Haha, Sue just sent me this clip. I’ve gotta say, I love the way Cookie Monster talks (especially when he says “delayed gratification”). It cracks me up.
Have you seen Tom Hiddleston in the movie ‘The Avengers’? He’s cool.
Something about Cookie Monster makes me feel nostalgic! Back when I was a little kid, I got a kick out of how the Cookie Monster shoved cookies in his mouth like crazy. It was always hilarious. Not smart, but hilarious. And I get it: I love cookies too.
That’s why this is a great clip. It’s the classic Cookie Monster from our childhood – but smarter. And healthier too. This video makes a good point: sometimes it’s good to wait to have that treat, even for a few minutes. Are you really hungry? Have you had a cookie (or whatever) already? Taking just a minute to think about what we’re shoving in our mouths (before we do it) sounds like a good idea to me.
Some of you may be wondering what Halloween is like for the guy who wrote the book on balance and moderation. (Literally.)
Well, in a word?
Moderate.
Haha. That sounded funny. But seriously, even though we’re a really active family and eat super healthy, we still have our treats! Remember movie night in the book when we had the brownies and stuff? (You have read ‘Balance It Out’ right? If you haven’t yet, grab yourself a copy, it’s awesome! If I do say so myself…)
So, while you can see some of my stash from Halloween last night (above), I didn’t go crazy shoving sugar down my throat. The fun was in dressing up and hanging out with my friends. We cruised around the neighborhood, and then Charlie had a party and invited our class. It was a really active night. It was a blast!
I’m going to donate some of my extra treats (yes Dad, some to you too!) and take it easy with what I’ve got. Xavier doesn’t have a big sweet tooth, so he’s doing the same. Most of my friends are, so that’s pretty cool.
So, if you got more treats than tricks last night, enjoy them! Just eat healthy stuff first, balance your treats with being active, and don’t go too crazy.
I hope you had a fun and safe Halloween! What did you dress up as? I borrowed some stuff from Davis, and I went as (get this!):
Dr. A Cula
(get it??)
Dracula!!
Ha, it was pretty funny. I had an old stethoscope, fake ID badge from ‘Transylvania General’, a white coat, big fake syringe, fake blood, and everything!
Okay, so my mom has a friend back in Canada who’s doing some pretty cool stuff with healthy eating.
Her name is Wendy McCallum, and she basically teaches people about eating simpler. But the cool thing is that she talks a lot about ‘whole’ foods – that’s stuff without a lot of extra ingredients or additives – that’s really tasty too. It all adds up to better energy and better for you.
My buddy Charlie wasn’t convinced. As he said to me, “I don’t want to eat nuts and berries all day!”
After Mom gave him the big eye roll, she showed us Wendy’s website, and the food looks amazing! Charlie kept saying, “I’d eat that… I could make that!…” sounding kind of surprised at himself.
Anyway, Wendy’s company is called Simple Balance. You can check it out at www.simple-balance.ca
We were looking at all the lunch ideas, snack, and other stuff on her blog. (That’s what got Charlie really revved up.) Check out Wendy’s blog here.
Hope you’re all having an awesome week after the Columbus Day (here in the U.S.) and Thanksgiving (in Canada) long weekend. Since my mom is Canadian (and I’m half Canadian), we had a delicious Thanksgiving dinner. That was followed by our traditional ‘if you don’t move, you’re gonna burst’ hike that Mom makes us, er, invites us to go on. By the time we sat down to watch a movie that night, I felt great.
(I love taking all the good traditions from both countries!)
I really do love getting out and hiking with my family or with my friends. But when my buddy Charlie and I were talking about it, he told me that “traipsing through the forest” was boring. Our exact conversation:
Me: We should get the gang and do that trail my family did on the weekend.
Charlie: Why?
me: Cause it’s fun and you’re getting outside and exercising.
Charlie: (grunt) But what is there to do, really, on a hike?
me: Uh, walk?
Okay, so it went downhill from there.
But I got what Charlie was saying. I love walking and hiking in nature, but he needs a little extra motivation to get out there. So I had a lightbulb moment. Charlie is (as you know from the book) an artsy guy. He doesn’t just love acting. He loves everything artistic. So I showed him some pictures we have from some of the hikes and walks we’ve done.
Check them out, below. (I love the early morning one along that lakeside trail.)
And I suggested he bring his camera (or at least his phone) and take some pictures himself.
So my friends are all going to do a couple hour trail walk this weekend, and Charlie’s looking forward to it now.
If an activity sounds (as Charlie said) “booorrrrrring”… Just add something to make it fun. Bring a great picnic, take some pictures, look for cool stuff in the forest…
Hey! I’ve got something to show you. Sue sent this youtube video to us, and I’ve got to tell you, it’s pretty amazing.
This guy, John O’Sullivan, is a coach who started the ‘Changing the Game Project’. He noticed that kids were dropping out of sports by the time they got to be my age, and even younger. (I notice that too.) He wants to put the fun back in youth sports.
