Gamifying Fitness: What Can I Do to Myself in 100 Days?
This week, I decided to go all-in with weight loss and improving physical fitness. As I am hitting 49 this year, I felt it was time to actually care whether or not I’ll last another 40 years. This is one hardcore game I intend to beat.
How does this relate to gaming? Well, I am a firm supporter of gamifying everything. And with the right game, virtually any mundane activity can be fun. That is as long as you have an imagination and are willing to “play.”
In this case, a lot of my cardio activity is going to center around the Oculus and possibly the Xbox Kinect. But I suppose that is up to Microsoft since the last time I tried to connect to my account on the 360, the servers were having “troubles.”
Freakin’ Microsoft.
Regardless of whether I can get in front of the Kinect or not, the backbone of the next 100 days all centers around gamifying fitness in some fashion.
You’re Never Too Old to Play
I am rounding the corner and coming up to 50 years old. A large portion of my life has been spent sitting in front of a computer for one reason or another. From data entry for government positions to writing books, I’ve been tethered to a desk.
Of course, I’ve also spent thousands of hours throughout my life playing games of all kinds.
Unfortunately, living a lethargic lifestyle can do a number on your health over the years. And right now, I am very overweight and am pre-diabetic with high blood pressure – the typical old guy who doesn’t do much but sit on his ass.
Let this be a lesson to you; playing games non-stop for years at a time does a lot to your physical health – even if you’re not overweight. Things like vitamin deficiencies and malnutrition can happen to anyone regardless of age.
In any case, it’s my intention to get up and start moving more often.
One of my favorite analogies is who you would be in a zombie apocalypse: a hero or a burden? I know that a zombie apocalypse isn’t going to happen anytime in the near future. But in reality, would you be able to help others during a natural disaster, such as a hurricane or earthquake?
There are a lot of practical reasons why you’d want to spend more time thinking about physical fitness outside of how many likes you can get on Instagram or TikTok. I’ll go over the reasons for fitness in a moment.
At the end of the day, you’re never too old to play or focus on health.
What’s the Goal for 100 Days?
Technically, 100 days isn’t a lot of time. It’s just over three months. However, there is a lot you can do within that time frame as long as you’re willing to put in the work.
When I weighed over 300 pounds, I lost the first 20 inside of a month and a half just by reducing how much I ate. Although I doubt I’ll have abs of steel that women drool over, I know I can do quite a bit in terms of physical fitness in 100 days.
So, what am I going to do to keep everything on track and engaging?
Step-Counting for Points
One way I am gamifying the next 100 days is by developing a point system. I get one point for every step and 1/10th of a point for every pound I lift. That’s because it’s quite easy to rack up a lot of points simply by going to the gym. After considering how much I can lift and how much I walk, this is a good balance for me.
Virtually every step-tracking device, such as a Fitbit or Apple Watch, will record movement as steps. So, you can earn quite a few steps by being physically active, such as grinding out 25 minutes playing Beat Saber.
I was thinking about creating a point system based on calorie burn for the day. Unfortunately, fitness trackers don’t take into account lifting weights. Weight lifting doesn’t ramp up the heart rate like cardio activity. And I’m not looking to be a body builder.
Playing the Oculus and Kinect
There are plenty of games for both the Oculus and Kinect that I love to play. The idea is to get at least 220 minutes of gaming in throughout the entire week. That’s only 20 minutes on days I go to the gym and 40 minutes on the other days.
Usually, I play between 20 and 25 minutes per session, so you can kind of get an idea of how much I’ll play these systems during any given week.
Why don’t I play more often? Time. On any given day, I am managing several blogs, YouTube channels, Twitch streams, writing books, and dealing with clients. I don’t have a lot of time at my disposal. However, I know how important it is to get some kind of physical activity during the day. So, I will try to squeeze in what I can where possible.
Maintain a Diet Plan
Lately, my diet has been quite crappy. It’s consisted of way too many carbs and not enough vitamins and minerals. Not to mention not moving enough to burn the carbs I had eaten. So, I am focusing on my Net 600 Calorie Diet plan.
