Getting to Green with Gruve.
As I mentioned, when I went to fitbloggin ’10, I received all sorts of fun healthy items to test out.
The first one I’ll detail is the gruve.
If you are not familiar, gruve is a little device that you wear on your hip very similar to a pedometer. There’s some differences though. As I understand it, the gruve takes measurements of movement 1200 times a second. Using those measurements combined with your biometric data, the gruve calculates your caloric burn for that activity and determines whether you are sedentary or not. Its a very cool device.
Now, if the gruve identifies that you are sedentary for 50 minutes, the gruve then buzzes and buzzes and buzzes until you get up and move. This is great for me, as a computer consultant, I often sit at my desk for long periods of time, and the gruve helps remind me that I need to get up and move. Gruve was created with the help of the NEAT group from the mayo clinic. The NEAT group is the one behind the idea that today’s desk workers need to be up and moving. They’re the first ones I heard do studies on the the treadmill desk.
The goal behind gruve is to get to green.
As you can see in my chart above, You start out at red, you progress into orange, then to yellow, then to blue, and then to green (oops, I have to get up and move to get to green.)
Its pretty fun way to keep track of your progress. My wife and I were both happy to receive free gruves at fitbloggin from the gruvesolution team. We now have a little competition going on who can get to green first. Although, I just don’t exercise in the morning as much as she does. So, she’s going to beat me more often than not.
The gruve is not water proof nor does it do a very good job when you isolate muscle groups like you do with weight lifting. So, when I swim or do my weight workouts, the gruve doesn’t track that activity.
I’ve been debating about buying the body bugg, the fitbit, the Philips DirectLife, or the gruve. The only unit I have tested is the gruve, and I can say I’d recommend it. I’d love to test the body bugg, because I think it uses more measurements beyond just movement like skin temperature and other items. I wonder how accurate they all are.
A little disclaimer time, Yes, gruve gave me the device for free. No gruve is not paying me for this review and there was no pitch to write. I am writing of my own accord, because I think the idea is cool. Now, if I could only find a device that would automatically measure the calories I consume without an intervention by me. I’m also interesting in testing out the withings wi-fi scale. Can you tell I love gadgets?
For a limited time, you can gruve with me. When you buy the Gruve at www.muve.me, enter the promotional code BlogNGruve to get $70′s off.
You might want to look at the gruve guide too for research.
I asked the gruve team if there is Programming Interface (API) that I could tie simpleweight weight management tracking site into, but the team at fitbloggin was not sure. I’m still researching that capability.
Exercise is good, but I really must concentrate efforts on reducing my calories in if I want to lose weight. My weight’s been stable for a few weeks now even with my increased activity level. I’m sure the hamburger and fries I ate today for lunch combined with my ice cream desert does not help.
what can I do to help you with your weight management?
fitbloggin can wear a person out.
This past weekend, I went to Baltimore for fitbloggin. It was super fun. The sessions were smart. The attendees were nice, and the sponsors were great. A couple of quick thoughts, I was really surprised that there are not more male fitness bloggers. I think there were a total of 10 men out of 150 attendees, speakers, and sponsors. I was not surprised by how smoothly the event ran. I expected a good conference based on my reading the promoter’s blog. (Roni you rock!) One thing that amazed me was the wonderful sponsors who were so generous with the really cool swag bags and gear. Thank you fitbloggin sponsors.
For my talk, I was going over the basics of Search Engine Optimization and Section 508 Web Accessibility. I talk and present in front of people all the time, but for some reason, I was super nervous for this talk. I went so far as practicing bits and pieces of my presentation which I very rarely do. I think it went well. Time went super fast. There was so much more I wanted to include. Like optimizing your anchor text. Also, I want to emphasize that all need to be careful about the technical details. I think SEO is something you can and should do on your own. But, you can really screw up your blog too. Its a delicate balance. Sometimes, it just nicer to have an expert do the work for you.
I could talk SEO and Blogging for a whole day or longer I think. I wanted to demonstrate other blogging software other than WordPress. However, my tumblr, posterous, and blogger accounts wouldn’t log in very easily with the conference internet. The internet was pretty good, but when you have a conference full of bloggers writing and tweeting away one can almost always expect inconsistencies with the internet.
I posted my SEO Fitbloggin slides at my octāvity Technology Consulting Business blog.
I thoroughly enjoyed walking around Baltimore’s Harbor and Fells Point. Very pretty area.
