Join the President’s Challenge

In June, I joined “The President’s Challenge” with some of my co-workers, in an effort to keep myself active. The President’s Challenge is a program through the President’s Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition that encourages all Americans to make being active part of their everyday lives.

I work out every day, so why not keep track? I started inputting my workouts – you select what you’ve done each day from a list of “approved” activities, input the length of time you did it and the level (ie light, moderate, vigorous) and you get awarded a number of points based on that. As my numbers went up and I saw the number value associated with different workouts, I started trying to increase my daily points. I started wearing a pedometer and keeping track of the amount of activities I did that I normally wouldn’t consider “working out” but are President’s Challenge Activities, like household chores, gardening and playing with my two-year-old – which falls under “children’s games.” As begun adding in those activities, my daily points skyrocketed and on July, I got my first Presidential Champion Award – the “Active Lifestyle Award” for being active at least 30 minutes a day, five days a week for six straight weeks.

After that, I changed my goal to “Presidential Champions,” which is aimed at adults or kids who are already physically active and is all about pushing yourself to be even more active. It’s a great program for those who already exercise regularly or as a next step for beginners who complete the Presidential Active Lifestyle Award challenge. You points carry over from PALA and on Aug. 8, I received the “Bronze Award” for accumulating 40,000 points, and on Oct. 24, I earned my Silver Award for 90,000 points. I am now 58.1 percent of the way to a Gold Award, which I will receive if and when I accumulate 160,000 points.

Now, I know it might seem a little silly to some that I hung these awards in my office – the actual bronze and silver medals, a la the Olympics. But you know what? I’m proud of myself – I really do work out at least five days a week, mostly at the gym here at Hunter, and I don’t make excuses for not going to the gym. In this past year, I’ve made working out a priority in my life and I feel great about that. I’ve lost 15-20 pounds, I’ve put on muscle and in general, I just feel a lot better about myself. I used to work out every day, but once I got married and had a child, working out just seemed to fall by the wayside. After I put on a lot of weight when I was pregnant and didn’t lose much right after, I had a really tough time looking in the mirror and feeling good about myself. I became insecure, which is something I’d always prided myself on not being. I had an infant, worked a lot, had a 2 hour round-trip commute to work … and I used those as excuses for not going to the gym. Was I busy? Absolutely; but I also wasn’t taking the time to work on me and I was using every excuse I had to not workout. I truly believe in the power of working out and, in retrospect, I think that not working out made me somewhat depressed (due to lack of those amazing endorphins), which made me not want to work out … and it became a vicious cycle.

Once I started working at Hunter last Thanksgiving, which is less than 10 miles from my house, I took the opportunity to get back to the active lifestyle I’d had in my “previous life.” The President’s Challenge is a great way for me – and everyone – to continue to be active, and gives me a goal to strive for. Many people, myself included, need motivation on those days where we just don’t feel like working out – we are tired, or it’s raining or our back hurts. For me, the President’s Challenge gives me some motivation – I know which activities give me the most points, and I try to get as many point in my allotted “workout time” as I can. I input my points each day, and I hate having days where I don’t have exercise to record. Basically, the President’s Challenge is the accountability I need.

No matter what your activity and fitness level, the President's Challenge can help motivate you to improve. Start earning Presidential awards for your daily physical activity and fitness efforts, go to www.presidentschallenge.org.

Find what works for you

Can you have fun while working out? I never thought it was possible. I worked out regularly most of my life, but it was always a necessary evil. I always felt great after, thanks to all those endorphins charging through my body, and of course I enjoyed the physical benefits, but I never enjoyed the actual act of exercising.

Until about a year and a half ago.

Post-baby, once I was cleared to start working out again, I walked into the gym near my home, unsure of where to go. I hadn’t really worked out in about a year, and I was suffering from exercise anxiety. My body wasn’t in a shape I was used to, my cardiovascular strength was nowhere near the ideal level, and I wasn’t even sure where to start.

As I walked down the hallway to the large fitness room, I looked straight ahead and saw the cardio machines and people huffing and puffing on them, running, walking or gliding at their own rate, and suddenly my heart sped up – I hadn’t run in more than a year, and even the elliptical looked intimidating to me. As I turned to the right, the weights of nautilus machines were going up and down with and I could hear the grunts of people lifting free weights. I looked down at my arms, sapped of most of their strength, and with trepidation I turned away.

Next, I peered into a dimly-lit space just off the weight room and heard music and yelling; an instructor yelled “Level 5 – sprints! Go, go, GO!” and the class turned the dial on their spinner bikes and rose out of the bike seat. I watched the intensity and puttered away to cower in the corner – that room was not for me in the shape I was in.

As I was losing what little confidence I walked into the gym with, I heard more music coming from down the hall, accompanied by cheering and clapping. I walked toward the door and saw a group of women grooving together, all doing the same steps. They were working up a sweat, but – strangely – smiling at the same time. I peered through the window for a few minutes, listening to popular tunes I knew the words to, and fun-sounding Latin songs. 

