I Love Spreadsheets

It's been an awfully long time since I updated! I know I didn't finish my 30 Days Without Make Up, but who wants to see that anyway? I did go the full 30 with no make up, and you know what? It didn't change my life. It didn't change my skin.

What it DID do was get me used to seeing my own face without make up and not feeing naked without it. Super plus since I no longer feel compelled to wear make up every single day. On the downside, there are some days I shove off to work with no make up on. Depending on the outfit, that can be a very bad idea. All of a sudden it's "Hey kid! Where's the teacher?" Oh, yeah...that's me.

Moving on!

This post has nothing to do with make up, but it does have to do with achieving goals and fancy spreadsheet stuffs. You heard me right: *fancy*spreadsheet*stuffs*

Due to age, pizza, and general laziness, some of my clothes are no longer fitting the way that they used to...I think it's more the pizza's fault, though. Hubby has informed me that buying a new wardrobe is NOT an option (Good! I didn't want to get rid of my clothes anyway!), so the only option left is to fit myself back into them. One problem: I SUCK at diets and fitness in general.

I've been blessed with a high metabolism and watching what I eat has never been an issue (commence throwing tomatoes in 3, 2,...). It seems that now my body is catching up to my metabolism and it turns out that I CAN'T eat junk food for days on end and still fit into my favorite skinny jeans. Did I mention that I'm lazy? Unless I'm being dragged to the gym (like the three months before I got married), working out is not on the top of my To-Do list. I would rather do laundry than work out. I don't know, but even with a TV or good music...I still get bored.

ENTER THE SPREADSHEET!!

I've been reading a lot about Gamification in both the classroom and the workplace. The general idea is this: earn points for doing the stuff you should be doing, earn more points for bonus stuff, and "Level Up" when you hit a goal of however many points.

I'm still working on doing this for my students, but this is what I have done for myself:

 I made this spreadsheet in Google Drive using the same basic principles in any spreadsheet software. I formatted the cells to look like a calendar, allotting two additional cells under each date. The topmost cell is reserved for the points that I earn that day for working out (see the yellow box on the right of the spreadsheet). The bottom cell for each date is where I can write notes about what I ate or how much I weighed.

The green cells are where it gets fun. This is my running total. The bottom part of the green cells is a formula that calculates the sum of all of the "point" cells from each date. Formulas in Google Drive work exactly the same way that they do in Excel or Open Office.

At this point you may be thinking "Hey! I don't see a bottom green cell! Only a green and a RED cell!" This is where the *FANCY* comes in. Like other spreadsheet software, Google Drive lets you conditionally format a cell or series of cells. In English: If the cells contains (insert whatever number, letter, or word you want), then the cell will (insert what you want it to do when said condition is met). Okay...maybe that wasn't Englishy enough....so here's what it does:

As long as the number in the bottom of my "Running Total" is less the 60, then the cell will stay red. Once I have met or exceeded my goal (of 60 points), the cell will turn green. *FANCY*SPREADSHEET*STUFFS*

Now that my spreadsheet is all set up, all I have to do is put in the point value for however long I exercised (usually time on the elliptical in my garage). 1 point is equal to 30 minutes of exercise. I chose 30 minutes because that's what I thought I could realistically do on a daily basis. I chose 1 point because I like to keep things simple. If you like to see big numbers, make your 30 minutes and hour and make each hour worth 60 points. <-- Ooooh! Then each minute could be one point and you can add small increments of time! Just make sure you change your goal total accordingly.

Other than being a Google Nut, I specifically chose to make this spreadsheet in Google Drive for one reason: CONVENIENCE. Putting the spreadsheet in Google Drive means that I can access and edit it from ANYWHERE! On my phone, on my laptop, on my tablet, on my mom's computer, on my husband's phone, on my brother's Android. As long as there is an internet connection and an up-to-date browser, I can view and edit my sheet. Remember: I'm LAZY. I use Google Drive for everything else anyway, so putting my fitness tracker in there makes it easy to access.

If you would like to view my spreadsheet and make a copy to use for yourself (either save a copy to your own Google Drive or download it to a spreadsheet software of your choice), you can click the link here. Don't worry about messing up mine, since it's set to "View Only."