Don’t let life be the pits!

Rainbow mud. That’s how I would describe my appearance on Sunday morning after a few friends and I, along with 7500 other people, completed The Color Run 5k downtown. Now, this wasn’t so much a race as it was a colorful street party. For those of you who haven’t heard of The Color Run, the gist of it is that you start the run wearing a clean white shirt, and along the course, you get gently pummeled with colored powder; at the end, you look like something out of Willy Wonka.

I can say with total certainty that I’ve never had so much fun in a race! Our team–for PEACH’s sake–had one objective: get as colorful as possible. To accomplish this, we rolled around in color that had fallen to the ground at each station. STOP. DROP. ROLL. COLOR. It just goes to show, getting exercise and being active doesn’t have to be a drag. While this certainly wasn’t an intense cardio work-out, jogging and laughing at the same time with friends make for very fun physical activity.

You don’t have to be an Ironman competitor to complete a race. There are lots of runs and walks still left this summer and fall that would be great for the whole family to do, or if you’ve never completed a race before, there’s no better time than now to push yourself and do one! You can look at a fairly comprehensive list of races in and around Louisville here. There are a number of races for charity, so you can support a good cause and get in some exercise at the same time. Maybe you can even get a team together and make silly shirts for the race (“Don’t let life be the pits” was our team motto for The Color Run). However you go about it, I would highly recommend doing a race. Whether you run, walk, or do some combo of both, you’re going to feel great after you cross that finish line.

Take a Y Tour Online!

Our YMCA tour videos are done and posted on our site and we are so excited to share them with you! Today we are featuring our Bullitt County Family YMCA.

Take a tour of our Bullitt County Family YMCA!

Sandy’s Weight Loss Journey with the Y

Sandy Campbell has been a member and participant in the YMCA Weight Loss Program at the Oldham County Family YMCA since January, 2012. She has seen great success through this program, and has graciously shared her views on the program, her success, and her overall attitude with us.

Sandy, how has your life changed since beginning the YMCA Weight Loss Program?

I’ve been on every diet in the world and I was mislead on how to lose weight. The difference that I have seen since January in my life is night and day. I have figured out what hungry means and my body is now in charge of telling me what I need.

When losing weight in the past, what led to gaining the weight back?

Once I had reached my goal, I thought I was done. I went back to eating more, back to the TV, and back to eating while watching TV. I didn’t really think or know much about maintenance.

What is one of the main health improvements you have seen?

I was actually told by my physician at one point that I was a Type 2 Diabetic, but my last fasting glucose was 78 and my Hemoglobin A1C  was 5.1%.

How do you keep yourself motivated?

I always have a goal in mind. My next goal is to eliminate artificial sweeteners. Also, I am not a water lover, so I am still working on that. I will never give up my creamer, though.

What part of this program makes it work for you?

I have learned to set goals that I can reach. This program’s focus on goal setting and counting fat grams is great. I was taught about the macronutrients: carbohydrates, protein, and fat. I have now found the perfect formula for me!

What would you tell someone who was thinking about joining the YMCA Weight Loss Program?

If you want back your youth, you’ve got to get yourself back. The person inside has a lot of self worth, you have to get back that self worth to compete in this world. You’ve got to want it. You’ve got to want it bad.

Any last words of wisdom?

My lifestyle has changed and I will never go back. I am throwing out my fat clothes. I stopped listening to what I wanted and started listening to what I needed.

Zumba Experience

By guest blogger, Nina Walfoort

I had foot surgery last year and spent most of the following four months on the couch and limping around in my attractive navy blue Bledsoe Bunion Walking boot. When I could finally walk in a shoe, my foot felt like a brick in a wooden box.  I was pretty sure there wouldn’t be any tennis in my future.

But I did slowly return to normal activity. Feeling did slowly return to my enlarged toes. And the best thing I did to hasten my recovery was to start Zumba classes at the YMCA.

It really does keep you on your toes. All those little steps! All that toe-tapping!  All that lunging and squatting!  I was having a ball, learning some dance moves and immediately seeing much improved flexibility in my feet.

And now the Louisville Free Public Library is including a Zumba lesson in its How-To Festival this Saturday, May 12. The festival promises to teach you 50 things in five hours including how to make beer, start a conversation and raise chickens. Go to www.lfpl.org/how-to/ for the full schedule. I recommend the Zumba demo, featuring one of my favorite YMCA Zumba instructors Becky Griffin, at 2 pm in the downtown branch at 301 York Street.

So if you go and get the Latin beat and want more, come to the YMCA classes at your local branch if you are a Y member. And don’t forget, our schedules are available at ymcalouisville.org.  We have dozens of great instructors and classes at all hours. Come downtown on the weekend. The light-footed one in the back of the class is me!

Can you spare 30 minutes a day?

You would think working at the YMCA would instantly make you a model of health and wellness, as if going through orientation will then re-wire your brain to make sure you to go to a group aerobics class everyday and to never be without a healthy snack in your bag. I wish it were so simple.

Mondays are usually my longest work day of the week: after being at the Y for 10 hours, it’s pretty dang hard to work up the motivation to stay and hop on the elliptical for 30 minutes. This Monday was one of those nights where I just didn’t do it, but I wish I had.

