Chore cardio

Well, the weekend went better than I expected. I proudly made a grilled chicken salad, fresh from home, on Saturday instead of any of the other frozen options I had at my reach. Then I started Sunday with an hour long workout that got me going for the day. I would say I successfully accomplished my goal from Friday.

As for today, I had numerous things to get done and seeing as I ignored my alarm to go to the gym this morning, I decided to get a little creative. On my list of To-do’s was vacuuming, cleaning up the Christmas gifts, putting away all of the lights and essentially, re-organizing my downstairs. I would say I spent a good 20 minutes vacuuming, about 15 organizing gifts and putting away decorations in bins and then about 5 minutes worth of walking up and down the stairs. I opted to put my decorations upstairs for the time being to force myself to carry heavy bins up them, therefore getting more exercise. Soo, I kept in mind that while I was standing, I was burning more calories. Then I looked up calories burned for chores. Here is what I found on Fitday.com: 

Indoor Chores

Chores you do inside the house also help to burn calories. Here’s how many calories are burned in the course of performing your daily tasks:

• Scrubbing the bath for 30 minutes burns 200 calories. Removing that stubborn soap scum from your tiles is a great way  to tone the muscles of your arms and shoulders.
• Carrying shopping bags for 30 minutes burns 190 calories, and maybe more if the bags are particularly heavy. Distribute the weight evenly on each hand, or swap back and forth at regular intervals. Carrying too much weight on one side won’t just overdevelop those muscles, it could injure your spine.
• Making beds for 30 minutes burns 130 calories, the same number you’d use if you jogged on a treadmill or on flat terrain for 15 minutes.
• Cleaning windows for 30 minutes burns 125 calories, the same number used in 20 minutes of power yoga (about one-third the length of a typical power yoga class).
• Loading the dishwasher for 30 minutes burns 105 calories, which is less than the 160 calories burned when washing them by hand.
• Vacuuming for 30 minutes burns about 90 calories, the same amount you’d burn in 15 minutes of kick boxing.
• Dusting for 30 minutes burns about 50 calories.
• Ironing for 30 minutes burns about 70 calories and tones the muscles of the upper body. Stand up straight at the ironing board and press down firmly. Switch hands periodically so you don’t overdevelop one arm

You can also check out the article for calories burned doing outside chores or other related activities like the stairs or showering. Looking at this, I would say I burned well over 150 calories just by doing household chores I needed to get done. I am calling this my ‘chore cardio’ for the day. It may not have been the workout I was looking for but it was better than nothing. Next time, I need to ramp it up with squats in between the vacuuming and sprints up and down the stairs instead of walking.

Lastly, tomorrow is weigh in day. My goal for the week was 1 pound. Burn 500/day to lose one pound a week. That is what I am hoping for. Guess we will find out.

Today’s tip: Ramp up your cleaning with squats, lunges or dancing around while vacuuming/dusting

Tomorrow’s goal: Hit the gym bright and early to start week 2 of the couch to 5k app

TGIF

It’s Friday and it’s time to prepare for the weekend. I need to keep motivated. I will have more time to exercise but that also means I have more time to eat. But I am determined to stay focused. I have exercised every day except Thursday but I made up for it today with a longer work out. It is all about the balance. I am realizing you can have a bad day or two, you just have to get back on track. While working out, I keep in the back of my mind that I need to cut about 500 calories everyday to lose a pound. That is motivation to keep going seeing as in my workout today I burned a good amount of that. This week has not been as hard as I thought it would be and it helps remind me I can keep it up. Not sure what else to add so I’ll end on that.

Today’s tip: Find what motivates you and keep that in your mind at all times. Every little bit helps.

Tomorrow’s goal: Workout for at least an hour and watch your calories.

Keep on pushing

I am glad to say I completed yesterday’s goal. I did make it to the gym this morning and I followed day one of the Couch to 5k app. I like the regimented routine the app gives. Makes it easier to follow and stay on track. Since it was a short workout this morning, I was thinking about doing a yoga video tonight. I used to dance and feel the need to get my body back into dancing shape. Hopefully, yoga will help that.

I am slowly finding the importance of water. I have always known that it is important to drink but to live a healthier lifestyle, it is essential. Like I mentioned before, I am working on not drinking soda. I love diet soda and while it has no calories, I am not sure it is good for you. I ran out of soda in the house so I did not buy more. The other aspect to this is the artificial sweeteners. I am trying to stay away from those as well. It would be easy for me to drink flavored water but that sort of defeats the purpose of going without soda.

