Eat Well, Live Well
So, we're doing this competition thing at work called Eat Well, Live Well. It's put on by the local grocery chain Wegman's and it involves local area companies. You get teams going and each team records the number of steps they take each day with a pedometer and the servings of fruits and veggies they have each day. And there are prizes and stuff. A healthy incentive thing. So, we're doing it at work. When the email went out, I thought "OH YES!" and immediately sent out an email to several people I thought would be interested. Those people asked a few others and before I knew it, I was a leader of a team of 10 people from all over the business office. The runner in A/R, the runner in A/P, the bookkeeper who does 8 miles a day on her eliptical, the manager of Corporate Compliance who rides his bike 30 miles a day, the workout junkie in HUD, the extreme walker in Facilities. I've got a great team of a bunch of ultra-competitive people. Even our name: Competitive Edge (I didn't vote for it, but my team is a democracy) speaks volumes. I'm not "competitive", as such. I enjoy competition and I like playing to win, but I don't care so much about the winning, it's more about the striving for me. If someone else beats me, it's because they earned it and I respect that. Which is why I was excited to do this, it'll give me motivation to push myself more, especially as the days get colder and shorter. Today we got our pedometers, which was a huge to-do in the office. They're quite nice ones, too. They have a case that pops open so you can read your steps. It keeps a daily tab and then keeps track of your cumulative steps for up to 3 months so I'll be able to see how far I've gone at the end of the two month competition. Everyone was testing them out, taking a few steps and then checking to see if they were counted properly. People were striding around counting how many steps from their cubical to the copier or how many steps to walk the circle around the office. I had to help nearly all of my teammates figure out how to get theirs set up. It was fun, but chaotic. And of course, as team leader, I'm encouraging my team members to stock up on fresh fruits and veggies and to plan an active day on Sunday, the first day we start keeping track. We've been talking about taking turns bringing things in, fruits or veggies to share with the team. Audra and I already take a walk at lunch, but we're encouraging others to join us while the weather's still good. I start PT on my leg on Monday so I'm hoping I can get back into running, but I've been riding my bike after work in the mean time. It should be good fun, I'm really excited about it.
I wore my pedometer for about an hour and a half at work today and I did over 1500 steps, which is nearly a mile. Not too bad for an office job. I've set myself a goal of 10,000 steps a day, which is only about 5 miles. If I take a walk at lunch (1 mile) walk a mile around the office during the day (1 mile) I can easily ride my bike for 3 miles in the afternoons, that's about a half hour, which I already go. I think it's a reasonable goal to strive for. And at least 6 servings of fruits and veggies a day. That should be easy, if I have at least one with each meal and as snacks throughout the day. Which I'm doing anyway right now.
I've put on a few pounds since I've had to stop running so I'm hoping this will help. I don't expect to drop significant weight, but 5lbs would make a nice difference. We'll see. I plan to have fun the next 2 months. And being a team leader will be fun for me, I can encourage my teammates, I can email them tips and articles and inspirational quotes. I can bring in snacks to share, and maybe get to know my teammates a bit better. Since some of them work in departments I don't work with, I don't know them very well. And, I'm thinking when the competition is over, I'd like to throw a party, have everyone bring healthy snacks and bring their families and just have a nice time. Any excuse for a party!
Oh, and being a team leader, I get extra prizes. I got a Target gift card today! Not sure how much is on it, probably only $5 or $10. But hey, free is free!!
I wore my pedometer for about an hour and a half at work today and I did over 1500 steps, which is nearly a mile. Not too bad for an office job. I've set myself a goal of 10,000 steps a day, which is only about 5 miles. If I take a walk at lunch (1 mile) walk a mile around the office during the day (1 mile) I can easily ride my bike for 3 miles in the afternoons, that's about a half hour, which I already go. I think it's a reasonable goal to strive for. And at least 6 servings of fruits and veggies a day. That should be easy, if I have at least one with each meal and as snacks throughout the day. Which I'm doing anyway right now.
I've put on a few pounds since I've had to stop running so I'm hoping this will help. I don't expect to drop significant weight, but 5lbs would make a nice difference. We'll see. I plan to have fun the next 2 months. And being a team leader will be fun for me, I can encourage my teammates, I can email them tips and articles and inspirational quotes. I can bring in snacks to share, and maybe get to know my teammates a bit better. Since some of them work in departments I don't work with, I don't know them very well. And, I'm thinking when the competition is over, I'd like to throw a party, have everyone bring healthy snacks and bring their families and just have a nice time. Any excuse for a party!
Oh, and being a team leader, I get extra prizes. I got a Target gift card today! Not sure how much is on it, probably only $5 or $10. But hey, free is free!!