Playing Photographer!

While I was on vacation, I found myself on the grounds surrounding the port at "L'Etang du Nord". I was waiting for my Mom to be done with a meeting, and had nothing with me but my camera, my MP3 player and my walking shoes.

You can't go home without getting a shot or two of the fishing boats.

Instead of just sitting around, I decided to go wander around to take pictures. I started the music, and just took off, stopping to take pictures when something caught my attention.

Now, I'm certainly no photograph, don't even know enough about it to be a wannabe, and my camera was an ok one... 8 years ago! I had the best time!

"Dude, can we get on with this meeting? I'm meeting Mary at 7pm on another rock..."

"What on earth does that have to do with activity?" you ask... Well, I walked (with frequent stops that's true) for well over 2 1/2 hours.

"GET OFF ME!" "No way Dude, the water is too cold!"

Moving is moving right? Who knew that you could burn calories taking pictures? HA!

Stairway Walks in San Francisco

Today (Sunday) we went for a stair walk with my fellow leader Michael Hamlin.

Michael gets together with his members (and anyone who wants to join) and pick a walk in the book Stairway Walks in San Francisco, by Adah Bakalinsky off he goes!

We started at the Stairs that can be found at the corner of Moraga and 16th Avenue, and then walked around the neighborhood climbing several stairs and hill until we made our way to Golden Gate height park and then came down.

It was such a fun and beautiful walk, and challenging too!

There are tons of such books about walks in San Francisco, some more challenging than others. What a fun way to move, discover new places and just enjoy this beautiful city!

Thanks to Michael for clue me in on that one, I'm getting the kindle edition of the book tonight! ;o)

Try something new - Rediscover an old love!

What's one activity that you have never tried, but always wanted to?

Have you ever kayaked out on the bay? Tried surfing? Kayak surfing? Even played a game of golf? Attended a Zumba class? How long has it been since you went bowling? Played a volleyball game? Played tag????

It doesn't matter what you do. What matters is to do something!

When asked "What is the best activity to practice for weight loss?" 12 trainers out of 12 answered the same thing "Whatever activity you enjoy enough to practice regularly."

This week find an activity that you have never tried or that you used to enjoy, but have stopped practicing. See if you can give it a try. Who knows, you might just find your activity Mojo all over again!

Making Walking Challenging!

Last spring with the Walk It Challenge, we talked about walking a lot, and with good reasons. It's an easy activity that is not only very effective, but low cost.

Still many people confided in me that they thought walking was not enough of a challenge for them. They couldn't figure out how to add intensity to their daily walks. Really? In San Francisco?

Incline:

The first obvious suggestion is find a few good hills and go to town. Walking uphill will add intensity. We are lucky you can find all grades, all heights, we have it all in SF!

Surface:

There isn't much difference in intensity between walking on pavement or on gravel really, but soft sand? Try walking on the beach away from the water. After a while you really start feeling it!

Weight:

You can buy vest that are made to add weight. Those are a good way to add weight to your walk without compromising your posture and/or your joints. There are also ankle and wrist weights that you can get. Honestly, with a bad knee, I would not use those, but it's between you and your doctor to know if it's ok for you to use them. Remember that any weight you chose to carry on your walks, you have to walk back with. :o)

Speed:

Sounds obvious, but if you don't have any hill nearby (hum..) or beaches, and weights are not happening, go for speed! You usually do your loop in 45 minutes? Shoot for 40 next time. Or keep the same time, but add a few blocks to your walk.

Walking can be a challenging activity if you want it to be, you can take it outside the city too! Go hiking! Just remember that it's generally much hotter outside of San Francisco, so plan adequately for clothing, sunscreen and water!

Be your own personal trainer!

What does a personal trainer do? They assess your present abilities, figure out what your goals are, and then break them down so that they can put together a plan for you to achieve your goals.

Sound familiar?

What if you were to take notes on your work outs, how much you are doing, how you feel afterward, and then used that to assess your abilities?

Cardio is really good, but you could use some strengthening? You're fairly strong, but looking at a hill makes you winded?

Once you've done that, you can make a plan!

To boost my cardio abilities, I can...

To tone up my arms, I can...

To _____ I can ____

As with everything we do, it's only a matter of taking this one challenge at a time, setting realistic goals, and having a plan! You can do this!

Rev up your walk!

Want to find a way to add intensity to your walk? There are so many ways!

Find a hill: In San Francisco it shouldn't be too hard right? Find a hill to climb, two if you want even more challenge.

Find stairs to climb: There are plenty of those in town. There's even a book about them!

Walk on the beach: Not by the water where the sand is good and hard, but away from it where the sand is dry and soft. You can burn a lot more calories walking or running in soft sand.

Add weight: There are weighed vest that you can get, also weights for the wrists and ankle. Be careful though, too much weight can be hard on the joints!

Walk faster: Ok, sound simple, but it's true! Try to add distance to your route without adding time.

These simple thing can rev up your walk! Make them more effective and challenging without making huge changes to what you do.

So what will you do differently this week?

Lindy in the Park! and it's FREE!

Laura, a member at the Jewish Community Center on Tuesday night has been talking about this for quite a while now. I haven’t done it yet, but keep meaning to.

If you want to give Lindy dancing a try, there are free lessons every Sunday (unless it’s raining) in Golden Gate park at 12:00!

Golden Gate Park, San Francisco
(South sidewalk of John F. Kennedy Drive, between the de Young Museum and the north entrance to the Music Concourse)

You can find more information and contact info at this website:
http://www.lindyinthepark.com/about/free-lesson/

Doesn’t that sound like fun? I have to give it a try!