Last thing for today. One the downsides to having an office job is the constant sitting. There have been so many reports lately about the benefits of standing versus sitting. I have been interested in this for a while. Standing desks have crossed my mind but I have not pursued it. One thing I have looked at is an under-desk-bike of some sort. It may not be standing but better than sitting. Maybe that will be a goal sometime this week.

I’ll leave you with couple things to keep in mind:

According to LiveStrong, by simply standing you can burn an extra 20 to 50 calories per hour. So for 4 hours a day that is an extra 80 to 200 calories. 

It takes burning 3500 calories to lose one pound. If you cut 500 calories a day from diet (either through exercise or food), you will lose a pound a week. If you add standing into this mix, you can put that extra 100 to 200 calories towards the 500 you need to burn. Just something to think about.

Today’s tip: Stand as much as you can.

Tomorrow’s goal: Day 2 of the Couch to 5k app with an ab workout

One more thing…

The other posts on this blog were for one of my master’s classes. They are mostly related to new emerging media and the advertising landscape. Feel free to peruse those if you’re interested as well.

Welcoming 2014!

As the first post to this updated blog, I will keep it short. Starting today I will try to blog everyday regarding my journey back to a healthier lifestyle. As I mention in my “About” section, I have recently joined Planet Fitness. One of my goals is to exercise more and that was the best way to start. I had a slow start at the gym this week. There were a lot of people so my equipment choices were limited. Since I wanted to read, I went with the elliptical and did 30 minutes (2 miles). This was a quick workout for me but I plan to build on it each day. Just getting to the gym everyday will be a struggle BUT it is something I need to and will do. Part of my idea for getting “Back to the Basics” is to find a way to exercise everyday.

Each of my posts will have a tip and a goal. This is to help anyone reading and following along, as well as myself. My tips and goals will be simple but achievable. I think it is important to keep a positive mind and achieving my goals will definitely help. Good luck to everyone and thanks for reading.

Today’s tip: Substitute at least one soda or sugary drink for a glass of water (currently, I am trying to cut soda out of my diet)

Tomorrow’s goal: Go to the gym in the morning, start the “Couch to 5k” program

Dancing, Dancing, Dancing: She’s a dancing machine!

Coca Cola is pushing the boundaries of marketing. They have taken technology and mixed it with dancing as a means of marketing.

Coca Cola has taken the Microsoft Kinect technology and put it into their vending machines. So instead of paying for a drink, you have to dance for it! They tried this at a movie theater in South Korea and it was a hit. The more accurate the dance moves, the more free Cokes you get. As you can see in the video below, a crowd gathers quickly around the vending machine. This is a great way to raise brand awareness.

This is a whole new type of consumer interaction. Coca Cola has found a popular way to get their consumers involved in their brand. It also involves other versions of emerging media such as gaming and celebrity endorsements. The game follows the moves of a popular boy band in South Korea, 2PM.

Coca Cola also takes advantage of our natural need for competition. Clearly, everyone standing at this vending machine wants a shot to earn more Cokes than the person for them. It also attracts a very wide range of people, thus leading to a larger audience.

I think this is brilliant and would absolutely join in the fun if they placed them here in America.

What about you? Would you dance for FREE Cokes?

To Infinity and Beyond!

Red Bull just hosted an amazing and historical event. Felix Baumgartner successfully jumped from 128,000 feet (about 24 miles) above Earth.  This record-breaking jump can be seen here.

Prior to this jump, the record for a freefall jump above Earth was 102,800 feet. Here is a list of records broken on this jump:

–          Highest jump from a platform (128,100 feet)

–          Longest distance freefall (119,846 feet)

–          Maximum vertical velocity (833.9mph or Mach 1.24)

A digital record was also broken. It broke YouTube’s live stream with most concurrent views record coming in at over 8 million people tuning in to see the fall. Red Bull effectively marketed this event through social media. They used Facebook to drive engagement and views of the live showing they had event. They also used it to focus on the advancements and challenges of the mission as well as the scientific data they will collect. This was an obvious success based on the broken YouTube record.

Due to the event and within the last week, Red Bull has added 180,000 subscribers to its YouTube Channel. They were also able to broadcast the jump live through partnering television stations. These were established by Red Bull Media House.

