Quick update: Week of 2/13 - 2/16

Hello again, fitness warriors!

Thanks to everyone who managed to get their weekly point summaries in to me on time. We were a little late as a team, but our points have been submitted. Some of you truly inspire me in how seriously you work at this!

Here is information from Judy Boring concerning Fitness Challenge events this week:

Fitness Happening this week at SCOE:

NUTRITION Challenge -
Eat a healthy snack day! – pick any day this week to incorporate a healthy snack. Eat only fruits and/or vegetables for snacks during the day and earn 1 point

Wednesday, February 14
Valentine Healthy Potluck or Walk 2 miles with your team
All locations
earn 3 points

Thursday, February 15

Blood Drive - Red Cross Bus
Time: 10:00 - 3:30 p.m. - A couple open slots available at 1:45 p.m. and 2:15 p.m.
Reserve your time by calling 238-1707 or online at RedCrossblood.org(link is external) sponsor code is SCOE.
Location: 1100 H Street - G Street Parking lot
Earn 10 points
Resources - Red Cross (link is external)

#scoeROCKS - Amy Bultena
Time: 1:00 - 4:00 p.m. (This is a drop in time frame and it's only 30 minutes to paint rock)
Location: Patterson Room
Register Here(link is external) so we have enough supplies for the day.
Earn an extra 2 points
Information on #KindnessRocks - this is a global challenge wherein people of all ages create inspirational artwork on rocks (sometimes including a quote or a word), and then hide them for others to find and enjoy. Stanislaus COE is participating in this challenge by creating #scoeROCKS to provide joy and inspiration to our community. Did you know the average person has 60,000 thoughts a day, and that 80% of our habitual thoughts are negative? When we engage in creative activities, we often find ourselves in a “flow.” This flow is a meditative-like state that focuses our mind temporarily pushes aside stress. Come and engage in a bit of creative flow; paint a rock for the #scoeROCKS challenge! Being an artist is NOT required.

Friday, February 16

Wear a SCOE Fitness T-shirt and earn 1 point

“Creating a Sustainable Custom Training Plan” Steve Martinez, Certified Fitness Trainer
Time: 11:00 - 12:00 p.m.
Location: Board Room
Earn 3 points

Juicing with County Board member Chichi Jack!
Time: 12:30 - 1:30  p.m.
Location: Board Room
Earn 2 Points

Welcome back, fitness warriors! I, Cap'n Jason, am here to help inspire you, answer your questions and lead our team to our first, glorious victory. :) 

My first bit of advice may push you out of your comfort zone, but I believe that it's an essential jumping off point if you wish to make the most of the next four weeks. 

Get a good baseline. Nothing feeds progress like progress; when you can objectively see that you are doing well, it becomes easier to continue doing those things you are doing right. I am encouraging all team members to start tomorrow morning (or this evening) with the following three steps:

1) Measure your waistline. Advice on how to do this accurately can be found here. Don't worry; this number will be smaller by the end of the month if you are willing to put in the work. :)

2) Weigh yourself and record not only the number, but the conditions as well (recently fed, fresh from the shower or clothed, time of day. etc.) When you weigh yourself again at the end of the SCOE Fitness Challenge, you will attempt to match the conditions as closely as possible to gain a true measure of progress.

3) Photograph yourself. This is the hardest for me, personally, but I am told by those who have had success in their fitness endeavors that this was the single most important step they took in making a change in their health and fitness habits. At the end of each week, photograph yourself again. Keep these photos in a safe place - they are not for public consumption, obviously, but rather as one of the clearest ways to demonstrate your progress to yourself.

Here are some important upcoming dates for the Fitness Challenge:

Week of February 5th-9th

"Life is Good" - be a secret supporter of one of your teammates! Send a note of encouragement and an optional small gift (maximum $3.00). Cap'n Jason will assign you someone to secretly support this Monday, and we will all exchange our expressions of support this Friday. One-time additional 4 points for each person who participates.

10,000 step challenge - use a pedometer to log 10,000 steps in a single day and earn one extra point.

Monday, February 5th

Casual sports dress day

Bike to work (based on my distance from work, I'll see you all in a week!)