I ran my first 5k this weekend on Saturday averaging about 5 mph. Then I let my wife talk me into running again on Sunday. We ran about 4 miles at about 6 mph.
Right now, my legs are super stiff. I’ve got a little bit of a ways to go before I get ready for my International Distance Triathlon in Chicago. Cool News is I get to begin Bicycle shopping. The weather in Chicago is starting to get warm enough to bike. I am so wiped out and exhausted from the super fun weekend. I don’t even feel like posting my usual requisite picture. I’ll post more later about all the fitbloggin swag that I’m so excited to try out.
As always, if there is anything I can do to help you with your weight management journey, please let me know.
Nutritional Menu Good news, but still more work to go.
I received an email today from Panera.
Panera Bread has announced that it will post calorie information on all Company-owned Panera Bread and Saint Louis Bread Co.® bakery-cafe menu boards by April 2010. The bakery-cafe concept expects franchise-operated locations to follow suit and have calories posted on menu panels by the end of 2010. This would make Panera Bread the first national concept to voluntarily post calorie information on menu boards across the country.
This is good news. You know I am a big fan of menu labeling.
Panera says they’ve noticed their customers have changed their purchase patterns as a result of their new informative menus.
“As we’ve been introducing our new menu boards across the country, customers have responded very favorably,” Scott Davis, Panera’s Chief Concept Officer said. “We’ve seen them gravitating towards options that allow them to customize their meals such as our You Pick Two® where they can pair smaller portions of our soups, salads or sandwiches to create a meal with fewer calories.”
“This whole initiative prompted us to take an even closer look at our menu offerings,” Davis said. “The result was we improved the nutritional content and ingredients in several of our menu items. We view it as a ‘win-win’ for both our customers and Panera.”
I think this type of responsibility and activity is only going to increase. If I were a restaurant, I’d be working on labeling my menu right now to stay ahead of the nutritional curve.
What can we do today?
Ask your favorite restaurant to add calorie information to their menus!
If you are a small to medium sized restaurant owner who’s determining ways to implement nutritional information for their constantly changing menus, contact us for some possible solutions.
Focus on the Minutiae, while planning many steps ahead.
Oh no, you did not just do that? Really? that? did you? What were you thinking? I can not believe it. No, seriously? you did what?
Yes, yes I did, and yes I will.
In my quest to make 2010, my year of action. I am taking action. I’m stopping talking about things, and I am doing. I have not swam or biked competitively ever. The last time I ran in a track meet was bout 18 years ago (give or take a few years). Even when I did run, I ran mid-distance sprints. I did not run cross country. So, Can you guess what I did?
Congratulations! You are now registered for Chicago Triathlon, Kids Triathlon and Fleet Feet Sports SuperSprint Triathlon. Please check the event’s official website for updates: http://www.chicagotriathlon.com
Okay, I haven’t actually completed a triathlon. However, Yes, I did sign-up, and yes I will finish. You can cheer me on in Chicago Sunday, August 29, 2010 @ 6:00 AM local time.
I’ll be doing my best triathlete impersonation. When I finish, I won’t be impersonating anybody. I will be a triathlete. I’ve been talking about it for a few years now. I like biking. I like swimming, and I tolerate running when I have to get away from danger.
I know, I know. If you are a reader, you may be thinking that I am violating my own advice: Do not tell me your goal, and you will succeed. However, I don’t feel I have accomplished anything yet. I know I have work to do. Signing up is just one step along the way.
I have been taking steps along the way.
How do you eat an elephant?
One bite at a time.
- I’ve been reading triathlon books at the bookstore (haven’t bought one yet, if you have a recommendation, let me know).
- I’ve been reading about improving my swimming form and better breathing techniques.
- I’ve been swimming once a week for the past few weeks.
- I’ve been doing some interval short runs/walk combinations to build up my running stamina.
- I’ve been doing some heart rate walking as well as some elliptical workouts regularly.
- I’ve been doing muscle focused weights every morning 6 days a week.
This is just the beginning. I’ve got 4 to 6 hours of running, biking, swimming, and weight workouts a week for thirty weeks.
So, as all the pro athletes state, focus on the next day, the next possession, the next move while thinking and planning multiple moves in advance. I focus on my next workout. I focus on my form during the weight workout. I focus on the posture while running, and the breathing while swimming. Build a strong foundation, and build up from there.
Step 1: Do your research. Done!
Step 2: Do a feasibility study. Done!
Step 3: Register. Done!
Next: Step 4: Build a training and fitness workout plan.
