Wednesday, August 30, 2006

Get a goal and get off your butt (so sayeth the Fitness God)

I've decided to pimp myself a bit more. I'm posting this story just because I think you'd enjoy it and I like to share what I'm doing for the Greeley Tribune.
Plus a lot of you are great writers and I like your thoughts on the craft.
Here's the story

• • •

We're also blogging now for the Tribune, as per our editors' requirement because without the Internet, we're nothing as a paper now. My editors, surprisingly enough, didn't like the idea of a poker blog. They wanted something that has something to do with my beat.
I cover adventure sports such as mountaineering (I know, shocking) and entertainment, so now I've got a blog about fitness sports, outdoor recreation and running.
So now I get to write blogs like the one I wrote below. I like it, sort of, but it will sound preachy as hell. The message is good, but I sound like fucking Richard Simmons.
Anyway, here goes:

Sometimes the news is so obvious we miss the underlining message behind it.
We're getting fatter, the Associated Press reported Wednesday. Obesity now exceeds 25 percent in 13 states, and 31 states reported a rise in obesity.
I know. You’re shocked. Health officials have wagged a collective, fried finger in our face for a few years now, saying that our taste for triple-decked desserts, portions the size of Kentucky and sitting on our butt will continue to plump us up more than a turkey before Thanksgiving.
But did you notice something else? Colorado, our state, is the thinnest.
We’re not Olive-Oyl thin, so let’s not get cocky about it. But we’re still the thinnest.
Why? Well, to me, it’s obvious, even if my answer will appear incredibly self-serving (but a blog is pretty self-serving, too, so deal with it).
We have mountains here.
That’s it. The mountains mean our state offers far more recreational opportunities than most other states, and trail for trail, we probably have more recreational opportunities here than any other state. In fact, we probably have more things to do here that involve a little sweat and a lot of fun than all the southern states combined (and all those states were the fattest).
You don’t have to get high, like I do (anything above 13,500 is my preference), to enjoy the mountains. There’s fishing, hunting, boating, hiking, wildlife watching, leaf gazing, star searching, camping, skiing, snowboarding and mountain biking, and all of those activities are better in the mountains. If you combine that with the trail running, recreational sports such as softball (the Trib’s coed team is 2-0, who-hoo!) and biking already available in other sports, there’s really no excuse for not getting enough exercise in this state.
And exercise, dear reader, is why I can eat whatever I want and still weigh as much as I did in high school.
It’s hard to stay motivated to exercise when we don’t have any motivation other than a stern health official clucking her tongue at us. It’s easy, however, to work out when you know you’ve got something waiting for you.
I wouldn’t work hard nearly as hard if I didn’t have the mountains to motivate me to stay in shape to climb them.
You want to keep the weight off? Find a goal. Say you’ll hike Flattop in Rocky Mountain National Park by the end of the year. Say you’ll bike the Poudre Canyon. Say you’ll ski a black diamond.
Say you’ll start to appreciate Colorado’s mountains, a big reason why this is the best state in the lower 48.
And say hello to the thousands of state residents who have already used the mountains as a motivating tool to stay fit.

• • •

So, the point is good. Just one activity can motivate you to get or stay in shape.
Look at what softball has done for Drizz. Dude looks like Hulk Hogan, so I've heard.
Look at what gardening has done for Felicia. Girl looks like that chick on the Bravo show "Work out."
Look at what bowling has done for Low Limit Grinder. The guy is the next Walter Ray Williams Jr.

Or, at least, they are in better shape than many. Some? At least that.

• • •

Poker? Oh, yeah. I won a $10 SnG last night and a $5 SnG last night.
Things are going so well right now. Mostly I'm getting good hands but I've picked off several bluffs in a row. The dudes seem to think that going all in when the board doesn't seem to match their bet and they didn't raise will scare me off, especially when I'm chip leader.
Sorry, think again. Nice play with Q,8 though.
Mostly, my lesson here is by bonus chasing a little too much, my cash game had grown really, really stale, and I played it far too much. I'm refocused now by playing strictly SnGs this week.
The lesson? Always mix it up, and switch to another when one isn't going well.

Have fun this Labor Day. The Jman is teething about seven pearly whites right now so the nights are a little rough these days. Being a parent will get you in shape and out of shape at the same time.

1 comment:

slb159 said...

Thank goodness the Lord has blessed me with a fast metabolism. Sitting at the computer for hours on end isn't the best excersize, unless you count lifting 12 ounces at a time repeatedly.