The Start of a Plan in Steps to Change

As I at least implied in my last entry, the hardest thing about me wanting to get in shape is that I have never really been in shape before. I don't know what to expect, how hard I can and can't push myself, how quickly I'll notice a difference, etc.

The second hardest part (besides, of course, the motivation - something I'll come back to), is being able to track my progress and knowing when and how to push myself.

So I'm solving this the way I solve most of life's problems, at least when it comes to not knowing enough about something - I made a spreadsheet.

Okay, it's not the typical reaction, I know, but for me, it's a rather helpful one. Most of you don't know this about me, but I make damn good spreadsheets - interactive/reactive, and I'm not afraid to get my hands dirty with a little scripting to help things out. So this provides a rich way for me to track myself.

I'm breaking this down into three-week intervals that I'm calling triads, to help. I'll probably further group these into sets of three, so that every 9 weeks I have a different focus. I can have useful goals (and tracking!), keep track of weight/measurements. I'm going to incorporate rewards into it too, those to be mostly chosen at a later time.

So yeah, that's my plan. A spreadsheet tracking, starting next week (after the holidays, and besides, "next week" is always the best time to start something).