Walk-Around: Participating staff and students will do a walk-around at the baseball complex (behind the charter school) beginning at 1 PM. We will walk / jog one mile total; bring comfy shoes! :)

CVT health screenings (CSEA employees only). 12-4P at H Street, Knights Ferry Room. 5 points, make appointments here.

Friday, February 9th

First weekly data sheets due! We have hard copies in my classroom, or download the Excel file here. Please make sure I have the forms in hand by 2:30 PM.

Thursday, February 15th

SCOE Blood Drive

10:00A-3:30P (make appointment at 238-1707 or cbunow@stancoe.org)

Sunday, February 25th

Dragoon Gulch 5k walk/run, Sonora

Details can be found here.

If anyone is interested in making the drive up, we will host a light lunch at my home after the run/walk, which happens to be on a hill just above Dragoon Gulch. :) Family and friends are welcome but please RSVP as soon as possible.

There are many, many more opportunities than listed here - a list of all officially sanctioned events can be found here. Also, do not hesitate to suggest alternative on-site activities that I can then try to get approved through Judy at SCOE.

I'll make all other documents provided to me as team captain available to you at this link.

If you'd like to order a Fitness Challenge t-shirt, follow this link. Please note that they may not arrive for three weeks, so get your order in ASAP. Our excellent RunDHH team t-shirts are unavailable at this time due to copyright concerns but we are working on solutions. :)

I think that's the basics for now - good luck everyone; let's hit the ground running!

-Cap'n Jason

Happy Monday, Fitness Warriors -

I hope you had a restful day today.

Please remember that your logs for the first week are due to me by 3 PM tomorrow (Tuesday). Either Kevin and I will then do the maths and makes sure that the info gets to Judy Leitz, our High Overlord of Employee Fitness, by 5 PM. It helps us a lot if we don't have to chase you down, and on foot, I doubt I could catch most of you anyway.

It's a busy week and I'm sorry to say that some of the events for the week transpired today, on our day off. So, starting with tomorrow:

2/14: Healthy Potluck or walk two miles with your team: 3 points. I will be walking / light jogging after school at 3 PM if anyone would like to join me. :) I am going to ask Judy if we can move the Healthy Potluck later in the week - say, Thursday. What say you, teammates?

2/14: CVT Health Screening from 10-3 at JFK. 5 points; contact your benefit specialist to make an appointment. I will work with my classroom staff to accommodate participation if possible.

2/15: CVT Health Screening, 9-2, at H Street. Same deal as the entry for 2/14, above.

2/16: Walk a mile at lunch! With weather, this could be a exercise room / NordicTrak style day; let's play it by ear.

2/17: Wear a SCOE Fitness Challenge T-Shirt - 1 point

Looking around for an article to link, I came across this. Our work is inherently stressful and it's difficult to build in time for decompression. Think hard about how you can make changes; I know I will.

See you tomorrow!

Cap'n Jason

Totally Unfair

Fitness warriors -

A couple of quick updates (thanks, Tommy, for the info):

Team t-shirts can be ordered here; SCOE Fitness Challenge shirts can be ordered here.

A great resource for your daily article (my favorite fitness activity!) can be found at Runner's World, here.

Did anyone remember / manage to hit the site walkaround today? If not, I am willing to authorize an alternative walkaround day this Wednesday from 10:00 - noon. If there is any blowback from the Fitness Challenge overlords for this change, I will take full responsibility for whatever happens to Kevin when I blame him.

Oh, and runners - no messing with the timeline, k?

-Cap'n Jason

Life is Good!

Greetings, Fitness Warriors! Welcome to the 2017 SCOE Fitness Challenge!

Kevin and I will be your team captains this year. As an agile man in tights once said, "With great power comes great responsibility." Or maybe it was his uncle that said that. In any case, we aim to inspire and encourage you as we move forward, making your participation as rewarding as possible.

After extensive negotiations with the SCOE Fitness Challenge Leadership team, Kevin and I have conceded that it's not in the best interests of our team to reward our weekly high-scorers with donuts and cigarettes. Apparently we've been "defeating the purpose" of the activity and "causing more harm than good". We didn't even tell them about the bacon - they seemed pretty upset and I started to worry that maybe that hadn't been the best idea, either.

