Ahhh Monday morning. I don’t have a gym membership until February 1st (It’s a long story, but ultimately I forgot to reapply even tho I got daily reminders for 9 days leading up to the deadline)so I found myself hitting snooze an extra time this morning, and why not, I have time….
Crap! Nope, I definitely don’t have time. Fast forward to 20 minutes until my bus comes. I have to shower, make a smoothie, do my hair, grab lunch, get dressed….did I forget anything? Keys? Check. Work pass. Check? Mascara? Check Check. Okay…let’s do this. As I run down the stairs on my way to catch the bus I realize my lunch is sitting on the counter. Do I go back for it and catch the next bus or press on? Without really thinking about it, I push open the back door of my condo stepping outside– at the same time thinking “Take a deep breath, you’re on time, you can raid your emergency cupboard at work and walk to the grocery store for a salad if you’re hungry”. And I do just that, I take a deep breath and immediately choke as the air burns my throat and lungs. It is a frigid -27 degrees outside and my lungs are protesting-Big time.
I make it to the bus. I sit down. And I laugh… there is no one else on the bus as this is the first stop, so I don’t seem completely insane, tho it’s possible the bus driver was a little worried for his safety. I might starve to death today because I forgot most of my food at home, but I remembered mascara and lip gloss. Apparently I have a fight, flight, or fashion disaster response and it’s obvious which one took precedence this morning. Oops.
None of that had anything to do with my REAL reason for this blog post tonight, but if you’ve been following my blog for any length of time, you know I enjoy a good ramble.
Onward to the good stuff—Goodlife is hosting a Spin 4 Kids event on MARCH 2nd to raise awareness for child obesity and encourage youth to get more active. 7 of my friends and I are doing this because it’s an opportunity to spend time together and workout as a group–nothing like a little friendly competition to encourage you to peddle a little harder and faster–while showing support for a great cause.
So many children are overweight and obese; it’s an epidemic that is slowly turning into the norm, and it’s killing our nation. Children who should find it easy to run around outside struggle to walk up and down a single flight of stairs without getting out of breath. It breaks my heart to stand in line behind a family where the 8 year old child is 20 lbs heavier than me. Of course the parents need to make better choices, but if kids have role models to look up to, and see exercise and activity as fun (much like video games appeal to them) I think we can help get them more active. As with all events of this nature we are required to raise money for the cause, and I am coming to you–dear reader–with a request and a promise. I promise to spin my absolute hardest if you will sponsor me. Actually, I promise to spin my hardest anyway because this is a cause I feel very strongly about…but i’d also really appreciate it if you donate.
To donate to me Click HERE
To Donate to my Team Click HERE (We’re team honey badger because we’re badass)
This season of The Biggest Loser has also taken the idea of child obesity pretty seriously. They have 3 child ambassadors on the show in hopes of appealing to a younger audience. I can’t remember the exact quote, but Bob Harper said that in order to get youth interested in exercise we have to choose activities that can be made fun. Did I play Nintendo as a child? I sure did, but did I also climb trees (or rather fall out of trees), run around with my dog, and spend hours outside usually searching for buried treasure? Uh…Yeah. You should know my parents would create weird fake treasure maps and give them to my sisters and I. The first one to find the treasure got a prize (actually we all got a prize but the winner got to pick theirs first). As a child–and a nerdy child at that–the idea that I could read an extra 30 minutes (my ultimate prize) ensured I ran around like a crazy person trying to figure out where the flag was buried before my sisters could find it. Now obviously my parents kicked us outside to get a break from the whining and fighting, but they also did us a favour by choosing an activity that appealed to us AND ensured we got lots of exercise. Brilliant.
Today’s post has been brought to you by nostalgia, a love for spinning, and a nerdy childhood fascination with ‘The hardy boys’. If you feel strongly about educating parents on the importance of exercise for their kids, getting youth involved with fun activities, AND want an epic blog post recounting the events of March 2nd –the day my butt dies– then please take the time to follow the link and donate! If you decide to donate, please drop me a line so that I can stop by your blog (if you have one) and thank you. I appreciate any and all support.
Spin Bikes and Opaque Tights 