The Penny Jar Experiment

Hello out there again!

It's been several, well, months since my last post as you've probably seen. This doesn't mean that I've given up on my journey. Far from it! I've just been busy with a ton of other stuff and have a bit of a tendency to jump from one random subject to another so fast that I can barely keep up with myself. If you're interested in hearing what I'm basically like, you should go and check out my mom's blog: "Jumbled Sunshine". It basically sums up what kind of jumbled personalities my entire family has.

But enough about me, let's talk about . . . me. In the past few months I have tried and failed to create a new system to help myself be motivated to live healthier. I've searched the internet and myself to try and discover what I really think will help me be happier and fitter. Like Thomas Edison, I didn't take every setback as a failure, I just realized that I've found tons and tons of ways that don't work for me. I'll go into everything in another post (maybe). Right now, all of the ideas are stowed away in a journal that's sitting in an unknown location. When I find it, I'll be sure to let you know! But the important thing is, that after jumping this way and that, I found little bits and pieces that do work out of all of the don't work experiments so that I now have a vague idea of what I think my system will be!

Important Note: Just because I am doing this system does not necessarily mean that it is "the best" or even "the correct" way to get to that perfect you. It's just what I found worked best for me through trial and error. In order to discover what works best for you personally, I'm afraid that you're going to have to make the entire thing an experiment, with you as the subject, just like I've done and am still doing.

1st: 
I've broken up with my weight. Though we are still on speaking terms, I don't depend on it like I used to, and like a lot of people do. Why? Because I really don't think that weight is a good indication of how healthy you really are. For example: If I say "I know this group of people who are all over 200 lbs, some even over 300!", I'll bet that some of you out there just imagined a bunch of people who look something like this.

 But did any of you stop to think that just because these people obviously aren't 90-pound-sticks doesn't mean they could not only be in good shape, but great shape? So great that they could be in the Olympics? Yep. That's right, I'm talking about members of the USA Olympic Track and Field team. All of those who compete in the throwing competitions weigh close to if not over 200 lbs. And when I look at them, yes they seem a bit more muscular than I'd like to be, but they still look in better shape than I am and I'm not even close to as heavy as most of them are! (If you want to check them out for yourself, go to this link, then under "Athlete Filter" to the left of your screen select "Event" and choose "Throws".)

There are tons of similar examples out there, but we've been force fed the idea that only computerized 6 ft, size 0 models are "beautiful". Well no more for me! I say down with the system man! ;) Back to the point: I will be weighing myself because I'm going to keep track of my progress by using our Wii Fit Plus, but I'm not believing the whole "You are very overweight because you're BMI says so" advice. BMI and I are worse enemies than my weight and I are.

2nd:
I've made a list of what things are important daily "Dos" and "Don'ts" for myself if I want to "fitten up". They've already changed a few times and are likely to change again, but for now, they're staying as they are. This list includes things like "eat a balanced breakfast, lunch, or dinner", "Drink 12 cups of water a day", etc.


3rd:
This was the toughest part. How could I make myself actually want to follow all of the "Dos" and "Don'ts". I know, "wanting to be fit" should be enough to motivate me right? Wrong. According to the research I have conducted (which is not necessarily very extensive so might not be the full truth), in order to succeed in a long term goal, you need to have short term rewards and punishments. At least, I need some sort of short term reward and punishment.

So, after a ton of attempts and fails, I finally discovered something. I have a giant change jar, and I think I have almost a bit of an obsession with the little "chink" sound that coins make when they collide, as well as with filling up the jar to the extent that I used to go trade in dollars for quarters just so I could put them in my jar. Yeah, I know, I'm crazy. But, this nutty quirk of mine has helped me create the only system so far that has worked for more than a few days. Here's how it works. I assigned each "Do" and "Don't" on my list with a certain number of pennies. Then I made two jars. One is for all of my positive points and the other is for all of my negative points. As soon as that was settled, I went to the bank and got some shiny new pennies. (I love shiny things just as much as "chink"ing coins.)

Now, every day I use my list to determine how many pennies I get to put in each jar. To take away the "thrill" of putting pennies in the negative jar, I stuffed a bunch of cotton balls in the bottom. That way, when I put pennies in the negative jar, I don't hear that nice "chink" sound that I love so much.

My Positive Points Jar (complete with a little superhero me), Negative Points Jar (complete with a sneaky evil me) and my container of shiny new pennies. :)

4th:
Every Saturday, using the Wii Fit Plus, I will record my waist measurement. I might also start to keep a measurement of my hips, thighs, calves, and arms to see if they go down. I feel like inches off is a much better indicator of health anyway. I'll also take note of how I'm feeling and if/how much I think I've improved.

5th:
Last but not least, I'm not only applying my plan, but watching for parts of it that don't work very well so that I can twist and change it to perfection. In the future I might deem it necessary to work in portion sizes for myself or something like that, but honestly, I've never given much credit to the whole "watch your calories" thing. Nor do I believe that sugar and fat and such are bad thing. To me, too much of anything is, well, too much. I'll try and eat all the food groups, listen to my stomach, and actually pay close attention to the taste. If I don't think it tastes good, then it isn't worth eating. And if I think it'll be good for my body if I eat it, then I'll learn to like the taste.

I don't know exactly when I'll post next. Who knows, you may see me again sooner than you think, I might decide to rant about different "healthy" or "unhealthy" myths and truths. But for sure I'll report my progress of this "Penny Jar Experiment" next month. I'll also report how much I've improved. Until then, I'll see you all later!