivated today and paint my deck. 

There is a strange relationship when I eat more calories. To pile on the calories, I have to focus on starches which are significantly cheaper than fruits and vegetables. It ends up costing less to eat 3500 calories than to eat 2500 calories. 

The other good news is the knee that had been bothering me is finally all rested up, and I won't have to limit productive activity today. Time to see if I can do a three-hour "marathon" of productive work.

[Baltoscott]

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@GershonSurge wrote:

... 

There is a strange relationship when I eat more calories. To pile on the calories, I have to focus on starches which are significantly cheaper than fruits and vegetables. It ends up costing less to eat 3500 calories than to eat 2500 calories. 

...

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Yes, it seems that in most diets calories can be cheap, but good nutrition less so.

[GershonSurge]

@Baltoscottsaid:

"Yes, it seems that in most diets calories can be cheap, but good nutrition less so."

Recently, I had a breakthrough while reading "The Starch Solution" by Dr. McDougall. He said vegetables are more alike than we think. He pointed out the relative differences in nutrients between starches and cruciferous vegetables and fruits. He also pointed out that we can get all the nutrients just by eating more calories of starch and fewer of fruits and vegetables. In fact, we can live quite well on potatoes and a little oil so the proteins aren't too high.

Most nutrients are recycled through the body. Some have a shorter "lifespan" and need to be replenished. Others can be stored for years and maybe for decades. There are processes to use smaller amounts of nutrients than is considered normal. Calcium is one of these. Vitamin B-12 is another. 

On days I know I want to eat many calories, I tilt heavily towards starches, which are cheap. You can get 2500 calories for about $1.65 if this is all that is eaten. On these days, I eat more of the more expensive fruits and vegetables. In either case, I get at least six servings of both fruits and vegetables most days.

I think it's possible to eat cheaply eating inexpensive pork and chicken. It has been a long time since I've looked at those numbers. The problem with this approach is there are few vitamins and minerals in meat compared to starches. When a person tilts towards gaining weight, they will end up short on vitamins. That's why Dr. Atkins sold so many supplements.

[NellyG]

18 May

Steps 10,000 per day                                       16/20

High step day over 20,000                              1 👍

Swim twice per week                                       2/2     6/8

Fitbit Coach or bike ride - one per week      3/1      5/4    

Dance 6 hours per week                                 3/6      13/24

[Ennay]

9K steps Wednesday and 15K yesterday.  Game days used to be big steps days for me because I drop him off for warmups an hour before the game and walk.  But lately I've been scoring on the ipad so I have to hang around and exchange lineups and get the app set up.  I have to not rely on that time.

Board meeting on Wednesday was truly horrible.  Most months after the meeting I come out thinking "what was I so stressed about".  Not this time.  Having a hard time letting some of it go. Combination of worry about a friend but also anger that everytime we seem to be turning a drama corner on the board, someone flips out and creates new drama.  (In the theatre?!? what a shock. effin artists- yes I am an artist)

[NellyG]

19 May

Steps 10,000 per day                                       17/20

High step day over 20,000                              1 👍

Swim twice per week                                       2/2     6/8

Fitbit Coach or bike ride - one per week      4/1      6/4    

Dance 6 hours per week                                 3/6      13/24

[Ennay]

14K steps yesterday. 

[Baltoscott]

Finished my organized event goal -  DC bike ride - very cool as the shut down all these normally very busy streetsGetting started

Wife Jane

Capital in background

About 18 miles

 Did not do part of the route because of flooding

[Baltoscott]

@Ennay — Your garden is looking great.  We still don’t have anything in.