Next: Step 5: Execute the workout plan
What’s the funny thing about my registering for a triathlon?
I don’t own a bike. I do own running shoes. I own a swimsuit and googles, but not a wetsuit.
How do you train for a triathlon without a bike?
If you have any international distance training plans for newbies with 20 to 30 weeks, let me know.
More goals ahead. In the next few weeks, I am overloaded with work for my main job at my technology boutique consulting business. So, my simpleweight posts will be a little farther in between. Rest assured, I am making exercise a priority in 2010.
What’s your priority in 2010? As always, let me know how I can help you.
Groundhog Day 2010: Make Exercise a Ritualistic Habit revisited.
In my last post, I talked about Building the Habit of Exercise, It’s such an important matter, that I want to revisit that today.
In my day job, besides being a father, husband, fitness entrepreneur, I’m a technology trainer and consultant.
As a consultant, it is often my responsibility to make recommendations and tell people what to do. (As a side note, I’m working a technology post that describes some of my recent consultations. I’ll link to it when its done.) Talking and telling people what to do is much easier than actually doing it. For example, Do you want to cross the Grand Canyon, jump. See, that wasn’t so difficult to tell you, but boy, you better be able to fly more than Michael Jordan ever did in order to leap the Canyon. Actions are not so easy.
If you’ve been reading my January 2010 posts, you know that 2010 is my year of Action! I want you to take action to meet your goals be it fitness, be it financial, be it personal, be it business, etc… In order to do that, you must do something.
Now, Today, is Groundhog’s Day, and as such, Right now, I feel like Bill Murray’s character in the movie. I’ve been here done this before. (Insert wooshing sound to take us back in the way back machine)
If we want to create good exercise and food habits, we have to be boring at first. We have to create rituals. We have to be consistent everyday.
–Scott circa Simpleweight 2009.
If you have not read it, I encourage you to take a moment and read Pick and Commit Time to Exercise, 10 minutes a day. Ground Hog Day 2009 Fitness Resolutions.
Now, let’s flashback to 2010. As I look back I seem to see some similarities. In fact, I’m in the same boat as I was last year. I want to get more lean. I want to exercise more, and I want to lose some excess weight. I also have some other goals which we’ll talk about in the future.
So, What derailed me in the past and how can I overcome that in 2010?
For starters, in 2010, I had an accident where I hurt my left index finger pretty bad near Valentine’s day 2009 that really threw off my plans. All is okay now for the most part now, although, I still have some weird feelings every now and then when I try to open a bottle left-handed. That’s really just an excuse albeit, I’d contend a pretty good one.
The main reason for lack of 2009 Action, is I did not make exercise a priority. It just wasn’t for me. The consultant in me is great at giving valuable advice just as a shoe cobbler is great at fixing shoes. Yet, in the classic parable, the shoe cobbler’s children go barefoot. The consultant sometimes has difficulty taking his own advice much less anybody else’s advice. Since 2010 is my year of action, I’ve begun to re-read my own blog posts, and I’ve begun to focus on the minutiae of habit forming fitness activities. Eat less and Exercise more.
If you look at my January 2010 calendar below, I’ve exercised. Why? Now, My day gets planned around exercise even if it means I’m exercising at 11:00 PM on the treadmill in the house. At the very least, I’m doing something. I have decided I have to, and I have decided I want to. It’s time I’ve acted and created this big positive habit.
The thing is, exercise is not a habit yet. Even though, I’ve gone about 4 weeks of consistent exercise.
My actions have shown that I’ve done a very focused 10 minute weight workout in the morning Monday – Saturday. Then, three to four days a week, I have done a 40 minute to 60 minute cardio workout. I usually set the treadmill to keep my heart rate in my target fat burning zone. The treadmill then adjusts the incline and speed to maintain that heart rate. I know that this habit is not engrained. Its going to take me time to build the stamina and the endurance for this to become a natural daily aspect of my life. Yet, I also know, I must schedule my day around my exercise rather than schedule my exercise around my day.
As I was talking with my wife last night, (the run 5-6 days a week type of person), she told me that in order to make exercise a strong habit, I really need to maintain a consistent exercise plan for 12 weeks or longer. I’m almost four weeks down, and I have some work to do. I believe forming the habit of exercise is fundamental in building the strength needed to improve my eating habits.
It all takes consistent, ritual, habitual action.
What actions are you taking to make healthy fitness as ritualistic as Ground Hog Day?
