the notebook
The 100 Point Challenge
A couple weeks ago, I was introduced to a new way to challenge my friends to get healthy. It's called the 100 Point Challenge and was shown to me by Coach Laura. It's a simple challenge that works on the honor system and can be modified as needed. This is how we'll be tracking the challenge I talked about previously.
The basics
The 100 Point Challenge goes for one month. If you'd like you can continue the challenge again for as long as you want. Every month, each participant starts with 100 points and the goal is to end each month with the most points.
Rules of the road
Like darts, this challenge is a game of subtraction. One point is subtracted from a participant's total each time:
- a workout is missed
- a meal is missed (more info on meals & eating)
- a "cheat" or "bad" meal/snack is eaten
- a daily update is missed (Twitter, your blog, email, forum post, etc.)
You cannot add points to your total by doing more. If you've lost a point it's gone forever.
Why would I do this?
Competition is an excellent way to make the mundane exciting, hold yourself accountable, and push yourself to new levels. Let's say you've done all your workouts and eaten properly at every meal (with maybe the odd slip here or there) for a month. If you end up with 95 or more points, you're going to be ripped! It's also going to be 10 times easier to do it again, which will get you even more ripped!
Helpful tips
You can start tracking your progress at any time and participants don't necessarily have to start at the same time (but it does make everything easier if you do). Posting daily updates is a very important part to the success of the 100 Point Challenge. It's the main way to track progress and determine who the winner is. You're all getting healthier, so really, everyone is a winner.
All updates should be posted at the end of the current day or the next day. Here are some daily update examples (borrowed from Laura's post):
Aug 3: I did my cardio and ate all meals as scheduled. -0 points [100 points]
Aug 4 : My car broke down and I missed my back workout. I walked to Burger King for dinner and had an unscheduled cheat meal. -2 points [98 points]
Aug 5: I missed my cardio today, but ate all meals as scheduled. -1 point [97 points]
Aug 6:
Aug 7: I missed yesterday's update, but I did my delts and traps workout yesterday, and ate all meals as scheduled (including my scheduled cheat meal). Today I did my cardio, ate all meals as scheduled and did my leg workout. -1 point [96 POINTS]
For Twitter I'm including the "100points" hashtag (e.g., July 24: Good day. Had a drink and fried onions -2 [98] #100points)
How to get involved
If you're interested in starting a 100 Point Challenge send an email, post on my coaching forum thread or send me a message on Twitter (@healthierme or direct message) and let me know when you'd like to start.