This 5 year process literally made history and Red Bull has broken down walls for the marketing world. They turned the social media world upside down and expanded the marketing possibilities. In my opinion, Red Bull has changed the face of publicity stunts. They have turned them into marketing tools and they will no longer be thought of as a cheap way to gain awareness.

Congratulations Red Bull, marketing as we know it is gone and I expect nothing less than this for companies to come. That’s what I call raising the bar!

To view the head camera version of the jump, click here.

Please let me know what you think! Comment below.

 

1 Billion, 2 Billion, 3 Billion, MORE!

Facebook hit 1 billion users a month, last Thursday October 4^th. That is a HUGE step for the social media giant. But a better number to look at is the number of friendships made on the site.

According to Chris Taylor of Mashable.com, there are 140.3 billion friendships on Facebook. That essentially means we each have, on average, 140.3 friendships each. Peer opinion and influence is a huge factor on social media sites so maintaining that average number of friendships is important. It means people are bringing people to the site. They are actively using Facebook and turning it into a marketplace of friends.

As marketers, this is essential. Consumers look to their friends for opinions on products or brands. This is why Google and Bing have started incorporating social media into their search engines.  It is not often people willingly post something that will be disliked by their friends on Facebook. Most people want their status to be “liked” or “shared”. That is the whole point behind sharing it in the first place. I think marketers need to start/keep evaluating what their consumers are doing on other people’s profiles, not just their own. The interaction between friends can tell just as much about a person as the information they are posting themselves. You never know what picture or post you may be tagged in.

What do you think? Do you think marketers could find out more about you by looking at how you interact with your friends? 

Also if you like my post, please share it!

Buzz, Buzz, Buzz goes the Bee

Building buzz about your brand is important and it does not have to be difficult. Creating buzz online is all about the conversation. It is “word-of-mouth 2.0”.  Consumers like products that have been shared or recommended by their peers. This is why Google and Bing have started incorporating social media posts in their search results. Here are a few tips I have found that work for building buzz.

First: Join social media

It seems obvious but is the best way to start. As of September 2012, there were 950 million users on Facebook alone. In June 2012, Twitter passed 500 million users. There is bound to be a set of people on either of those sites interested in your brand. Also try sites like LinkedIn and Google +.

Second: Keep it simple

If there is one lesson I learned through all of my advertising classes and experience, it is to keep it simple. Not all consumers are at the same level so the simpler the content and message, the better. Since the number of messages has increased due to the Internet, consumers need to be able to remember yours. Short and sweet. No fluff needed.

Third: Make it memorable

To go along with the above, your message should stand out among the rest. Add some personality to break through all the clutter.

Fourth: Make it your own

The best thing you can do is create something that is your own. Do not try to do what others are doing. It is good to keep an eye on the competition but do that and learn from their mistakes. Find what works well for you that doesn’t work for your competition.

Lastly and if possible, give it out for FREE!

According to Malcolm Faulds of Advertising Age, Free samples are always good. If they have something they have not tried, it could be a conversation starter. Conversation is what it is all about. It starts that connection between you, the brand and the consumer. They could also be conversation cues. A hat or a sticker could be the perfect accent to a brand conversation starter.

To sum it up, join social media and keep the messages simple. Make it memorable but make it your own and if possible, give it away. These are just a few ways I have found that work to build buzz. It’s a start at least.

Let me know if you have any other suggestions. I would love to add to my list.

Get Schooled on YouTube

While researching this week’s assignment on mobile advertising, I came across this app. It is an educational game for Scholastic. The app is called Sushi Monster. It teaches common core math skills and was created by Blackdot. It has different levels of addition and multiplication. Kids can build and correct equations to feed the monster. This is just one type of emerging media used for educational purposes.

This app though is obviously for home use but it reminded me of a conversation I had with my mother. She is a teacher and I asked her why her school bans YouTube. I understand the main reason, because anyone can post anything, but there are so many education videos and tools on it, it would be helpful. This brought me to a new search and I stumbled upon YouTube for Schools.

 

It is a new tool that allows teachers to access educational material while limiting non-educational content. Integrating videos into education can spark new conversation and build engagement within the classroom.

An example of this is the Chicago Public School systems. They recently lifted the ban on YouTube to expand digital learning in the classroom. According to the New York Times, this allows students to explore the site safely and teachers are able to privately store and share their information as well.

Switching the classroom to digital technology is at the benefit of the school and they should take advantage of it. As a college student, YouTube videos were a huge help and professors used them in class often. Since the world is going digital, it would only make sense for classrooms and education to benefit from it.