5 Things I am doing to become healthier

Been a while since I posted something... I have 4 half written marketing blog posts that I want to finish. But here is a list of 5 things I am doing to become healthier and more fit.

Since I finished college in December my lifestyle has changed, I am off the ramen noodles and no longer walking and biking everywhere while carrying around a 20 pound backpack and my body started to notice (ie I was getting a beer belly)

For this to be successful it has to be for the right reasons. Similar to quitting smoking, diets, and many other lifestyle changes the reason why you do it determines the success. If you are doing this for someone else or half heartly you are likely to fail. YOU have to want to do this and it has to be for YOU, not someone else or another reason. I have done this and am doing this because it is something that I want to do, for me. It also helps that I can notice the improvements that I am making and reaching my personal goals that I have set.

1. I am drinking more water. Before I rarely drank water, mainly cause the tap at the house I was renting was horrible and rusted even with a filter. But I should be drinking around 80... yes 80 ounces of water a day (or fluids which was soda and juice) You can see how much water you should be drinking with this calculator
2. I am eating less. Before I would eat when I was hungry and could eat A LOT. Easily finished The Quad at AJ Bombers was still hungry after that I even finished the Squad Six (not in the 6 minutes though). Now I have portion control with what I eat, instead of a whole pizza or an entire box of macaroni and cheese I will just eat half. At first this was a challenge and always felt hungry but as of right now my body and stomach have adjusted and now I am satisfied quicker and don't have to eat as much or as often.
3. I am watching what I eat. Similar to the first two not just how much I eat but also what I eat. I am going healthier and less processed foods and more fruits and vegetables. Instead of getting french fries with a meal I now opt for a salad. I am also eating (for the most part) less "junk food". Before at night when I got the munchies or even throughout the day I would eat lots of snacks mostly unhealthy chips and other similar products. Now if I will eat something at night which is rare it will be carrots or maybe a salad. I have stopped purchasing the cookies and chips and other snack items I would munch on through out the day and without the temptations it is easier to control what I eat. I remove the unhealthy choices from the menu.
4. I am exercising regularly. Rather then going to a pricey gym which I can't currently afford I do what I can at home. When I wake up (given I did not hit the snooze or overslept) I do a set of push ups and sit ups. When I started doing this I struggled to complete 10 push ups, now I am doing sets of 40. With sit ups at first it was difficult because of the lack of weight holding my feet down (used the bottom of my bed) I can now do sit ups without the bed (still struggle but it is possible). I also purchased some 15 pound dumbbell weights that I use. The biggest thing I am doing now is running, well jogging then walking then jogging again. I am unsure of my pace since I don't have any apps or gadgets to use and my phone from the stone age is no help. But I jog as much as I can and each day try to go farther then I did the day before. The main inspiration for me getting up and running again is Anne and the rest of the members of Fit Milwaukee. One thing I am also trying to do is to find a jogging partner, know of anyone in the south side of Appleton?
   
5. Knowing when to stop. This has been key for me, self control and not pushing my body too far. My body is broken to say the least and I can't push it too far. When my knee starts to hurt when I am jogging I slow down and start to walk and if it is too bad or continues I end my jog. Similar if my wrist of elbow hurt I stop and rest and wait and try again later. I also got the right equipment (new running shoes) that help a lot with the soreness and knee pain. I have been thinking about getting some Dr. Scholls inserts for my running shoes but not sure how effective they would be.
   

What are you doing to improve your lifestyle and become healthier? Who inspired you to do so? What else could you be doing, or I be doing to improve upon this?

Interactivity in Ads

Ads need to attract but more importantly be relevant
While waiting for some games to load an ad will pop up and more frequently I am seeing that these ads are trying to have me do something whether its move my mouse or click on something and I still ignore it like any other ad. Or on Hulu when I am offered a choice of which commercial I want to see, or if I want one long commercial to start or smaller ones throughout. I rarely care which option I take. Why?? Because like most commercials I have no need or interest in the product and the ad doesn't relate to me. They remind me of the spam banners that flash you are the 500000th visitor and have won something click here now. Or the shoot the ducks, which celebrity is this.... and while it does attract my attention I know better then to bother and click on it. The few ads I bother to click on are relevant to the topic that I am reading on or have an interest too. They also offer me something whether it is a discount or additional information.

The few commercials I pay attention to on TV are... hmm let me think... none I either change the channel or do something else like catch up on twitter. There are some commercials I enjoy, for instance the Old Spice "I'm on a horse" commercial. The commercials are entertaining first and foremost, they rarely make me go that extra step from being informed of the product to wanting the product and almost never to the final step of purchasing the product. Most commercials for things that interest me I will see somewhere else, usually online. These commercials are usual previews for video games, movies, and television shows which are available online for when I want to watch them.

Instance of interactivity in a relevant ad

The new Iron Man 2 trailer is embedded below is the main reason for this post. I hope that you either read through or skipped to this part. I saw this ad posted on Scifi wire which I read because I follow their twitter feed. This is a great use of interactivity it provides the user (me) addition information and an enhanced experience which makes me more interested in the product (Iron Man 2). This is a good way to increase interest while attracting attention. I prefer getting more information rather then just moving a mouse or clicking somewhere to continue an ad, boring. This allows the user to take control of their experience and can do as much or as little as they want. This can be used in many other ads to provide the user a unique experience and the ability to get more information.

I may add to this at a later date or make another more detailed and better laid out blog in the future. This was a quick type and post.

Would you like to see more ads like this? Will this type of ad be short lived? Will the interactivity become ignored like many ads are? Any other comments?