OctoberFEST — Step Challenge and Photo Scavenger Hunt

[Baltoscott]

I love October!  The heat of summer is mostly gone, and the icy cold of winter isn’t quite here yet.  It is a GREAT time to get outside and move around.  Plus at least two good festive events — German Beer/bratwurst/sauerkraut — Halloween!

How It Works

The primary purpose of these monthly challenges is to encourage you to set and hit 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

Picture Scavenger Hunt — 3 pictures

The theme this month is … seasonal changes (a tree or flower or storefront at the beginning of the month, and again at the end); Halloween decorations/costumes, trick or treaters; German OctoberFEST related. 

From a Fitbit photo challenge 4 years ago (5K in costume)Vienna, Austria, Halloween 2014

Posting

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

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]

OctoberFEST Goals - Day 16

8,000 steps: 5/10 days

10,000+ steps: 7/15 days
Exercises & weights: 11/25 days

Scavenger Hunt Pics: 5/3 pics

[Joy2019]

@SteppingBooks I was raised a strict christian - well and truly lapsed now - ad we used to fast (dry fasting so nil by mouth or nay orifice haha) every Friday from sundown to sundown when I turned 8. So I'd had more than 10 years worth of experience. Although we would binge eat when we broke the fast! I've learnt not to do that since fasting for pleasure plus I don't do dry fasts anymore so it's so much easier!

10k steps - 15/31 days

18/6 fasts - 15/31 days

15k+steps - 11/15 days

30 minutes HIIT - 15/31 days

500 calories deficit - 14/20 days

Weight training - 7/15 days

[WendyB]

OctoberFEST Day 16

Steps: Goal 10,000: 16/31

Boxing 31 days: 16/31

Bike 3 times 31 days: 16/31

Weights DVD 17 days: 7/17

Stomach YouTube 31 days : 16/31

Wall Push Up/Counter push ups 31 days: 16/31

Leg Exercises 31 days: 16/31

250 Steps per hour 30 days: 16/31

Log food daily 31 days: 16/31

Scavenger Hunt Photos 3: 3/3

Leaves are starting to change and i keep forgetting to take pictures when I walk

[SteppingBooks]

OctoberFEST Day 16:

15.5K Steps/Day: 06/31

2K(or less) Calorie Intake:  07/31

Yoga: --/5

Weights: --/10

@Joy2019 Geez, that'd have been way too strict for me.  But I've always been rebellious 😋 

[NellyG]

17 October Surprised myself by getting 10000 steps today. Steps were not on my mind at all.

10,000 steps a day for 20 days                                   16/20

12 days over 12,000                                                      13/12

6 days over 15,000 steps                                             7/6          

2 days over 20,000 steps                                               2/2

Swim 2x per week                                                           5/8              

Dance prac 4+ hours a week                                         15/20

6 bike rides or interval walks per month                      4/6              

3 Scavenger Hunt pics                                                     4/3  1st pictures

[benvegi]

Same goals as the last several months, 20,000+ steps per day, 25 floors.  May do better on the photo challenge this month, then again, maybe not.😊  We had 7 weeks with no rain in Sept/Oct, so the trees started dropping leaves and turning brown. Now two good rains turned most everything green again. Not much sign of fall colors yet in mid October.

10/8 steps 25,063, floors 45

10/9 steps 14,371, floors 17  driving to horse camp day, couldn't motivate myself to walk a bunch when we got there

10/10 steps 24,693, floors 81 short 5.5 mile trail ride in AM, rain by 1 PM

10/11 steps 22,421, floors 79, rain in AM, clearing about 2, then a short ride.

10/12 steps 23,145, floors 73, cool and sunny rode about 7 miles

10/13 steps 22,257, drove home got most of my steps unloading the trailer and cleaning up all our gear

10/14 steps 21,147, floors 11

10/15 steps 26,969, floors 31

10/16 steps 22,183, floors 25

found all the comments about IF & OMAD interesting. I've tried both and found them too restricting for me. Went back to BBMLSD and was happier. (that's big breakfast, medium lunch, small dinner). Being vegetarian is also very helpful. We get sufficient protein from beans, nuts (mainly almond butter & walnuts), vegetables (yes, some vegetables have protein), and we do eat some cheeses. The almond butter we buy is fresh ground at the store, so it's just ground almonds, no salt, oils or other additives. 

[WendyB]

OctoberFEST Day 17

Steps: Goal 10,000: 17/31

Boxing 31 days: 17/31

Bike 3 times 31 days: 17/31

Weights DVD 17 days: 7/17

Stomach YouTube 31 days : 17/31

Wall Push Up/Counter push ups 31 days: 17/31

Leg Exercises 31 days: 17/31

250 Steps per hour 30 days: 17/31

Log food daily 31 days: 17/31

Scavenger Hunt Photos 3: 3/3

[Joy2019]

10k steps - 17/31 days

18/6 fasts - 16/31 days

15k+steps - 11/15 days

30 minutes HIIT - 15/31 days

500 calories deficit - 14/20 days

Weight training - 7/15 days

@SteppingBooksrebelliousness is what has got me out of Christianity! My father still has a la la la attitude when talking to me about what I should or should not do...like not marry my husband because he had never stepped in a church not to even mention belief in god hehe. I was 31 then!

