I have found what could possibly be my saving grace: Nike + technology. If you haven't heard of it, don't worry, I will fill you in - and you will be grateful that I did. If any of you are like me, you just don't get the amount of exercise (or motivation to exercise) you should be getting on a daily, weekly or monthly basis. Life happens - I mean, YOUR A MOM! :) But Nike has created this clever device that just may get you off your can. Hey, it worked for me!
What is Nike +? Nike has teamed with Apple (go figure), and has created a small fob that is inserted under the insole of certain models of Nike running sneakers. This fob then communicates to your iPod and tracks distance, time, pace, calories, etc of your workouts. You can walk, run or jog - speed doesn't matter since it measures the impact on the fob. It is amazing! No more pedometers.
To sweeten the pot, they have jumped on the social networking bandwagon and have created their own Nike + website that allows you to join virtual groups online. These groups are called challenges. I am part of a challenge on Nike + that is composed of 75 mothers. Group members are from around the country or even the world. Location doesn't matter. Rules have been set by the group administrator/creator (i.e. you must walk/run no faster than an eight minute mile and must complete 75 miles in 30 days). Each day (or in my case weekly because my life seems to be so hectic lately), I connect my iPod to my computer and iTunes automatically sends my walk information to Nike where it is stored in my profile. The result? I am in a virtual mom group that is racing against each other, motivating each other and pushing each other to continue to exercise.
The REALLY great part? I can't fib about working out!!! You can't manually enter workout stats. Information can only be uploaded to your Nike profile after actual workouts have been completed and stored. That requires actually walking on the fob. Shaking it doesn't work. Not that I have tried that. :) haha
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