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

These Aren't the Running Shoes You're Looking For

Happy Friday, fitness warriors!

Together now, in your best Forrest Gump voices:

"I may not be a smart man / woman, but I know that three days off are better than two."

(If you didn't read it aloud as "man slash woman", please go back to the beginning and try again.)

Silliness aside: enjoy your weekend, guys. Even heroes need a little time off. :)

As there is no school on Monday, please have your Week One point totals ready for me by 8:30 AM on Tuesday. With history as my guide, I would strongly suggest keeping up your score sheets as we trudge through the week. I have lots of trouble remembering and scoring my meals, in particular. "Dang it, was my dinner two days ago actually balanced, or just delicious?" I am a sort of anti-captain in this regard, demonstrating strong anti-leadership. Just...do as I don't.

Surveys are due in today, if you haven't already.

One for Tommy and anyone else who likes to run in our group: article here.

And more generally: www.runnersworld.com

Have a great weekend, guys, and I'll see you next week! 

J.

Happy Thursday!

Good morning, fitness warriors!

First: Many apologies - I feel like the last post (written in great haste) was worded very poorly. I want to be clear: while I have experienced a strong temptation to "pad" my points and fudge the truth on my weekly log, I've been good, and I know that you have too. I knew that there was some confusion on the scoring and only sought to clarify. I know that I'm a clod when it comes to the words I choose at times. :(

Second: the survey that you've been asking about can be found here. Record the survey points under "SCOE Fitness Event" at the bottom of the scoring page.

Third: Anyone want to go for a massage tomorrow? I know it may not be everyone's cup of tea, but hey! Free massage. :) Please let me know today and we can make arrangements for you to go over tomorrow if you'd like. 

Fourth: Here's your suggested reading for the day. Interesting to me, as I consume these supplements daily.

Keep up the great job! We're off to a good start. :)

Hello Stationary Bike...

Hello, fitness warriors! How are things going so far?

There have been a few questions that I wanted to field here in the hopes of getting everyone on the same page. 

First: I haven't seen any sign of the survey yet. I also did not receive the video that we were to watch today. I will follow up with the supreme high overlords of the Fitness Challenge this afternoon to see if they have any information.

Second: Beware double-dipping on points! For example, if you have an hour-long exercise class and during that class you do strength training and use an exercise machine, choose the activity that best suits what you were doing and assign points accordingly. Alternatively, break it down by the amount of time you spent doing each activity. Try to avoid counting things twice - don't give credit for Workout with Personal Trainer + Strength Training + Individual Workout. An exception would be the SCOE events like Monday, wherein you can claim credit for the miles walked as well as credit for participating in the event.

My own temptation to double-dip, "pad" my points and generally stretch the truth always comes when I'm tallying up points for the team and I see how poorly I did relative to other team members. I don't want to be the guy to let the team down! Know that we are here to encourage one another and that there are no winners or losers when it comes to point totals - I just want you to try your best and challenge yourself. :)

Third: Note that some point categories are "daily" - meaning you can only earn the points once per day. An example would be drinking 32 ounces of water. You can only claim one point per day for that activity. All of the "diet" points are once per day, except "Balanced Meal" which is 1x per meal (for a maximum of three, I would assume). 

Keep the questions coming! If I don't know the answer, I'll try to find out for you as quickly as I can.

Here's your quick and easy health article for the day. I know how heavily I reply on your brains -- keep them healthy! :D

A little laugh that they shared with us at the team captains' meeting last week. :D Enjoy and keep having fun!

Cap'n Jason

Not So Sweet

Hi again, fitness warriors! I thought we were off to a good start today. Thanks to everyone for supporting the walk-around in the freezing-cold wind today. "Blow-around" would have perhaps been a more apt title.

Planking is fun, but hard. I blame Shantel for bringing this into my life.

So as you know, soda is the monkey on my back as we come into this year's challenge, as it was a year ago. I thought it fitting to include an article on the damage sugar does to other parts of your body, such as your face. (Explains a lot, doesn't it?) ;) You can find the article here.

Other tips: be sure to remember your daily multivitamin and fiber, fiber, fiber! Buy a giant tub of Metamucil and have at it!

-J.

Measurements

Good evening, fitness warriors -

A couple of quick tidbits. First, please make sure that you weigh yourself and take weigh measurements - tonight, if possible, or tomorrow morning at the latest. Write these numbers down and set them aside; we will measure again and record at the end of the four weeks. 

It seems worth mentioning that your weight is likely to fluctuate over the course of the challenge, and you may actually gain in the first couple of weeks as you increase water intake and start adding muscle. Try not to feel discouraged - we're aiming for better health and long-term results above all else.

Next: Please feel free to identify and read health and wellness articles that interest you; I will try to provide links as often as possible with a focus on mind / body health. My first suggestion can be found here.

Finally: Tommy had provided updated links for the RunDHH t-shirts over on Zazzle: here and here. I will update the original post as well. 

Good luck everyone! Remember the walkabout tomorrow and I hope to see you there!

Jason

To Serve Man

Pop quiz:

How many Fitness Challenge points will the T-Rex depicted above earn for catching and consuming the fleeing human?

Some points for discussion:

1) Do we classify this as "Run/Jog", or "Other Fitness Activity"?

2) Is the "Junk Food" penalty incurred?

3) Does the human contain less than 20 grams of saturated fat?

4) Does the human contain 25 grams of fiber or more?

5) Does the human contain less than 2300 mg of sodium?

Welcome back, team Run DHH!

I am actually feeling excited about the challenge this year. I personally have a number of bad health habits that I'd like to tackle, and I always find that it's much easier to make these changes with the support of a team. :) Just as I will look to you for support (and patience, doubtless, as I cut back on the caffeine), I hope to be able to offer you all some support, encouragement and inspiration, as well.