Anyway!

All joking aside, we really like the theme for this year's Fitness Challenge: "Life is Good". Embedded in this challenge is another challenge: "Make it good for others". Like nesting dolls, these challenges! Still...what a great idea to build a team around. We know that an attitude of gratitude can act as the foundation upon which a happy, healthy life can be built. In a world where so many have so little, we have so much to be grateful for. I know that I count each of you among the many blessings that make my life good. Thank you all for being part of our team! Let's make it awesome. :)

Weekly exercise logs are due to Kevin or me by Monday at 3:00 PM every week (or 3:00 on Tuesday if Monday is a holiday). You all know the drill. The form can be downloaded here; alternatively we will endeavor to keep hard copies available for team members in DHH2.

The list of eligible activities and point values can be found here.

The calendar of SCOE-sanctioned activities can be found here.

For this week, there are a few highlights to be aware of:

Monday, February 6th: Staff Walk-Around, 10:00 AM, 2 extra points plus points for miles walked.

Wednesday, February 8th: Change Management boot camp, 10-12 (register) or 2-4 (register). I will excuse individuals to attend on a first-come, first-serve basis as possible. 10 points!!

Friday, February 10th: Wear a Fitness Challenge t-shirt to work. 1 extra point.

February 7th-11th: Walk 10,000 steps in a single day, as measured on a pedometer. One time only, 1 extra point.

That's it for now - check back soon for more information, or post with any questions or concerns that you may have!

Regards,

Cap'n Jason

Major Award!

We've won a major award in the Fitness Challenge drawing! According to Judy Leitz, the SCOE representative in charge of the Fitness Challenge, we've won a Power Resistance cord and a cooling towel. I'm not sure how best to share the prize among us; I can see keeping the Power Resistance cord at school and using it for exercise on breaks / when we feel like it, but the cooling towel - ew. Maybe we should just have a drawing from among our members for sole ownership of the goods?

Here is a link for the Zumba exercises I mentioned a few posts back.

SCOE blood drive is this Tuesday. You need an appointment for this, but it's an easy 10 points. I didn't realize that bloodletting was still considered an effective way of improving one's health! ;) Call Chris at 238-1707 to make an appointment if you would like to donate.

It's a busy week for events! Some other calendar items of note:

2 points if we plan a healthy potluck to share with one another this week. :)

Wednesday the 24th - line dancing class from 12-1 at H Street, in the Elmdale room.

Friday the 26th - SCOE Fitness t-shirt (1 point), Zumba lesson (see link above - 1 point), and finally, for 2 points, do the following complete set of exercises 3 times:

• 25 sit-ups or crunches
• 25 push-ups
• 25 leg lunges

(In other words, 75 total of each exercise, broken into 3 sets.)

These exercises all have to be done on Friday the 26th, not spread out!

Finally, a quick article and a lot of good tips regarding heart-healthy habits can be found here.

Thanks to all for your hard work and make sure your point logs are in to me by the end of the day on Monday, February 22nd!

Jason

Excuses

Good morning, fitness warriors!

I recognize a few of these phrases all too well. So, what's the excuse that keeps you from being as fit and healthy as you should be?

Thank you for your patience with the lack of leadership last week; I especially appreciated Sonya and Dessa stepping up to pull together our healthy "salad potluck" at the last minute. I regret that I failed to upsell other opportunities, such as "Eat a Healthy Snack" day on the 11th. 

For this week:

Tuesday: Turn in your logs by noon, please and thank you. :)

Wednesday: Line dancing class from 12:00 - 1:00 in the Board Room at H Street - let me know!

Thursday: Exercise Challenge - walk a mile at lunch for an extra point.

Friday: Healthy Cooking demonstration - 12:00 - 1:00 PM in the Board Room at H Street, AND wear a SCOE Fitness T-Shirt for an extra point on this day.

Upcoming: Blood drive at H Street on the 23rd!

Here's an easy-to-digest article for you, if you're interested. Short version: make sure that anti-stress time and activity is built into your life! 

Thanks everyone! Make it a great week!

Cap'n Jason