It’s that time of year again, and I’m ready to dive into yet another fitness challenge for Spring Cleaning. And like always, I am pretty confident I’ll succeed this time. This is the Year of Action, after all.
In 2026, I’ve been pushing myself a bit harder to accomplish quite a few things. I think it has a bit to do with my turning 50 in July and not having accomplished a lot of major goals. Well, aside from publishing three books and going back to school.
So, I’ve decided to dial up the effort and make a few things happen before I hit the half-century mark.
Why the Spring Cleaning Challenge?
In reality, I thought using the term “Spring Cleaning” was somewhat clever, considering when this challenge will be wrapping up. But I also thought about how this would be a great time to essentially clean up my diet and exercise routines for the rest of the year.
Creating good habits takes time and motivation. By starting those habits in the spring, perhaps I can take them throughout the entire year. Of course, that really depends on my level of commitment to myself. As I said, though, I’m turning 50 soon, and I’d love to be in prime shape as I hit this milestone.
Why keep creating challenges that I wind up failing? Because I know in my heart I can finish one. For me, it’s better to attempt and fail than to never attempt at all. As the saying goes, “You’ll miss 100% of the shots you do not take.” I’ll keep taking those shots until I hit the target.
I’m not content to just give up. In fact, giving up would go against everything I stand for. Even if I complete a challenge, I’ll still create others to keep pushing the boundaries of what I can do. Maybe after this, I’ll create an abs challenge where I maintain a six-pack for six months.
Yeah, and I’m a Jehovah’s Witness, here to talk to you about your car’s extended warranty.
What Spring Cleaning Entails
The Spring Cleaning Fitness Challenge is quite similar to the challenges I’ve created for myself in the past. However, there are distinct differences that will set this one apart from the others.
In this challenge, I have specific goals I want to work on, other than just losing weight. I’ve discovered a few things about myself recently that I’d love to maintain and improve upon.
Reducing Average Carb Intake to 150g or Less
Over the last few challenges, I’ve found that having fewer than 150g of carbs every day is my sweet spot for weight loss. I don’t feel burned out from a lack of energy, I lose weight much quicker, and I don’t have to give up too many of the sweets that I enjoy.
I don’t believe in restricting yourself to the point of misery. But there needs to be a line drawn for maintaining a healthy weight and body. And yes, I love me some Reese’s.
I’m also focusing on the average carb intake for the week, not just per day. That’s because I know there will be days when the carb count will be off the charts, such as with birthdays. So, if I want cake and ice cream, I need to make sure I’m compensating throughout the rest of the week with fewer carbs.
Increase Protein Intake to 100g or More
Throughout most of my adult life, I haven’t been eating enough protein in the morning. I’m talking very little…like, 0g per morning for the past year or so. In reality, I probably get about 40 to 50g of protein per the entire day if I’m lucky.
Well, a few weeks ago, I decided to add more protein shakes to my breakfasts, and the results have been inspiring. I have more energy, am more focused, and am generally in a better mood throughout the entire day. The silly thing is that I knew that this would be the outcome. I just never put in the effort to make it happen.
That’s the point of all this, though – to build positive habits that become instinctual.
Increasing Physical Activity
I don’t just want to burn fat and lose weight. I also want to improve my physical prowess. Remember, I am getting older, and I don’t want to be one of those old men who can barely walk along the sidewalk with a cane.
Besides, there are a lot of physical activities I used to love in my 20s that I would like to get back into, if I’m capable. I’m not sure if I can round the bases as I did at 22, but I know I still have power behind my swing.
Anyway, dialing up physical activity is going to involve some kind of movement, whether it’s hitting the golf course or taking a two-mile walk. That’s where the points on the spreadsheet below come into play.
The point system I’ve developed relies heavily on physical activity. The more active I am, the more points I earn. I’m also aiming for a minimum of 10,000 steps per day, or 70,000 steps for the week.
The total number of points each week is the primary metric. The goal is to keep this number green throughout the entire 12-week Spring Cleaning challenge. Although I’ll still work on keeping everything on the spreadsheet green, the total points field is where the magic happens.
Keeping the Points Green, Or Else!
I am driven more by consequence than by reward. I don’t know if that’s because I’m Gen X or what, but I care more about avoiding consequences than rewarding myself.
If I want something, I’ll just get it.
The consequences for me are doing anything embarrassing during the live streams for Crossing Colorado’s podcast. For instance, I had to go shirtless in one episode and wear nothing but my tiger boxes in another. Keep in mind that it’s still YouTube. There are guidelines we still need to address.
Anyway, as I am an extreme prude, according to friends and family, those are consequences that strike extreme fear in my heart. Since I try to stick to my word as much as possible, they are consequences that push me to achieve my weekly goals.
Well, except for the two that I failed. But I learned never to procrastinate my goals ever again!
We’re actually getting the audience involved now by having them think of embarrassing things for me to do if I don’t succeed each week. There is still a line we can’t cross on YouTube, so it can’t be too extreme. But the idea of something like wearing a corset for the whole show makes me…uneasy. Perhaps the girls can do my makeup on camera. Those kinds of things make my skin crawl and are extremely motivating.
Getting Back to the Gym
One of the major points of the Spring Cleaning Fitness Challenge is to develop a habit of getting back to the gym. I’ve been slacking for the past year and truly miss going to Planet Fitness in the mornings.
Lifting weights is also part of the point system I talked about earlier. So, the more I lift, the more points I get. However, cardio activity is just as valuable in this case, as I am working to lose weight and build stamina.
It’s still worth it to crank out 60 reps on the ab crunch machine, though. Points are points.
Perhaps the next challenge will focus more on weight lifting, but let’s just get through this one without failing.
Breaking Personal Records Weekly
Each week, I’m going to focus on breaking one of my personal records. I use Exercise.com to keep track of these, but I am currently looking for a better app.
Anyway, I have a lot of bodyweight exercise records I’d like to set. Not to mention breaking some of the weight-lifting records I have. But this is more of an incidental goal, and not necessarily a driving force behind the Spring Cleaning Fitness Challenge.
Perhaps a future challenge will center on shattering personal records each week. Maybe a “Record Breaking Summer” challenge?
Collecting the Data – Obviously
Like always, I am using a spreadsheet to collect the data of how I am performing throughout the challenge. The idea is to not only show results, but also collect data that may help in future challenges, personal strategies, or even a few blog posts on what works best.
The boxes that are the default “white” are estimations. Anything colored light blue is a box that has actual recorded data. Although there shouldn’t be any red on the sheet, these are times when no data was recorded for whatever reason.
The ultimate goal is to not have any red numbers on any week throughout the challenge.
What Can I Do to Myself in 12 Weeks?
The motivation behind completing a challenge is quite strong this time. Not only am I turning 50, but I’ve also given 2026 the theme of “The Year of Action.” That means taking action to make things happen while getting rid of habits that aren’t conducive to success.
So far, things have been going great from the perspective of my writing and blogging. Let’s hope that the fitness challenge has the same energy as my latest book writing.
Challenges are a great way to test your limits and see just what you’re capable of doing. That is, as long as you put in maximum effort to make things happen. And I’m going to push myself to finish the Spring Cleaning Fitness Challenge and break some personal records.
Again, it’s one thing to say what you’re going to do, but it’s another to actually do it. That’s what this year is all about: taking action.
Let’s see what happens when I put in as much effort into health and fitness as I do with writing.
About Author
May the Fourth be with you, my friend.
I’m on it!