For some reason it was awkward carrying a canvas bag into the grocery store a few years ago. I felt like a bank robber. But I got used to it and now it is no big deal. In fact, it surprises me that more people don’t use them. They are so much nicer than those flimsy plastic things. Even so, I still forget to take them to the store sometimes and then its back to the plastic. For my experiment if I forget the canvas bags I either have to abandon the groceries or buy new bags. That is the penalty. If I end up with more bags than I need I can always give them away.
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This morning I made a quick sweep through our house and gathered up all the plastic bags that aren’t currently storing anything. The picture below is the result. I put a Nalgene bottle on the counter so you can tell how tall the pile is. It reaches my shoulders. I count 421 bags including Ziplocs and ones I use to clean the cat litter.

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It is amazing how many plastic bags two people can go through if they are not paying attention. So for the next two weeks I am going to pay attention. No, I don’t think I can save Earth by banning plastic bags at my house. I am not going to be militant, refusing to buy baby carrots because they come in plastic. But I do want to find out how easy it is to just be a little better about it.

I am starting small. For two weeks the plan is to not bring any new plastic bags into the house. The goal is to end up with as close to as many as I start with, reusing what I have. In the meantime I can figure out ways not to use them at all. The three main areas of focus will be:

1. Carrying store bought items (groceries, clothes, etc)
2. Carrying produce
3. Disposing of garbage

It is infinitesimally minor in the grand scheme of overall environmental issues but I figured if I approach it as an interesting experiment rather than an attempt to save the planet it will feel more significant, at least to me.

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Yesterday I mentioned doing 42 days of burpees. The way it works: Do 1 the first day, 2 the second, 3 the third and so on until you end up at 42 on the last day. It is not required that they be all in a single unbroken set so you can do sets of 10 or whatever. You can also skip days and make them up but that is not wise as you get closer to the end. It *should* be a piece of cake. Normally people do 50 or 100 days but since this round is only 6 weeks I am focusing on just getting to 42. At least it isn’t as bad as doing the burpee mile…

(Warning! The music is loud.)

This round is going to be half as long and will focus on fewer areas. As I mentioned Sunday, it started Monday and will last 6 weeks ending on Memorial Day.

Here are the goals:

At Home:
1. Stain all the trim and doors for the basement.
2. Plant herb and vegetable garden.
3. The Plastic Bag Experiment. (I will talk about this on Friday).

Fitness:
1. Maintain weight around 135-137
2. Kipping pull-ups – 3 sets of 20 in under 6 minutes

3. Burpees – 42 Day Burpee Challenge. (I will talk about this tomorrow).

4. Toes to bar – 20 in a row

5. Jump Rope Double-Unders – 50 in a row.
Note: I did this once and have not been able to do it since.

In the first 12 weeks I also learned that if I try to do meet every goal at the same time some goals fall by the wayside. Here are goals I have not yet met from Round 1:

1. 10 dead hang pull-ups. See post.
2. Run a 5k in 7:30s. See post.
3. Organize my office. See post.
4. Stain trim and doors in basement. See post.
5. The Cat Room. See post.
6. Destinos episodes and workbook. See post.
7. Finish reading 7 Habits of Highly Effective Living. See post.

As for the ‘Excel At Work’ goal I suppose I will find out during my performance review. Originally I had planned to kick butt on an application team but I was pulled off that assignment on to something else. So I need to re-evaluate this one and set new goals.

I learned a lot In the first 12 weeks. For one thing I learned that it will take me a lot longer that 12 weeks to meet my goals. I did reach some though. Here are the goals I managed to achieve from Round 1:

1. Lost 20 pounds. See post.
2. Completed the entire Body For LIfe Challenge. Finally! See post.
3. 25 military push ups in a row. See post.
4. All the clothes I put aside now fit! See post.
5. The junk drawers in the kitchen? Done! See post.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

6. The disaster of an entry way? Done for now… See post.

BEFORE:

AFTER:
 

7. The basement was ready to watch The Super Bowl. See post.
8. Finished my taxes by the end of February. See post.

Last minute additions:
9. Hike Mount Sanitas every day in the last week. Did that. See post.
10. Make the Flatirons CrossFit Affiliate Cup Team. Did that. See post

Tomorrow I will post the goals I have not yet met.

It only takes a minor slip to start a landslide. The problem with following a diet and exercise plan so vigorously is that when the goal is met you feel “free”. Since I completed the Body For Life Challenge I have not been tracking food or workouts very well and basically I have been slacking off in a major way. I have made a few very feeble attempts to get back on track without success. I think the issue is that I have not set concrete goals for what I want to accomplish next. So today I will think about what I want my next goals to be. This time I will have 6 weeks to accomplish them making the end date on Memorial Day.

I may or may not be playing in the last tournament of the Queen of the Beach Series today. Sports Oasis set up a deal where if you are first on the waiting list you can show up as a backup. If someone bails at the last minute you get to play free. If everyone shows up you get $20 and go home. Now that I am dressed and ready I hope I get to play. Even though I finished top 20 twice I only played in 2 of the 8 tournaments so I did not have enough points to play in the tournament they set up for girls ranked 1-25. Today I would be playing against ranks 26-48 and there are prizes for 1st-4th place. I actually have a shot at winning something.

UPDATE: I played but not too well. I ended up in 7th by points. Ended on a good game where my friend Miki and I were behind the whole time and came back and won though so I was happy to end on a good note.

Now that the challenge is finally over I have much more interesting things to worry about than what I look like in spandex. In the most immediate future I am competing with our Affiliate Cup Team at the Rocky Mountain Regional CrossFit Games April 30th – May 2nd for a chance to go to Nationals in California. Again, there are 38 teams competing to fill only 8 spots so we have a difficult task ahead of us. Difficult but not impossible.

CORRECTION: These workouts I posted this morning are not for us. They are for the Masters (over 50). Our workouts will not be posted for another week or so. I will leave them here anyway though…

Workout 1:
50 Double unders
21 Kettlebell swings (1.5 pood men / 1 pood women)
12 Pull-ups (kipping)

Workout 2:
10 minutes to find your 1 Rep Maximum Thruster

Workout 3:
As many rounds as possible in 20 minutes of:
5 Chest touches bar pull-ups (kipping
10 Push-ups
15 Air Squats