The Druid's Aquatic Form (World of Warcraft, (C) Blizzard Entertainment)

If you’ve spent much time perusing the gaming aisle or the sci-fi section of your local media emporium, you’ve no doubt noticed the high concentration of military bad-asses featured prominently therein. From the Halo series to Gears of War and Call of Duty to much of Robert Heinlein and John Ringo’s oeuvre (heck, even the Jedi were an elite fighting force), there is no shortage of hand-picked combat troops blowing the bejeezus out of things. Oftentimes, it’s not just the run of the mill Army or Navy enlisted folks, either – it’s the creme de la creme, the various flavors of  Special Forces.

There’s no way the likes of us could qualify to do that sort of stuff… or is there?

Badwater Road, Death Valley (courtesy of Wikimedia)

One of the subjects that came up in our interview with Elizabeth Bear was the Eowyn Challenge – hiking in the footsteps of our friends from Middle Earth on their journey. Oddly enough, not everyone wants to go to Mordor. I hear the Orcs are lovely this time of year, though….

Instead, some folks have given it their own spin, and I’m not just saying that because they’re putting their exercise bikes where their motivation is. Mike talked about walking across the United States, from Tampa to Seattle – probably for the coffee, or maybe to get hit with a thrown fish (not to be confused with getting slapped with one).

So, where else are people pedaling off to in the name of healthy motivation?

Advertising Fail courtesy of the Fail Blog

If you’ve watched television at all in the last 10 years or so you are most likely familiar with the name Jared Fogel, and if not you’d likely recognize him if you saw a picture. Jared is “the Subway guy.” For those of you who are not familiar with his admittedly impressive story, the Reader’s Digest version is that back in 1997 Jared lost an incredible amount of weight by following what he termed “The Subway Diet.” The diet program in and of itself was pretty simple. Jared, who had been consuming what he estimates as nearly 10,000 calories a day, replaced two of his meals with six inch sandwiches from Subway’s “7 under 6″ menu (sandwiches with a total of less than six grams of fat). He also walked pretty much everywhere and added other types of exercise on top of that. In the end he managed to lose over 240 pounds, and when the advertising executives at Subway caught wind of his success they hired him as a spokesman. That move turned out to be a smashing success for the restaurant chain, and Jared has been associated with them ever since.

While many restaurants have tried to duplicate the success that Subway had marketing themselves as a diet-friendly fast food alternative there is little doubt that Subway has remained the uncontested king of the healthy lifestyle hill.  So far they’ve managed to fight off all other pretenders to their throne, but it looks like they may be facing a new challenge from a fairly unlikely source.

Taco Bell.

We love demotivational posters, but is this leading you astray?

A lot of people have a drinking problem, and by that, I don’t mean an excessive fondness for beer, or a chronic case of pouring their beverage somewhere other than their mouth. The problem is two-fold; one, they’re not drinking enough to stay hydrated, and two, they’re not sure what they should drink to do so.

From fancy sports drinks to plain old tap water, there are a lot of options to reach for during and after exercise. Which is the best choice? Does it even matter?

Probably not the best choice in a workout partner.

Having a partner in crime when you exercise is almost always a good idea. It’s that “almost” facet that the authors of a new book, Influencer: The Power to Change Anything examine. Joseph Grenny, author of Influencer, says, “Our research shows our friends have enormous influence over our success – whether for better or worse. The trick is knowing who to spend time with and who to ignore as you try to accomplish your goals.”

This notion of having to distance yourself from people who will detract from your health and wellness goals is tricky to address.  Whether these folks actively impede your efforts with criticism or undermine them with enabling (or re-enabling) bad habits, they’re not doing you any favors. The closer the folks are – such as members of your family or partner – the harder this can be. However, fitness is by its very nature a little bit selfish – you’re making yourself healthier, and nobody else can do that for you.

Since it’s creeping up on resolution time (and I don’t mean 1920×1080), it might be a good idea to begin thinking about how your interactions with various people contribute to (or detract from) reaching your goals. It might also be an opportunity to consider which role you might be playing for the folks around you – maybe you’re an inspiration, or maybe you’re a warning. In either case, here are some suggestions for setting yourself up to succeed as the calendar prepares to flip over.