Contest 1: Get Moving
One thing all my aspirations and dreams for the future have in common is the assumption that I will be physically and mentally capable of living them. Sometimes we take for granted that the body and mind we have today are the ones we will wake up with tomorrow. Through disease, accident, or neglect, the strength and agility we enjoy today can deteriorate to the point where it is, at the least, very difficult to recover. Though we cannot prevent every disease or accident from happening, we can do our best to eat a healthy diet and exercise regularly to stave off some ailments.
I have been lax in my workouts so far in 2010. If I exercise twice, I am having a good week. I have no doubt that this is contributing to my inability to fight off the stress at work, affecting my relationships, and generally taking a toll on my health. I want to get back into the regular routine I had last year, in which I worked out for at least an hour, four to five times a week. I felt great then and I want to feel great now.
I want to be able to live and enjoy my new endings.
Normally, I prefer to exercise alone but was thinking yesterday that it would be more fun to be doing this with a group of friends for support and encouragement. Perhaps I was influenced by the fervor of the Olympics, but I do believe if exercise needs to be anything, it needs to be fun. So I have decided to offer a contest! The rules are easy:
- For the month of March, contestants agree to try to exercise at least three times per week, for at least 20 minutes per session. Exercising four times a day, five minutes each, does not count. Neither does exercising forty minutes at one session count as exercising twice. We are all on the honor system here.
- Exercise can be anything that inspires you and elevates your heart rate, whether that is a team sport, a class at the gym, walking the dog, playing tag with the kids, whatever. You do what you love.
- Note: If you can drink beer or eat nachos while doing it, it is NOT exercise.
- Every Monday in March, we will meet back here to compare notes and contestants will leave a comment as to whether or not they reached the exercise goal.
- Following the last Monday in March, I will put the names of all the contestants in a spreadsheet and let the Random Number Generator tell me which line contains the winner's name. For every week a contestant commented that they were successful in exercising at least three times for twenty minutes, they get their name entered once. So, if they were successful each week in March, their name would be entered four times.
- Further incentive: If a contestant comments and says they exercised more than the three times that week, their name will go in the spreadsheet once more for every time over the three that they exercised that week. So, for example, if a contestant worked out five times in a week, their name would go in the list three times: once for completing the original goal of three times, then again for the fourth and again for the fifth workout that week. Sweet deal, right?
- The winner will receive their choice of either a $50 gift card to Amazon (for workout gear, perhaps?) or iTunes (never underestimate the importance of workout music). If the winner is outside the US and I am not able to go to their local site and order the gift card easily, I will transfer $50 to their PayPal account.
- Everyone else wins the knowledge that they did something great for themselves in March and hopefully gains a routine that they can carry forward into the months to come.
Everyone is welcome to participate, whether they have not exercised in decades or workout religiously. I will post each Monday on my progress and look forward to hearing from all of you. The goal is that we will all support each other through the month.
Sound good? Okay, maybe the exercise part does not sound so great yet but $50 is good, right? Trust me, twenty minutes of exercise is not a very long time. We can all do this. More importantly, we need to do this. Who is with me?
Still not convinced? Read below.
* * *
I have spent years volunteering in long-term care facilities in the area. It was crushing to me to learn that a good number of the residents were not seniors, as you might expect, but people not much older than I. One man I friended had been afflicted with countless diseases and ailments that left him weak and unable to stand most of the time. He always complimented me on the way I walked (he said I had good posture) and told me over and over again to never take it for granted. If he could have been offered one last wish, I think it would have been to spend one more day in the summer sun, tending to his garden. He was 48 and would never have that opportunity again.
One woman I met was celebrating her birthday just two months before me; we were born the same year. Due to her obesity, she had not been able to walk for well over a decade. Her knees, her ankles, her feet, could not support her body. She was suffering from diabetes and a weak heart. She had never been taught how to read or write so her brain was not getting the stimulation it needed either, so her mental faculties were declining as well. She was 43 at the time I met her and she was basically just waiting to die.
Let's heed the advice of my friend and not take our health for granted. Let's get moving!
contest, healthy living, new endings in About My Day 
Reader Comments (23)
This exteral motivation and accountability is EXACTLY what I need. Count me in!
I'm in!! I am the least motivated person on the planet, so this is wonderful!! Thanks Debra!!
A suggestion - is it worth having a join spreadsheet type thing (thinking google docs or similar) where everyone who registers can see the progress of others? Or are you thinking to kinda publish an update every week?
As the NaNoWriMo motivational technique suggests, there is nothing quite like personal shame and humilation in front of your fellows to spur you on. Oh wait, this is supposed to be positive, isn't it? Okay, that may be a step too far :)
Either way, can I have a process map for this, I am not sure how it is going to work *ducks and runs away*
Oh yes, count me in!
I'm in. Perfect timing.
I'm in. Definitely.
I'm in.
Thanks for the extra incentive! Came to your blog via secondhandKarl!
Yay! What a great group! Meet you back here on Monday with our results. Good luck, everyone!
José: I'll get right to work on that process map. *eye roll*
tokenblogger: Sorry, I don't know how to turn my font upside down but I am glad you're here! Any friend of Karl's is a rock star, in my book. Welcome!
Im in if you allow relatives
Natalee: Of course you're welcome! It's not a party until my favorite niece has arrived!
I'm in too, if you'll have me.
Join us, Bren! The more, the merrier!
I'm going to try it too.
Yay, Kim!
Your only niece
This is a wonderful idea!!!
Although I have to disagree, I could - in theory - drink beer while exercising. hehe I am all about exercising alone and have exercise equipment in my tiny apartment rather than a dining table. My favorite is my recumbent bike, my laptop balances on the handlebars so I can race away while either getting some work done or reading blogs, etc. It's one of the few things that makes it all tolerable: the ability to distract myself. And it works REALLY well. I promise myself 30 minutes and an hour goes by and I barely notice. This is a great idea. Goodluck to everyone!
Count me in.
Woo hoo! This is a really good group!
Natalee: Yes, but you misunderstood. Of ALL the nieces in ALL the land, you are my favorite. :)
3/3 days completed!
I did 4 days of weight lifting 30 mins each time. 2 days of speed training 45 mins each day. And, one day of track practice for an hour. Found out that track isn't my thing.