A Super Awesome Scoop…
February 1, 2011 § 2 Comments
Exciting news shescoops.com readers…
I am taking part in the Keas Health Challenge!*
Picture the scene, if you will: an online portal; a selection of my favourite Keas.com features (fascinating health nuggets; Healthwise Interactive Videos; quizzes that are surprisingly tough); and a massive 200-peep strong Community of co-Keas Health Challengers! All combined it is a remarkable daily motivator for healthier choices; it is ‘Super Awesome.’**
superscoopawesome
Want the deets?
Well, you get invited to join (I feel a tiny bit speshul but it turns out there are nearly 200 of us…) and then on the appointed day – in this case Monday, January 24th 2011 – we are off! In essence it is a 12-week long computer game with healthy side-effects. One commits to doing 3 ‘To-Dos’ each week (e.g. fill half your dinner plate with veggies 5 times this week; or listen to a stress-relieving podcast 2 times this week; etc..); and, upon completion of each ‘To-do’ you get points! And I love points! The idea is to help us all take charge of our daily choices and get healthier over a 3 month period. It is simply a great idea and one that I am into 100%. There is both an individual competition component and a Team component (in the first week you join a team of 5 other challenges who will be my co-team members through this adventure and who’s points are combined for the Team score). I am on Team Kea Power! And our motto? ‘In the habit of winning!’ (you better believe it, though we have some work to do as we are currently ranked 13th out of 30).
Did I mention that there are prizes involved relating to the accumulation of points; prizes with dollar signs? Well, more on that piece to follow because, right now, I am almost entirely motivated by how much fun it is and wanting to do a good job for my fellow Kea Power! Team mates (I say almost because I am simultaneously marveling at the potential for some cold hard cash to come out of this game situation; that would be handy).
Polly Effort Recap: Week One
It went something like this: I selected my 3 ‘ToDos’ on Monday (each worth a total of 30 points) and all were things that I figured I would do easily. However, there was a crisis in my pedometer-remembering-brain-facility and I was supposed to get points for ‘wearing your pedometer and walking 4,000 steps each day this week.’ Well, I didn’t remember to wear the thing until Friday but couldn’t bring myself to claim the points until I actually wore the tiny thing. Grr.. Many points wasted and I felt REALLY bad about it. Bad about it for my Kea Power! Team. This additional Team component is one heck of a motivator, let me tell you. The sense of responsibility to the team is enormous! For the record, the completion of ‘To-Dos’ is on the ‘honour system;’ which is why it was a case of: no Polly Pedometer, no Polly Points.
The whole Keas Health Challenge approach is just very clever for motivating us humans: it’s addictive (I’m logging onto this site before I have even checked the BBC website for the latest world news nuggets..); it’s got the fellow-humans element (the community postings are funny, interesting, and encouraging all at once); and I am learning new health things too.
Thanks, Keas.com; I really appreciate the opportunity to take part and add some healthy-fun to my daily schedule.
The question is, will I get anything else accomplished in my life between now and April when the Challenge culminates? It could go either way at this point…
And now for the notes section:
*Of course you haven’t forgotten my dedication to this SF-based startup… but just in case; a mini-review:
Previous Post #1: A seed was sewn by a startup (part one)…
Previous Post #2: Food Diary/Journal – 1; Polly – 2….
And the one about those fantastic Healthwise ‘Conversations’ slash interactive videos: To be or not to be Healthwise…
**’SUPER AWESOME: hubby got ‘Super Awesome’ Trading Cards made by the wonder-folks at Acoutrements; that’s correct, a set of cards that detail only those things deemed “Super Awesome.” They are neat.
[...] to worry, though, I’ll get through this process pretty soon. That being said, Week 3 of the Keas Health Challenge better include points for a stress-relieving podcast; I could use some focused calm, [...]
[...] recall either, I had to go back and remind myself of the reason – the incident known as ‘the pedometer crisis’); he maintains that I should have taken the points anyway since I did the walking just not the [...]