Where there’s a will, there’s a way…

I did it!
I created a spreadsheet for us to track our daily activity level.
The spreadsheet itself was somewhat challenging;
that’s typically not a part of my brain I utilize.
The bigger challenge was figuring out how to make it interactive for you guys and then get it onto the blog.
I am thrilled to report my success!

Look along the Sidebars on the right side of the blog and scroll down until you find “Daily Activity Chart”. Click on “Update yours here”. If you are already a member of this blog, your name should be there. If I missed you somehow, shoot me off an email and I’ll make it right.

A (very) quick tutorial: Click on the cell you want to highlight. Then bring your cursor up to the box that looks like a Rubik’s cube. Left click on it; left click on the hot pink box, voila’! If you mark a box in error, just follow the same steps but click on the white box instead of the pink.

This tool, just like everything we do with STF is voluntary. If you are like me and need help with “accountability”… use it. If it does not pertain to you or at least not yet… no worries, just ignore it.

Now that I’ve figured out how to do it, we can add other spreadsheets. Some of you for instance wanted a way for us to track weight loss. My only thought on that is “Be careful what you wish for”… ha ha! These are things we can discuss at our next STF meeting.

Which is a nice segue to that information.
When: Thurs. 1/29 @ 6:30 (note this is 30 mins earlier than last time.)
Where: Chris’ house.
Who: Hopefully all of you and feel free to bring a friend.

To meet our goal of supporting and motivating each other, I ask you always come to the meetings prepared with at least 2 things.
1) How can we help you this week, what are you struggling with?
2) What tidbit of success or knowledge can you share with the group to help us meet our goals?

I have already heard from several of you so I don’t think this will be an issue this time, but going forward… my thought is if we don’t have at least 4 participants for the meeting we should re-schedule it for a time more convenient for the masses. Again, we can discuss that on Thursday.

Treats. Robin was nice enough to pick up a veggie tray and bring it along to our last meeting. As late as it went, coupled with the fact most of you came straight from work, I think we really appreciated having that! Can I have a volunteer this week to bring some sort of healthy snack?

Also, think about what tricks you have that get you through the day when you are “oh-so-close” to hitting that vending machine for a candy bar. My new “go-to-snack” is the Kashi TLC crunchy granola bars. 4 g Fiber, 6 g Protein, 180 calories for BOTH bars, though I typically eat just one. For you chocolate lovers I shared my love of “Hershey’s All Natural Extra Dark Pure Dark Chocolate”, (yes… that’s really the name on the bag!) at the last meeting. A couple of those and an afternoon cup of Joe; I am one happy fatty! What gets you through your day?

And one final enticement for you to come to the meeting Thursday…
There will be a “Guest Speaker”.
One who will remain a secret!

Please use the comments section below this post to RSVP for Thursday.

Put your money where your ass is…

We’ve “talked” about it.
But will we actually do it?
It’s time to walk the walk… or dance the dance!

We made a goal at the STF meeting last week that every other weekend we would try to find an activity that we can all do together. This would help our accountability, introduce us to new activities, promote our new friendships and definitely supply us with plenty of laughs.

This Saturday morning, (1/24) there is a Zumba class being offered at the Matt Ross Community Center in downtown O.P. (Click on Fitness Schedule:MRCC)

A mixture of sculpting movements and easy-to-follow dance steps, Zumba combines high energy and motivational music with unique dance moves that allow participants to dance away their worries. Zumba is a fusion of Latin and international music and the workout is fun and easy to do. Zumba is great for the body, and also great for the mind.

Classes are just $5 each or check out their link for membership. Passes are good at both O.P. locations so peruse their calendar for classes that interest you. Then make your pitch to drag us along!

On another more technical note… it’s time to take the next step in blogging for you newcomers. I think we should all learn to use the “Comments” option; all you need is a “free” Gmail account to do so. At the bottom of each post, along side who wrote it, is the word “comments”. Hover your cursor over it and click. If you already have a Gmail acct, put your user name and password in the boxes. Next I would choose Name/URL and type just your first name in there. Once the initial set-up is done, comments are a breeze. If you don’t yet have a Gmail acct, there is a simple prompt on this page for easy set-up.

Let’s use the Comments option as an RSVP for Zumba this Saturday. This is a very handy way for all of us to get involved with our blog without having to post something yourself… for you “less wordy” types. Give it a try now!

Helpful Blogger Tip:
When you are reading a post and all of a sudden there is a font color change to red, that means those words, are actually a link to something relative to the subject. “Hover” your curser over those words and click. In this post’s instance, the Matt Ross CC info will magically appear!