Walk Across Kansas

Ah, healthy lifestyle challenges! The concept is good; put people on teams and give them points/positive reinforcement for achieving healthy lifestyle habits for a certain period of time. I am a sucker for these since I often need a bit of motivation to eat correctly, particularly getting enough whole grains, fruit & veggies.

I have already done two challenges so far this year, and now I'm on a team for the Walk Across Kansas challenge put on by the K-State Extension office. This eight-week challenge focuses on increasing activity by setting the goal of each team of six people doing activities equivalent to walking across the State of Kansas, a goal achieved if each team member does at least 150 minutes of physical activity each week. Each person also counts their daily servings of whole grains and fruits & vegetables.

I'm on the dream team & we're going to WIN. Our goal is not to simply walk across Kansas, but to walk across & back. I really like being active, so I'm not too worried about the fitness goal. Eating habits, however, could use some work. So how can I simplify getting lots of physical activity minutes & remembering to eat lots of whole grains, fruits & veggies? A lot of it revolves around planning ahead.

• Walk the Jack Russell at least 15 minutes every morning & afternoon in addition to any other physical activity
• Keep a pack of whole wheat tortillas or a loaf of whole wheat bread around, ready for consumption
• Eat whole grain oatmeal or granola for breakfast
• Keep around easy-to-grab-and-eat fruits & veggies like baby carrots, clementines, pre-washed grapes, & apples
• Adopt the frame of mind "If you're going to eat something, eat something that will count toward your points!"
• Enter points asap into the magic, calculating spreadsheet so I don't forget about anything
  

Uncomplication tip for life: spreadsheets greatly simplify my life.