Gimme the Loot!

I'm struggling to think of 5 suitable rewards to go along with each of my goals set out here.

So far I've only got 3:

1. A NerdFitness tee (I think this is a good one for once I can do either my 10 pull-ups / chin-ups or my 50 press-ups goals).
2. A subscription to Spotify Premium (I like to listen to my workout playlist on Spotify whilst I work out).
3. The new Assassin's Creed game (once it's released later this year).

Academy Quest | NaNaNaNaNa... BATCAVE!

Here are my 3 new changes to my daily environment that remove steps to build healthy new habits:

1. I keep fresh (and some dried) fruit on my desk at work for healthier snacking.
2. I have installed a great little app called "Lift" on my phone to give me daily reminders to go for a walk, exercise, etc. and allow me to easily track my progress on these goals.
3. I've purchased a skipping rope (jump rope) from Amazon to help with my new workouts.

And here are my 3 new barriers to keep me from falling back into old unhealthy habits I am replacing or limiting:

1. I've had a purge and thrown out all of the sports/energy drinks that I was keeping in my car.
2. I've stopped buying pizzas/bread/cakes/biscuits/etc.
3. I've deleted a load of crap TV from my Sky+ box and cancelled recordings of repeats.
4. Bonus barrier 4: The "Lift" app (no. 2 in my healthy changes list above) I'm also using to remind me to avoid unhealthy habits (namely eating pizzas and drinking fizzy soft drinks) and to track my progress on these goals.

Academy Quest | Mindset: Break Down Those Goals

Here are my 5 goals:

1. I can do 10 pull-ups / chin-ups continuously without stopping to rest.
2. I can do 50 press-ups (push-ups) continuously without stopping to rest.
3. I go for a walk every day.
4. I eat healthy meals every day, including plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables.
5. I work out at least 3 times per week.

The first 2 are targets to work towards, the remaining 3 I will consider "accomplished" once I've been keeping them up for 2 months, at which point they should have become daily habits.

Academy Quest | Mindset: Find Your Big "WHY"...

I'm nearly 30 and in the worst shape of my life.  I want to get into the best shape of my life - better than when I was 17 and exercising ~10 hours every week.

Academy Quest | Mindset: Take Your Measurements

Here are my starting measurements, as measured at 7:30 am this morning, Sunday the 17th August 2014:

Weight: 66.9 kg (~147.5 lbs)
Height: 5' 8.5" (68.5",~174 cm)

Neck: 14.5" (~37 cm)
Chest: 36" (~91 cm)
Bicep (Left): 10" (~25 cm)
Bicep (Right): 10" (~25 cm)
Waist: 31" (~79 cm)
Hips: 35.5" (~90 cm)
Thigh (Left): 19" (~48 cm)
Thigh (Right): 19" (~48 cm)
Calf (Left): 13" (~33 cm)
Calf (Right): 13.5" (~34 cm)


*Weight to the nearest 0.1 kg, other measurements to the nearest 0.5".

Academy Quest | Fitness: Pick Your Workout "Path"

I've opted to start at the beginning at Bodyweight Brigade, level 1.  I'm going to do this for one week and if I'm finding it too easy I'll move on to level 2 next week.

Academy Quest | Mindset: Take Your Before Pictures

So, I've taken my "before" pictures (not quite entirely before as I have been doing the beginner bodyweight circuit for the last week) as a point of reference of where I started out.

I'm not going to post the pictures on this blog for now - maybe I will once I've got some "after" pictures with which to compare and contrast with.