Move Smart! Make Time for Family Health and Fitness Day
Saturday, Sept. 24 is the 2011 Family Health and Fitness Day. Now in its 15th year, this event encourages families to make time for regular physical activity and promotes healthy lifestyles.
Local organizations throughout the U.S. will be sponsoring this event, which was created by the Heath Information Resource Center, a national consumer health information clearing house.
Family-oriented events will be held at local community locations like YMCAs, shopping malls, schools, local parks and churches. Most programs will involve family activities like exercise demonstrations and walking activities along with educational programs such as health fairs, health screenings, workshops and/or open houses.
To find out what events are available in your area, check your local newspaper or TV station. Or you can request a list of activities in your area by emailing Family Health and Fitness Day at info@fitnessday.com.
If you don’t attend an organized event, you can still celebrate by taking a family walk or bike ride, talking about the importance of going outside to play and preparing a healthy meal together. Commit to making physical activity a regular part of everyone’s day.
Back on track
Lacie Lyons (Consumer Participant)
Last week I knew I had derailed completely. I faced the scale and took a deep breath. Up 8lbs in 2 weeks. Another deep breath. And another. Alright, I knew it was there, and I knew I had tried to cope with something I couldn’t control by eating.
Time to get back on track.
And that’s exactly what I did this week.
I forgave myself. Reminded myself I am an athlete in training and deserved to be loved and treated as such. I hopped back into my training. I drank a lot of water in between meals. I chewed gum. I sucked on sugar free mints. I worked on tasks that kept me out of the kitchen. I needed to stay distracted from food when it wasn’t meal time, so I did what I had to do.
We had a great weekend, going to Sussex for the Balloon Fiesta. We packed snacks for the kids (vegan & gluten free isn’t easy to come by at concession stands) but not for us. USUALLY this isn’t a big deal. I can often find a Lebanese vendor or some such with falafel or veggie pitas or something. (I am a vegetarian) This year…. the only vegetarian options were fries, popcorn or pretzels. I opted for fries. I didn’t stress about it. I just remembered that I wasn’t going to binge all week and I was back on track.
I got out for my 20K walk/run on Sunday. I couldn’t find a path that I wanted to do that was long, so I opted for a short 5K to a school with a keyhole driveway that is a 500m loop with a nice small uphill grade. I did the loop 20 times before heading back. Since 20 times in a circle is VERY boring, I added some variety by alternately running the loop once then walking it once, and changing directions after every set of 2 loops. Setting myself up for success also meant making sure I did my walks in the morning during weekdays so I couldn’t procrastinate in the evenings. I sent out my appointment emails letting everyone know I wasn’t available until noon through the week (yay for working for yourself). Off I went! Even took my kids with me to my hills training (they love doing hills with us for some reason). I followed my training schedule and got myself back on track.
I didn’t beat myself up and tell myself “I hate myself”. I didn’t say “well just this once”. I didn’t say “who cares, no one will notice”. I said “I love feeling good”, “I need to take care of myself”, “I CARE! I NOTICE”.
I kept forgetting to download my steps onto walkingspree until tonight. (I honestly put it on and forget its there, don’t even check how I am doing…which is why I don’t notice when the battery dies!).
Wow, what a treat!
Out of the last 7 days I had over 10,000 steps on 5 days! It averaged out to 13,377 steps a day! I had 499 minutes of aerobic steps and had walked 44.40 miles!! That’s 71kilometers!
WOOHOO! I did it! I got myself back on track!
Get it in where you can fit it in!
Rene’ Brown (CNO Participant)
Last week I blogged about Walkingspree not being a competition and some comments about the blog – written or oral – was that healthy competition is a good thing, setting goals are great, and setting destinations are fantastic to get more steps. Sure you’re right!
Although I was fixated (not happily) on how I compared to other pedometer walkers and pretty much beat myself up for not clocking more steps, I realized at the end of the day that I didn’t do so badly. I only missed one day when I did not reach my 10,000 step goal. As a matter of fact the two lowest step count days were 7K and 10,201. And the four highest days ranked between 12,120 and 20,336. When I looked back I was pleased, but I still long to compete with the higher ranking walkers.
