Joy Battista

"Joy Battista" stands for the Joy of John the Baptist at the presence of Christ.

"And how have I deserved that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold, the moment that the sound of thy greeting came to my ears, the babe in my womb leapt for joy." Luke 1:43-44

This blog is dedicated to all who seek the Joy of Christ's presence in their own lives.
This blog is also dedicated to the unborn, for John the Baptist was an unborn when he leapt for joy at the presence of Jesus who was also unborn at the time.

WELCOME!!

Saturday, July 24, 2010

My Exercise Saviors

I had gone years without regularly exercising. I depended solely on chasing toddlers and house cleaning to stay in shape. Nursing babies was also very effective for me in staying fit and trim until…I turned 40. After age 40 I started gaining weight and realized that I would need to try much harder to keep those unwanted pounds off. My problem was that I had not been motivated to do so until my exercise saviors came to the rescue.

My exercise saviors came in the form of 4 aunts, 6 cousins and my sister! I had just turned 41 when they began planning the semi-annual “Vering Girls Weekend” to be held in May of 2010. Due to family circumstances I had never attended this wonderful get together with my extended family in the past but I just could not pass up the chance to go this year.

One of my big motivations to attend was the exercise contest that the Vering Girls established to get us all in shape before seeing each other and hanging out by the pool. Two of my cousins were appointed to be the commissioners of the contest. They disseminated a set of rules and kept the ladies motivated throughout the duration of the contest. Each person that chose to participate in the contest submitted $20.00 which would be used to award cash prizes at the end of the contest during the Vering Girls Weekend. There would be a first and second place prize awarded along with a consolation prize for coming in last place.

This is how the contest worked: We had eleven participants, so each week for 11 weeks leading up to our girl’s weekend, every participant would be eligible to earn one point for each day they exercised 30 minutes, for a maximum of 5 points per week. Bonus points could be earned for the super challenge which was to be determined by a different participant each week. For example, my cousin Becky was responsible to come up with the first week’s super challenge. She chose to challenge everybody to drink half of their body weight in ounces of water each day for five days. Five more points could be earned that week for succeeding in the super challenge. We used the honor system to submit our individual totals to Commissioner Heidi at the end of each week.

If any dispute came up one of the commissioners would determine the final outcome. It became a hoot to see the e-mails go back and forth amongst the participants. One controversial super challenge was to eat 5 fruits and vegetables each day. Aunt Karen e-mailed her daughter, my cousin Karey, and admitted to eating french fries as a vegetable. Karey wouldn’t stand for that. The e-mails started flying back and forth with this admission by Karen. Commissioner Heidi made the final determination that french fries did not count as a real vegetable.

In the end Aunt Karen, host of the Vering Girls Weekend, won the first place cash prize and Cousin Karey and I tied for second. I admire Karey for her determination because she was about six months pregnant with her third child and most weeks I managed to exercise 5 times for 30 minutes and got most of my points for the super challenges. If I were pregnant I don't think I would have even attempted the contest.

The contest got me to start regularly exercising and I am so thankful to my exercise saviors for motivating me to get started!!! My favorite workout now is walking on my treadmill as fast as I can while praying my rosary.

What motivates you to exercise? Please share by commenting! It may help another person get going again!!!

1 comment:

Jennifer said...

My motivation to exercise comes from knowing my running partner will be waiting for me @ 5:40 AM 3x a week. She is my accountability and helps me stay on track. I am so thankful for her. The way I feel when I get home keeps me going too!