You might even want to get your folks or whoever you hang out with to watch it too.
Luckily, my folks don’t push me to play or run (I like to motivate myself), or criticize my game when I’m playing tennis. But I’ve seen parents and coaches be really tough on their kids. I can see why they don’t want to play anymore.
Like I said in ‘Balance It Out‘, you’ve got to have fun being active.
If you want to learn more about Changing the Game Project, check it out at www.changingthegameproject.com
Oh yeah, want to know what a TED Talk is? ‘TED’ stands for ‘Technology, Entertainment, Design’ but today, TED Talks can be about just about anything as long as they share ideas to help make the world a better place. John O’Sullivan’s talk is super inspiring.
Okay, so here we are in October, which seems like the appropriate time to talk about a good Fall activity like hiking. (Plus, I saw Sue’s tweet about hiking making you happier, and I thought I’d go with it.)
Hiking is one thing my family has always done a lot of. (Are you surprised, knowing my parents?) Depending on where you live, Fall is an awesome time to hike… it’s a little bit cooler, like here in North Carolina, or the leaves have started to change, like up in New England or in Canada.
Hiking is great exercise, and the sky’s the limit! You can go with your family or some friends. (One time, a bunch of guys from Dad’s basketball team came with us, and they kept having to duck under tree branches.) You can choose an easy walking hike, or something a little more challenging. It can be a couple of hours in a local park, or a full day. If you live in a city, you can do an ‘urban hike’ with a couple of historical or cultural landmarks as stops.
I’ve been hiking since before I could walk (Dad carried me around in some kind of open baby backpack), so I’ve learned some tips for a safe and fun hike:
* Always tell people where you’re going AND when you plan to be back.
* Dress in layers and bring an extra jacket or hoodie, just in case.
* Bring a cellphone. (But don’t only depend on it: you might be in an area where you can’t get a signal.)
* Bring a backpack with enough water and snacks. Hiking can really use a lot of energy. Besides, it’s fun to stop and have lunch or snacks. Besides sandwiches and stuff like that, some of my favorite snacks are GORP (remember what that means from the book? ‘Good old raisins and peanuts’… but I add other stuff also), fruit, dark chocolate, almonds, granola bars, and cut up veggies. We usually make some stuff too, like muffins.
* Leave nothing behind. We always leave hiking trails the way we found them, which means bringing any wrappers and trash with us.
* Don’t forget your sunscreen. And a hat. (I always have a mini first aid kit too, or a least a few band aids!)
* Wear comfortable sneakers or hiking boots. Definitely don’t wear a brand new pair of shoes on a long hike, or you could have really sore feet and blisters by the end of it.
* Hug a tree! (Now that I got your attention…) ‘Hug a tree’ is a way to remember that if you ever get lost, don’t keep wandering around aimlessly. Stay where you are so you can be found easier. So, yeah, you can hang out by a tree. We always have a whistle with us, just in case we need to let someone know where we are.
Hiking is one of those things that you don’t necessarily think about doing with your friends, or coercing your family to do. But it really is fun.
(In fact, I wish I could be out hiking now, but homework calls!)
Now that Fiona is back to her old self again, she showed me this video that’s really inspiring. It’s this ballet dancer named Misty Copeland, who is incredible! (Check out her leg muscles!)
The video is a commercial for Under Armour, but the real message is that you can be anything you want to be. Their slogan is ‘I will what I want.’
(I love it that – like we said in Balance It Out – it’s not about being skinny.)
Man, it’s been a hectic week! Sue and I just got our first book out in my new series. (Yeah!) And then there’s homework, tennis practice… And frankly, Ralph couldn’t care less that I just published a book when he wants to go out.
So I thought I start with ‘getting started’. It just seems kind of appropriate for my first real blog post.
Have you ever been sitting around, maybe watching some tv or on your iPad, and you realize you should get out and do something? (Or are ordered to get off your butt and get outside – same deal.) Sometimes it’s tough to get started unless you have a practice or something you have to be at.
So, I was talking to our friend Davis, and he told me something his P.E. teacher used to say to beginning athletes: “Just put on your sneakers and get out there for 10 minutes. If you’re not having fun after 10 minutes, stop. No problem.”
Hmm. Simple yet clever. It’s not so hard to say to yourself, “Okay, I’ll put my shoes on and get out for 10 minutes.” It’s easy in fact.
You can hop on your bike, shoot hoops, take your dog for a walk, walk up the street and see if anyone’s around, go for a little jog… the possibilities are endless. What ends up happening though, is that you usually end up staying out – and active – for longer. In my neighborhood, you usually end up meeting up with someone else and riding, kicking around a ball, whatever.
You should try it! Next time you want to (or are ordered to) do something active, just think: Put my shoes on and give it 10 minutes.
Getting started is easier than we think. And usually leads to more fun.