My competitive edge caused me to increase my personal Walkingspree daily step count goal by an additional 2,000 steps – going from 10 to 12K, my aerobic steps goal from 5K to 6K and I added one more mile to my miles goal. Hey, I’m competitive, but realistic so setting a goal higher than this at this particular time would be setting myself up for disappointment and on those days when I do reach 20K – I’ll still be happily above my low level target.
To reach the new goal, my motivational level will also need to increase not to mention a level of commitment, time management and prioritizing my day. But how do I do that?
I try to start my day about an hour earlier and clock the newly added 2K steps before I even take my morning shower….Hush up…it takes me about 15 minutes just to get out of bed. Hopefully I’ll get up sooner than later despite the fact that day light savings time (fall back) is just around the corner and will mean walking in the dark of the morning. I’m thinking that I can’t miss a day because it will be hard as ever to get back on that early morning horse especially since winter is fast approaching.
My afternoons are already consumed by long walks and I set destination points to fill up my lunch hour and I usually clock between 7K and 9K at that time. In addition, I take walk breaks to stretch my legs and get the blood circulating later in the afternoon and I participate at the gym at least four times a week. Lunch time Zumba is great! It usually yields between 6 and 7K- depending on how hard I “bum bum bum bum” it out!
I have also incorporated ways to get those extra 2,000 steps in the evening…
With my second gig, my days are pretty long – but instead of sitting in the car, or in the homes of my clients for their visits – I have been getting the kids to take walks with me. If at least one kid walks with me about five blocks up and five blocks back (there’s my extra mile). If daylight allows and there are no unforeseen circumstances I can get in up to four miles per work night.
Since I don’t get home until late and well after dark even during the summer months, I get a lot of flack about walking alone at night, so on nights when I don’t take my clients out for walks, I could participate with the “On Demand” programs that have some really good workouts that will aid me in gaining more pedometer steps including but not limited to Latin, Hip Hop and Belly dance routines and range anywhere from 10 to 30 minute programs. Then again…there is that Michael Jackson Wii dance game.
Ups and Downs
Jennifer Carruth, IEEE Participant
Hi Walkers! Now that I have hit my first 50 pound mark, I have to set my mind to the next half and how I can accomplish my final goal. My first step in the second half is to see my Doctor next week. Before starting to lose weight I had a full physical and I told her that I wanted to “lose some weight” – again. I had been saying this to her every time that I have seen her since the very first time about ten years ago. We would always discuss how to do it, how much I probably should lose, why it would be good for me…..and I never did it. She is great and encouraging and informative…and I liked to sit around and eat. I told her I had been walking with a pedometer for about a year and that I was still line dancing once a week and she encouraged me to step those up and I promised to do it – again.
About a week after I saw her I received my blood tests in the mail with her notes on them. For the first time my cholesterol was into the high zone. My weight was the highest it had ever been and I was finally ready to stop what I was doing and take my health seriously. This is when I added Weight Watchers and started increasing my daily step goal by 1000 steps a day each week until it is at 10,000 most days. Instead of focusing on being skinny, I decided to be healthy. That is finally the mindset that has made it possible for me to take the weight off and get active. I never told my Doctor that I got serious. I’m sure that when she sees me next week that she will be pleasantly, and hugely, surprised. I want to make sure that I am losing in a healthy way so I’m sure there will be another blood test. I hope to see that my cholesterol will have gone back down to where it has been in the past. I’ll let you know how it goes.
I haven’t really hit any plateaus yet – knock on wood. Now that I’m at the halfway mark I expect that I will see them – so I really have to step up my game.
Last week I talked about trying out a bike at the store for the first time in many years. I went back and bought that beautiful sky blue bike and I love it! My brother Bob is an avid bike rider so he took me out this past Saturday for a ride around. I was thinking we would go for a trial ride…you know…maybe five miles and enjoy the scenery. Nope, we hopped on the Coyote Creek trail by our house. This is a cement riverbed that runs 10 miles and ends (with a switch to another riverbed) at The Beach. I put that in capitals, because The Beach always sounds so far away by bike when he talks about riding that far most weekends. I usually just laugh and think he is kind of crazy.