“What are they doing in there”? I asked a gym employee who walked by.

“That’s Zumba,” he said. I must have had a puzzled look on my face, because he went on to explain. “It’s a dance-based cardio-fitness class. People seem to have a lot of fun in there – it’s one of our most popular classes.”

He walked away, and I continued to stare through the window at this class which now had a name – Zumba. 

I stood there for probably 10 minutes when the teacher caught my eye.

“Hey! Come join us!” she yelled to me and motioned for me to enter the room. I shyly shook my head – but she was determined.  “Come on! It’s fun, I promise!”

Then some of the ladies in the class turned and motioned me in as well. I looked around the room and saw women, and a few men, of all shapes and sizes, from teenagers to grandmothers. What did I have to lose?

I took a deep breath and slowly opened the door as a new song began. The others in the class seemed to know the steps, so they took off, stepping and moving their arms together.

The teacher came back to my corner and stood next to me, told me her name and asked mine.

“Jen, don’t worry about getting the steps right the first time – it’ll come. Just get the feel of the music, get the feel of the steps and it will come together. But most importantly – have fun and work up a sweat!”

As the class moved to the left, right, front and back together, I started to piece together the moves and soon was grooving along with them – well, kind of. Before I knew it, 30 minutes had gone by and I was glistening with sweat and had laughed and smiled the whole time.

I couldn’t remember a time when I had so much fun working out. As I was gathering my things to head out the door, some of the women stopped and chatted with me, and told me when the class was – three times a week. They asked if they’d see me next time, and I told them they would. 

I kept that promise, and I continued to go to Zumba each week, and soon I was at the front of the room, leading the dances while other newbies entered the room looking as scared as I must have that first time. The more I went, the more intensity I put into each move and I got a better workout each time.

When I got to Hunter Army Airfield in the fall, I was thrilled to see that there were Zumba classes here, as well. I went that first time, and had just as much fun as I did in my very first Zumba class. 

The morale of the story is this – whether it’s Zumba, spinning, walking the block with friends or going for a jog, you have to find a way to work out that works for you, and keeps you going back for more. And I hope that you can have fun while doing it, too.

Work on yourself

Why is it that it’s so difficult to do well, and so easy to throw it away?

That statement can be taken about 10,000 different ways, so let me be more clear. Losing weight is so very hard, yet we can put on a few pounds without even realizing it. You work out four or five days a week, diet and if you’re lucky you lose a pound or two in a week. And dieting is hard. I hate dieting. I don’t mean eating healthy, I mean really dieting – where you change your habits and deprive yourself. 

Some people have a lot of weight to lose, some a little, and some just need to maintain their healthy lifestyle. But our weight is an indicator of our health, and it’s something that too many of us let fall by the wayside. The most important thing a person can do for themselves is to live a healthy lifestyle and that includes maintaining a healthy weight, which prevents medical conditions like high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes. 

We all know we should eat right and exercise regularly to maintain a healthy weight, but so many of us don’t do it. We stay at work late and can’t find the time to get to the gym; we are tired, so we skip the gym; or we have to run to an appointment and eat something quick, and make the wrong food decision. Every day we have the option to find an excuse, and we need to find the drive to not make excuses – we have to find the proper mindset and routine.

I’ve been in the mindset and out of it numerous times in my life. When you get a new job, or you meet someone new, or you have a child, the gym suddenly gets harder and harder to fit in and we tend to eat quicker, less healthy and nutritious foods. We lose sight of our health, without even realizing it.

We spend 10 minutes showering in the morning, 20 minutes on our hair and makeup and 10 minutes more trying to figure out what to wear; yet we can always find an excuse not to spend 45 minutes at the gym. We’ll spend that much time getting our nails done, but can’t find the time to work on our health. 

So when did it become OK to be overweight? What I mean is, it shouldn’t be seen as acceptable to be overweight. We need to stop making excuses for being lazy and making bad decisions – we need to take care of ourselves. Weight shouldn’t be seen merely as a vanity issue, but a health issue. Being overweight is an unnecessary health risk.

And I know working out is hard, and the results aren’t immediate, which is I think where the hesitation lies. When we spend 30 minutes doing our hair, we have instant gratification; but with our fitness, we don’t see the results immediately, and as a society we are too impatient for that. But if you work out regularly, you will see results – there’s no doubt about that. You just have to have patience, and be consistent. You have to continuously make better decisions, and find the time to work on you.

So I challenge each and every one of you reading this – get out and exercise today. Go for a run, use cardio equipment, free weights, swim some laps in the pool or take a fun fitness classes . Even if you don’t have time to go to the gym, take a 20 minute walk at lunch. 

Working out should be fun, you just have to find what is fun for you. For me, it’s Zumba, I have fun and get a great workout! Find what works for you, and start getting the body you deserve!