@benvegi I do find OMAD very restrictive and not very sustainable but for a quick weight loss (meets my needs for now) it's working. I've always somehow practised IF - I never have breakfast before 10am even pre children. I can't stomach the idea of food first thing in the morning and when the kids were little (I had 3 under 15 months) I would start feeling dizzy around 12pm and then realise that all I've had is lots of cups of half drunk cold tea! 

So IF is my go to for that reason. It fits into my natural feeding pattern. What I had to really work on was to cut out late dinners, snacks in the evenings and going to bed at a sensible (before midnight) time. Once I put those into practice, the weight started coming off and I lost 16kg in 14 months doing that. 

[Jotex]

OctoberFEST Goals - Day 17

8,000 steps: 6/10 days

10,000+ steps: 7/15 days
Exercises & weights: 11/25 days

Scavenger Hunt Pics: 5/3 pics

[SteppingBooks]

OctoberFEST Day 17:

15.5K Steps/Day: 07/31

2K(or less) Calorie Intake:  07/31

Yoga: --/5

Weights: --/10

@Joy2019 I've a step-grandfather who is similar in his convictions (really he's a zealot).  But by the time I was about 14, he stopped trying to push me into going to church.  

@benvegi I do sort of a reverse of yours: small breakfast, small lunch, big dinner.  Though that's just generally.  Weekends are a whole different matter.  Especially when I don't eat breakfast until noon or so.

[NellyG]

18 October 

10,000 steps a day for 20 days                                   17/20

12 days over 12,000                                                      14/12

6 days over 15,000 steps                                             7/6          

2 days over 20,000 steps                                               2/2

Swim 2x per week                                                           5/8              

Dance prac 4+ hours a week                                         17/20

6 bike rides or interval walks per month                      4/6              

3 Scavenger Hunt pics                                                     4/3  1st pictures

[WendyB]

OctoberFEST Day 18

Steps: Goal 10,000: 18/31

Boxing 31 days: 18/31

Bike 3 times 31 days: 18/31

Weights DVD 17 days: 8/17

Stomach YouTube 31 days : 18/31

Wall Push Up/Counter push ups 31 days: 18/31

Leg Exercises 31 days: 18/31

250 Steps per hour 30 days: 18/31

Log food daily 31 days: 18/31

Scavenger Hunt Photos 3: 3/3

[NellyG]

19 October 

10,000 steps a day for 20 days                                   18/20

12 days over 12,000                                                      15/12

6 days over 15,000 steps                                             8/6          

2 days over 20,000 steps                                               2/2

Swim 2x per week                                                           5/8              

Dance prac 4+ hours a week                                         17/20

6 bike rides or interval walks per month                      5/6              

3 Scavenger Hunt pics                                                     4/3  1st pictures

[WendyB]

OctoberFEST Day 19

Steps: Goal 10,000: 19/31

Boxing 31 days: 19/31

Bike 3 times 31 days: 19/31

Weights DVD 17 days: 8/17

Stomach YouTube 31 days : 19/31

Wall Push Up/Counter push ups 31 days: 19/31

Leg Exercises 31 days: 19/31

250 Steps per hour 30 days: 19/31

Log food daily 31 days: 19/31

Scavenger Hunt Photos 3: 3/3

[Jotex]

OctoberFEST Goals - Day 19

8,000 steps: 6/10 days

10,000+ steps: 8/15 days
Exercises & weights: 12/25 days

Scavenger Hunt Pics: 5/3 pics

@shawnkp — How ‘bout those ‘Stros!!! World Series bound!!! 🙌 

[NellyG]

20 October 

10,000 steps a day for 20 days                                   19/20

12 days over 12,000                                                      16/12

6 days over 15,000 steps                                             9/6          

2 days over 20,000 steps                                               2/2

Swim 2x per week                                                           5/8              

Dance prac 4+ hours a week                                         19/20

6 bike rides or interval walks per month                      5/6              

3 Scavenger Hunt pics                                                     4/3  1st pictures

[Joy2019]

10k steps - 20/31 days

18/6 fasts - 18/31 days

15k+steps - 13/15 days

30 minutes HIIT - 17/31 days

500 calories deficit - 15/20 days

Weight training - 7/15 days

I seem to have hurt myself somehow. Really struggling to bear weight on my right and have this shooting pain in my hip. I may have been over doing the cardio!

I weighed myself this weekend and 70.5kg! I am so chuffed!

[Jotex]

OctoberFEST Goals - Day 20

8,000 steps: 6/10 days

10,000+ steps: 9/15 days
Exercises & weights: 13/25 days

Scavenger Hunt Pics: 5/3 pics

[NellyG]

21 October

10,000 steps a day for 20 days                                   20/20

12 days over 12,000                                                      17/12

6 days over 15,000 steps                                             9/6          

2 days over 20,000 steps                                               2/2

Swim 2x per week                                                           5/8              

Dance prac 4+ hours a week                                         19/20

6 bike rides or interval walks per month                      5/6              

3 Scavenger Hunt pics                                                     4/3  1st pictures

[SteppingBooks]

OctoberFEST Day 18-20:

15.5K Steps/Day: 08/31

2K(or less) Calorie Intake:  08/31

Yoga: --/5

Weights: --/10

I may have to cut my steps back.  Not sure what I did to my hip/sciatic nerve, but the pain from it has dropped me down a few times.