He kept encouraging me that I could do it and that we wouldn’t go all the way to the beach. It felt so awesome to speed along with the wind in my face! Did I mention that the wind was against us the entire first half of this adventure? It was. So we kept talking about how great it would be on the way home with the wind at our back pushing us quickly on our way. Didn’t happen. We went about 6 miles according to the mileage meter on his bike before we turned around. I wanted to go further, but I had to be realistic that we would have to come back. All the way back. When we turned, so did the wind and it was now coming at us sideways. Not cool, not cool at all. And did I mention that we had to go down and under cross streets? Yay! Speeding down that little hill (after I stopped being afraid and keeping my breaks on all the way) was so much fun! Until I had to go back UP the gigantic hill to get back to the flat area. Weird how all the downs were little and the ups were gigantic…seriously…who designed this thing? Well, maybe it was just me and my out of shape lungs. About this time Bob mentioned frozen yogurt and would I be interested in some. Um, yeah! It was hard to recognize landmarks from the trail, so I was really surprised that we were almost back. We hopped off the trail a few streets from where we started and ended at a yogurt shop where I enjoyed some non fat frozen goodness.
Some of that may have sounded like I didn’t have fun or that it was too hard. I was having the time of my life! I had forgotten just how much I enjoyed bike riding. I had really forgotten how much I love being outside and doing something for my body! We ended up going 13.3 miles on that first ride. I was shocked when he told me the distance because I honestly did not think that I had that in me. I really want to make it all the way to The Beach and back soon. I think that I can do it. I know that I can do it! And my pedometer did work – 5000 steps for that trip. The only time that I didn’t pedal was on those awesome downhill trips under the streets.
And now that I think back I guess the ups were the same size as the downs. I just have to work on it for a while to get them to feel that way.
The weekend after this I will be doing my next 5K for the heart association. I am so happy that there are opportunities to volunteer and get some exercise at the same time! And I plan to add kayaking soon! That will be another first for me. I am starting to be more confident that when the Susan G. Komen 3-Day for the Cure® walk comes in November that I will be ready for it!
Thanks for reading. Keep walking, biking, canoeing…whatever you like. But just KEEP MOVING : )
Lace-Buddies
Lacie Lyons (Consumer Participant)
This was the most stressful week I have endured in a very long time. My children started school today, like thousands and thousands of others. However, my eldest was starting middle school with challenges. My stress level was through the roof. I don’t think I could put it into words even if I had to.
I so badly wanted my blog entries to always be upbeat, about accomplishing great things and fantastic progress. This week, if I were to write that, it would be a lie…. this week was far from great, and suffered many falls. I decided I should share this week anyway, because, in reality, we all have rough patches, and sometimes, it really helps to know that someone else has been there too.
I haven’t gone to my weekly weigh-in… that’s tomorrow, but I know the news… It will say I have gained several pounds. They are not water retention, that time of the month, my clothes, or the scales being off. They will be honest pounds, gained because in trying to cope with something I did not know the outcome of and could not control, I tried to control something else… my feelings… I ate, not large 3 and 4 helpings, but continuously…. I will face the weigh in, and instead of beating myself up, which never helps, I will give myself what I really need… a hug… and remember that I have survived the stress and will be stronger for it.
I also found ways to avoid my training, doing only half of my walks scheduled. Claiming I was too busy… making excuses… My long 20km walk was supposed to be Saturday, however, somehow I made myself too busy, arranging get togethers with friends to keep myself occupied all day. While at a friend’s house Saturday evening, I was explaining how I was going to go for my 20km Sunday morning, at 7am, out at Killarney Lake, doing 8 loops of the 2.5km loop. Amanda expressed how much she would enjoy going with me, but couldn’t make it that early.
Fates decided that I really needed to get out and do my long… I slept through my alarm Sunday morning, and at 9:30am woke to a text from my friend, asking how my walk was going…. I was honest and told her I didn’t go, I was still in bed. Before I knew it, she had told me to come get her, and 20 minutes later I was out the door. Amanda came with me for my walk, talking, laughing, distracting me. It was longer than she was accustomed to, but because we were doing a loop, she was able to sit out and chill on the beach for the 3rd loop while I kept going. My strength this week didn’t come from my self-talk… it came from a friend who saw my need.
Amanda and I have shared this walking connection for a couple of years, many times we have drug the other out for a walk when they just weren’t up to it. There are no words to describe the connection friends have who share the bond of laces. They are the friends who not only share your joys and sorrows, laugh and cry with you, but they CARE about you, your mental health in a way that is very different from your coffee friends or your sewing-circle friends. Thank your lace-buddies, and reach out to others who may need a new lace-buddy. One of the most rewarding friendships you will ever have.
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