Healthy Living in Connecticut Blog

My challenges are about half way through. You might recall that I'm in a challenge in the Torrington YMCA, doing the Fit Commitment Challenge and a stepping challenge in Bridgeport with co-workers. I walk and exercise everyday, but it's all the extra things to keep track of that are overwhelming!

The challenge in Torrington is definitely the most time consuming as it requires weekly challenges, different tasks we must do each week to receive points. This week, I've had to swim 5 laps and walk on the treadmill for a half an hour. I did the treadmill easily, but I'm not much of a swimmer so I struggled with that one; anyway, I completed the laps!

Recently, I watched the movie "Fed Up", a powerful documentary that explains why obesity is occurring at such an alarming rate among American children. It really opened my eyes on how obesity has become such an epidemic and that it is not so simple as cutting back on calories to lose weight.

There were so many points in the movie that caught my attention. For example, I found it alarming how there were no children with Type II diabetes in 1980, and thirty years later, there are over 50,000 kids with the disease. This can be blamed on all the processed food and sodas that the kids so often consume. The movie compared the soda industry to the tobacco industry, saying that soda is the tobacco of the 21st century. The companies that make the sodas and processed foods lobby Washington and spend billions of dollars on advertising, with many of the ads appealing to children.

I met with my trainer today and he told me that my arms look more defined today and that my triceps are coming along nicely. This made my day as I have been working so hard!

He kept the workout the same… 4 sets of 10 reps each exercise. It's a tough workout but I seem to be getting results! My legs are super strong now. Some of the exercises for my legs include split squats. This took a couple weeks to get the form right but I got it down now! I'm also doing the leg press (single leg, a much tougher workout, at least for me) and squats using the smith machine.

I'm in two challenges but I wanted to focus this article on my challenge with the Northwest CT YMCA Fit Commitment Challenge. The challenge is different this time around, with each team consisting of only two people.

I'm lucky to have Janet Perusse on my team! She is a hard worker and she's also the one who chose our team name… "And Won!" I think the name says it all! We were in a team together a few years back and won the challenge. I expect we'll do the same again.

I'm going to be busy this fall. In addition to my job, I'm in two different fitness challenges and taking a Personal Trainer course. They all start around the same time.

The challenge I'm in for the Bridgeport Regional Business Counsel starts tomorrow and runs for eight weeks. You might recall that I walked over a million steps for the challenge a couple years ago. The challenge should be a breeze for me as I'm doing a lot of walking anyway. This way, I have a chance to win simply by doing what I already do anyway.