Please subscribe to this blog via email (if you haven't already) - on the main blog page, check the right hand column, near the top. This will be my primary means of communicating with the group. If you have any questions or requests of me, please either post comments here for the benefit of the group or try to grab me in person at work. You can also reach me via telephone / text at (209) 613-9977. My work email is jgillespie@stancoe.org.

If you think you would like to get together with other team members for workouts, running or other activities, let me know and I will try to get a "directory" together for the team.

The theme for this year's Fitness Challenge is "LIFE IS GOOD". I challenge you all to make life good for your teammates. This comes naturally to all of you, I think. Go out of your way to make it happen. We are strong together.

Some important links:

SCOE Fitness Challenge 2016 Home 

SCOE Fitness Challenge Point Record Form

(blank forms can be found in my classroom, below the Fitness Challenge poster)

SCOE Fitness Challenge Events Calendar

SCOE T-Shirt Orders

"RunDHH" T-Shirt Orders - link coming soon (?)

WEEK ONE

I welcome your ideas for a team activity for the first week - we can earn 2 points each for participating in a team-building, "Life is Good" activity during the first week!

Monday:

Walk-Around 10:00 - 11:45 AM. We will stagger this to provide coverage for interpreters who wish to participate. Kids from both classrooms are welcome to join us on this walk. Rain or shine!

Wednesday:

Working to get a copy of the Zumba video for on-site viewing. :)

Friday:

• Complete Fitness Challenge survey (mandatory)
 • Wear either a Fitness Challenge shirt, something red ("Heart Healthy"), or a college logo
        (mandatory)
• 11:30 - 2:00 - free chair massage at H Street. I will work with Cheryl on this; would like for everyone to have an opportunity to attend.

All score sheets due to me by 8:00 AM on Tuesday morning, February 9.

Good luck, everyone! I'm here if you have any questions or if I can support you in any way.

-Cap'n Jason

Failure: It Surrounds You

Sorry, team, for the lack of updates over the past several days. I'll try to do better moving forward.

Tommy provided a useful link to Runner's World, where you can find a lot of low-hanging fruit helpful and informative articles about running that will not only improve your life and make you a better human being, but which will also earn you your daily article-reading points.

We're moving into the final week and I wanted to encourage everyone (myself included) - make this one count. Watch your diet, park your car farther from the classroom / store every day, run and play with the kids whenever possible.

Thanks for all your hard work!

Cap'n Jason

Week One results

Fitness Warriors -

Our point totals for the first week have been submitted. I will confess that, much as I feared, my own scores have been an anchor around our collective neck for this first week. I will strive to do better moving forward.

Total average points for Week One: 75. Our two powerhouse players this week were Tommy and Marion, with most other team members putting in a solid effort as well.

I'll continue to try posting an article a day so we can each pick up a few extra points. Click here for a link on managing work-related stress. 

I contacted Judy at SCOE to ask about the absence of our team name from the website. She responded that she's been out with the flu and apologizes for the delay, but assures me that it will get straightened out as soon as possible. 

Keep up the great work! - Cap'n Jason

Exercise prevents oldness!

Here's your fitness article for the weekend.

Tommy also posted a link to a RunDMC video on YouTube:

Fair warning: the video is so 1980s that you might feel an urge to dress in neon and wear loosely-laced white high-top sneakers. Also, there was an unskippable advertisement for a very scary movie when I clicked on the link. So, two scary things. ;)

Tommy reports that our team is not yet listed on the SCOE website, although I submitted our roster on time and received a confirmation email. I'm worried that our names might have been left out of the drawings last week for a Fitbit watch and free goodies from the health fair. :( I will keep everyone updated.

Please get timesheets in to me by 10 AM tomorrow. Thanks!

Friday Bulletin

Friday, February 5th

Today's Article - Clicky Clicky!

WELCOME FITNESS WARRIORS!

For the next month, we’ll be working together to better ourselves while publicly shaming the other teams who dare to compete against us. J

I will endeavor to share a fitness / exercise-related article with you each day; if you come across any gems that you’d like me to share, please let me know!

Special Notices:

Tommy has created an awesome RunDHH shirt for us using the old RunDMC logo - it's available for purchase here:

Zazzle Shirt Order

SCOE has their own fitness challenge shirts available for sale here.

• Friday, February 6

Wear a SCOE Fitness T-Shirt (from previous years OK) or red for Heart Health Day - 1 pt.

• Friday, February 10

Self-defense class from 12:00-1:00 PM at H Street (Patterson Rm) - 1 pt.

Captain's goals:

Please make sure I have contact email / text phone # for all team members by the end of the day. Also, I strongly encourage you to fill out your point sheets daily – from past experience, I’ve learned that it can be very hard to remember if you let it slide for a day or two.

Thanks guys! Support each other and let’s rock this thing!

Cap’n Jason

Let's Get This Show on the Road!

Hello teammates!

I've set up this blog in the hopes of "centralizing" information for the 2015 Fitness Challenge and making sure that I get everyone the information they need in a timely fashion. Please note that you don't have to visit this page every day in order to get updates; just "follow" the blog using the links to the right and any new information added here will be sent to you directly via email. 

For starters, it seemed a good idea to provide you with some links:

2015 Fitness Challenge Home Page

2015 Fitness Challenge Forms

I would encourage everyone to take the time to explore both of these links - most of the common questions regarding scoring, etc. are answered here. 

It is my hope to provide daily links to informative health and fitness related articles (easy points!) online, as well as reminders about upcoming events. Please feel free to discuss, comment or ask questions by responding to blog posts. The more we all participate, the more fun it is likely to be. :)

Good luck everyone! Remember that your first score sheets are due in to me no later than 10 AM on Monday, February 9th.

-Jason