In the grand scheme of the day, 30 minutes isn’t all that long. (I can barely watch an episode of 30 Rock in 30 minutes!) It’s all about prioritizing and making the time to be active, whether it’s going to the Y or taking a walk through your neighborhood. So many of us spend a majority of our days sitting–sitting at a desk, sitting in the car, sitting on the couch–that we have to really make an effort to get moving. One of the absolute best things you can do for your health is to spend half an hour being active. On those days when I need that extra kick in the butt, I look for different motivators, and this short video lecture is a great one. In it, Dr. Mike Evans, a professor of Family Medicine and Public Health, talks about the many benefits of being active, from decreasing your risk for heart disease to improving quality of life. It’s well worth the nine minutes–and there are great illustrations to convey his points.

So, can you limit your sitting and sleeping to just 23 1/2 hours a day? Can you dedicate just 30 minutes a day to being active? I’m working on it–you should, too!

What are your favorite activities that get you moving and out of your seat?

Guest post by our Southeast Family YMCA Executive Director!

Wow, January is over now. What an amazing experience working at a Y is for the month of January. The volume of people in and out of our facility is tremendous with new folks joining and other members committing to life changes.

What a wonderful opportunity our new and old members present to us. The YMCA of Greater Louisville has 3894 over 8000 people that are now part of our family. Those people chose to join this YMCA, chose to trust us with the responsibility to help them accomplish a change or improvement in their life. Let’s face it, everyone has a reason for joining or continuing to be a member of the YMCA. If you are joining you have a need or dissatisfaction that you think the YMCA can help you solve. For each of our staff and volunteers the responsibility of being that “solution” is very important to us.

We go about that in a variety of ways:

- We continue to be told via both surveys and anecdotal comments that we have the friendliest staff around and that is not an accident. We do want the environment here to be friendly, welcoming and genuinely supportive. But it is not just a staff thing, our members have in large part created that as well. Watching new folks embraced and adopted into the group is gratifying to see; it reflects the environment here.

- We are following up in writing, electronically and on the phone with all of our new members to check on the progress they are making. Also, we are encouraging each new member to have an individual appointment with a member of our staff team in an area they are interested in such as: aquatics, wellness, group exercise or family programming. These meetings will help set realistic goals and help our staff do a better job of following up in a personal and meaningful way. We really do want to help every one of our member achieve and succeed.

- New member survey’s and member satisfaction survey’s are a tool we really rely on to learn how people feel about the experience and what we can do better to help our members reach their individual measures of success.

Hopefully we can see continued success and many of our newest members will be with us for a long period of time and what we do the YMCA can help them.

 

“It’s Never Too Late to Change Your Life”

It’s that time of year!  We’ve all noticed that our gyms are busier than usual.  Our facilities are packed with new members who are looking to start a healthy lifestyle. I speak to many members who are looking to hit the gym hard and drop those pounds as quick as possible.  It is important to remember that when starting your workout regimen that you keep your mood positive.  I can tell you first hand that it is hard not to discouraged when you work out hard all week and then see that you have only dropped a pound or two when you weigh in.  STAY POSITIVE!  It’s not all about losing the pounds, it’s about creating an active lifestyle.  The hardest part is getting started! So grab a friend, and a bottle of water and get moving!  It’s time to start a new, healthier you!  Check out the Y’s website to see how we can better assist you!

Me, a Cycling Instructor? Are You Kidding??

Whew, what a January it’s been here at the Bullitt County YMCA!  We’ve been having a blast helping all our members on the road to optimal health and well-being.  As anyone who has stepped into a Y can attest to, January is the craziest month of the year.  Imagine what you see in the hour or so you visit us and times that by 8-10.  This is what staff see each day.  So I thought, what better time to add a little more responsibility to my overflowing plate!

Back in November, our Group Exercise Coordinator, Beth Hall, approached me about learning to teach a group exercise class.  After I got off the floor from laughing hysterically, I realized she was serious.  Being that I have no rhythm, I wondered aloud how this was going to work.  Beth already had something in mind for me; beginner cycling.  While my first impulse was to say “no way and as your boss, you can’t make me”, I gave it a little thought.  I’ve ridden a bike before, so why couldn’t I do this?   Besides, lessen a little of her burden for filling classes with instructors would be a good thing to do.  Hesitantly, I agreed to her experiment.

After a few trial runs to minimal crowds in December, including a few in which I had no participants (talk about a shot to the ego), I’m now a Cycling Instructor!  For the first month, I’ve enjoyed the experience much more than I would have ever imagined.  Many times in life, we’re presented with challenges and opportunities in which our instincts tell us to flee.  However, those are the things we should try to embrace.  Maybe it’s something that won’t stick with you for the long haul, but you’ll always from the experience, not to mention grow from it.  We see people at the Y everyday who aren’t comfortable in a gym, but they’re here giving it their all.  We should all take such an approach in life.  Try it and you’ll see!

Ryan tells his Y story

Ryan needed a change and we were here to help…

Work out in Water!

We all know someone who has trouble working out in the gym. Whether it’s someone with a bad back or your own father with a knee injury, it can be very frustrating when your injuries keep you from reaching your fitness goals. Working at the Y, I have made contact with many members who feel they are unable to meet their wellness goals because of their physical limitations. My answer? Work out in water!

Normally, when I suggest this solution to our members they look at me funny, and they begin to question the big difference between exercising on land or in water.  Water provides a great atmosphere to nurse an injured body back to health for one simple reason: The buoyancy of water reduces the “weight” of a person by about 90%, which means that the stress on weight-baring joints, bones, and muscles is reduced, causing less pain while still getting a great workout.  Another great point that I mention to our members is that it is a great way to meet and socialize with people who may have the same injuries or limitations as you do.

So the next time that you come in contact with someone who can’t get to the gym because of an injury, tell them about aquatic fitness and its many benefits. Feel free to check out the aqua fitness classes that the Y has to offer. See you in the pool!