The gist of this diet is to burn twice as much as I eat through any kind of physical activity. The more I burn, the more I can eat. When you choose healthier alternatives, you’re more satiated without feeling like you’re starving.
This is the diet that helped me lose more than 50 pounds and keep it off. Lately, my lethargic attitude has been undoing a lot of that progress, which is why I want to dial up the effort to eleven for the next 100 days.
Getting Out of the House More Often
The Oculus and Kinect aren’t the only activities to gamify fitness. Going out to play golf, bowling, even walking around the museum will burn calories. Plus, it’s not a good idea to hide out in your home for extended periods of time.
This is coming from someone who has worked and played at home since 2013. Sure, working at home sounds amazing, but it will eventually drag you down. I miss commuting and hanging out with co-workers.
Any time you get up and move about is going to burn calories and contribute to your overall health. And there are a lot of fun things to do and explore here in Colorado.
Keeping Track In a Spreadsheet
Initially, the 100-day fitness challenge was set up on my other blog complete with a spreadsheet for tracking data. Well, I’ve had a bit of a slow start, seeing how this was supposed to begin on January 1st. I’m hoping involving the gaming blog in the process helps stir some motivation.
Anyway, I’m using a spreadsheet to keep track of my caloric intake, burn, and activities. This also includes the point system I mentioned earlier. The days highlighted in green are the ones I’ve completed. Anything without a highlight is an estimation based on previous performance.
The bottom line is that I want to earn more points each week compared to the previous. That’s the number in the “Point Difference” column. Theoretically, these should always be green.
As the weeks progress, the estimations will begin to take shape. The more data you collect, the more accurate the results.
Sure, there are all kinds of apps you can use for a similar purpose. However, I like recording specific information about myself and what works best depending on my activity and needs. Most apps are based on what works best among the average users.
When you keep track of your own fitness efforts, you can start to see patterns, especially when it concerns your diet. It’s a way to tailor health and fitness to your specific wants and needs. You don’t need some DNA test or to understand what “morph” you are. Those are all gimmicks to sell you a product.
You can discover way more about yourself just by keeping track of what you do and eat.
Why Physical Fitness Is Vital
As I said, there is more to physical fitness than just likes and comments on Instagram or TikTok. You don’t need to be an “influencer” to work on your health.
Physical fitness impacts:
- how your brain processes information. This is ideal for those who want to be professional gamers.
- sleep patterns. The more sleep you get, the more focused you are on playing games.
- social visibility. As much as it pains me to say it, fit folk get a lot more attention online, which is great for promoting yourself.
- things you can do around the house. Shopping, moving furniture, house cleaning, and more benefit from physical prowess.
- longevity. I know a lot of you probably aren’t concerned about where you’ll be in 20 years. But you don’t want poor health to be a contributing factor to what you can and cannot do then.
- your survival during a natural disaster. Fires, hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, and more will test your physical mettle.
- injury recovery and illness prevention. Those who are fit heal faster and are more durable, including against various diseases and bacteria.
These are just a few instances off the top of my head where physical fitness is of utmost benefit. In reality, your overall quality of life could increase exponentially if you put in the effort to improve your health and fitness.
What Will I Look Like in 100 Days?
Now, I highly doubt that I’ll have the body of a fitness influencer trying to hawk his wares on Instagram in just over three months. However, I do know that a lot can happen in 100 days in terms of visual changes and internal health.
That is as long as one is willing to push themselves. You don’t need a shot or some magic pill to lose weight and improve your health if you’re willing to do what is necessary.
In my case, I plan on playing quite a few games and exploring some of this beautiful state of Colorado. Besides, it’ll give me content for the blog and YouTube channel in the form of reviews and tutorials.
Near the end of April, I’ll write an update post and compare some pics of myself. In the meantime, though, you can follow my progress by subscribing to CrossingColorado.com and hanging out with us live on YouTube on Tuesdays.
Let’s work some magic.
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