Twas the Night Before Christmas..

'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the gym Not a treadmill was humming, the precor lights were dim; The dumbbells were racked by the windows with care, In hopes that New Year’s Resolution Warriors soon would be there; The spin bikes were nestled all straight in their rows, While visions of 3-hour Spins danced in their heads; As the staff donned their snow boots, and I in pulled on my cap, Had just turned the lights down for a VRC nap, When out on the fitness floor there arose such a clatter, We gasped and turned to see what was the matter. Away towards the arc trainers we flew like a flash, Tore past the climbing wall and weight machines in a mad dash, The glow from the step-mill down the cardio row, Gave the feeling of fitness to all those below When, what to our wondering eyes should appear, But a S-Works Tarmac racing bike, and eight tiny reindeer, With a happy bike rider, so lively and quick, I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick. More rapid than gym rats his coursers they came, And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name; "Now, StracTrac! now, Precor! now, Nautlius and Life Fitness On, NuStep! on Cybex! on, Arc Trainer and Schwinn Fitness! To the highest of the inclines! to the top of the speeds! Now work out! Work out! Work out all!" As the silent treadmills began to hum a reply, the VRC staff began their workouts on cloud nine, So up, up, up the treadmill paces flew, the bike pedals spun round, a happy cadence they accrue, And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the wall The setting of new routes that I knew would enthrall. As I stepped off the treadmill, and was turning around, Down the climbing wall St. Nicholas repelled with a bound. He was dressed all in Cannondale, from his head to his toe, And his clothes were all wicking with a polyester glow; A bundle of resist-a-bands he had flung on his back, With his discounts from Fitness Wholesale he could fill up his pack. His eyes -- how they twinkled! his dimples how merry! His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry! His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow, And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow; The bite valve of his hydration backpack he held tight in his teeth, And the beautiful green color reminded me of a wreath; He had a broad face and no trace of a belly, For you can’t have a six-pack if you eat too much jelly. He was fit as a fiddle, a right jolly old elf, And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself; A wink of his eye and a twist of his head, Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread; He spoke not a word, but took a quick workout break from his work, And then he slowed down on the treadmill; and turned with a jerk, And laying his finger aside of his nose, And giving a nod, up the climbing wall he rose; He sprang to his bike, to his team gave a whistle, And away they rode out of the VRC like a down of a thistle. But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight, "Happy fitness to all, and to all a good-night." By Clement Moore and Brandi Williams

An Important Phone Call

There’s an important phone call coming. I am just wondering, dear reader, if you will answer. This is a different kind of phone call; it’s not actually going to cause your phone to ring. How many of you have been to your doctor in the past year? How many of you can remember a conversation with your doctor in which the message was that if you did not do something your health was going to continue to suffer? I am wondering once again, dear reader, if you received that phone call. Did you answer? Or did you decide that answering at this time wasn’t necessary. Maybe you believe that a heart attack, a stroke, diabetes, obesity, or cancer can or will never happen to you. It’s easy to ignore our doctor’s recommendations and to resist change when we feel that we do not absolutely have to change. Claiming that we are unaware of our health status is easy, but we all know deep down that our health problems will continue to rise when the only action we take is sitting on our hands. Ignorance is a state of denial that allows our everyday lives to continue without our problems interfering. How many times have you thought if you could just ignore a problem it would just go away? I have bad news for you: you can’t keep sending health wake-up calls to voicemail. Many of us are taking our health for granted. We are gambling that we will be able to “beat the odds” of risks associated with unhealthy behavior. Beating the odds is not in our statistical favor in a game of poker or in the game of health. Dear reader, everyone has a phone bill. We can pay up and settle our debts in a timely and efficient manner, or we can pay later. As we all know, paying later comes with interest. If you are reading this editorial as a sedentary, overweight smoker, for example, your lifestyle is taking your health off the rails toward a train wreck. When will it happen? Sadly, even our magic eight ball cannot alert us to when the train wreck will take place. At one point, we are going to place a big enough rock on the rails that will throw us off that track. Each rock is another phone call forgotten, another phone bill unpaid. You can only go so long without taking the call or paying the bill until the train wreck ensues. So I leave you with this final thought. Are you paying more attention to wake-up calls from your alarm clock than to the wake-up calls in your own life? Thinking about changing your life is not enough. Put behind you the fear of failure, for true success is about how many times you get back up after crashing down. You have to put one foot in front of the other and give it a go. Don’t wait for you final wake-up call.

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Promise of a good post soon!

Cute Outfit I'm Dreaming About

Also a new playlist on the left. Radiohead...how I love thee...

Greatest Gift of All

Sense of entitlement. It's a phenomenon that is well known in our country. Many individuals feel that The United States of America owes them something, everything, for no particular reason. The USA has not done anything to them, has not taken anything from them--yet they feel owed "the free world" and all the opportunities it presents. If you have read my last post, dear reader, you'll know that I believe in purpose and hard work. Even though I had what some would call a rough childhood I have never felt that anyone (the government, the drive-thru worker, my place of employment, etc) has ever "owed" me anything because of my personal experiences in this world. I will go as far to say that most people in this world are not “owed” anything. After all, what are we given in any given space or time that affects anyone else in this world but our own bodies and our own decisions? Entitlement is the right to choose to do what you will with your life and your decisions. A few of you may even become angry at me for my next few statements. Statements that may bring you to the realization that you cannot control anything but yourself—are you ready? You are not entitled a free refund. You are not entitled to tell off a customer service representative because you had a bad day. You are not entitled to yell out your window at the driver in front of you because they are obeying the speed limit. You are only entitled to yourself--your own bane of existence. I would further argue that the only entitlement you have in this world is your health and even that, dear reader, comes down to your choices. The choice to live a healthy lifestyle by eating fruits and vegetables daily, by choosing to be smoke-free, by choosing to exercise daily, by choosing to sleep 7-8 hours each night, by choosing to visit the doctor for annual physicals, by choosing to visit the dentist twice a year, by choosing to practice proper hygiene, by choosing to limit alcohol use, by choosing to be drug-free—those are things you are entitled to—what we all have a right to choose. Yes, healthcare should and will now be a basic right and will no longer a privilege. As a Nation we must change our thinking that entitlement is something we are all owed, because the only thing we do to ourselves is look for someone to blame, to look for a scapegoat. We can no longer blame poor health on anyone but ourselves. No one made us over-eat; shoveling donuts, fries and the like into ours mouth—no one shackles us to a chair so we cannot exercise. Each and everything we are as individuals and the places we are in this life is by our choice and has zero to do with anyone else but ourselves. I have yet another challenge for you, dear reader; to stop trying to place the blame on anyone but yourself and remember that no one is this life owes you anything but yourself. No explanations, apologies, money…nothing. You only owe yourself and the greatest thing you can give to yourself, and the greatest gift of all is good health. For we are only a shadow of the person we are or could become without good health.

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