They don't get it

[limewave]

I go by a school bus stop on my way home from work. It happens to be the kid's personal driveway and his house is set not even a quartermile from the road. Everyday his mom is waiting for him at the end of the drive in a golf cart. A friggin golf cart! We are such a sedentary nation . . .

[kaybee]

I go by a school bus stop on my way home from work. It happens to be the kid's personal driveway and his house is set not even a quartermile from the road. Everyday his mom is waiting for him at the end of the drive in a golf cart. A friggin golf cart! We are such a sedentary nation . . .

That is really sad, it is exactly why this generation of children has a lower life expectancy than our generation does! God made our bodies to move and we as a society just won't do it.

KB

[SadieKate]

I go by a school bus stop on my way home from work. It happens to be the kid's personal driveway and his house is set not even a quartermile from the road. Everyday his mom is waiting for him at the end of the drive in a golf cart. A friggin golf cart! We are such a sedentary nation . . .

Limewave, do you know that the mother doesn't have some kind of disability that may make the walk too hard or impossible? I agree with all that's been said but I also am trying ever so hard not to just assume one and all are hale and hardy. Perhaps you know that this woman should be able to walk the 1/4 mile just fine, I'm just throwing this out there as a thought for consideration. I get just as urked as you about our lazy nation but then meet someone who can't walk the 1/4 mile even if they wanted.

[Python]

My friend's like that and she's not even 40 yet. She is really bad with arthritis, used to cycle a lot with her husband and two daughters but there are times now her knees just give way under her. She's fallen down the stairs twice in the last 6 weeks because her knees gave out under her. She has been put to the top of the waiting list for an operation on her knees which they hope will help her to walk better. The knock on effect is that she has put on so much weight she is classed as clinically obese so it's a vicious circle. She needs to lose weight desperately but can't exercise. She is so bad with arthritis she can't do the ironing. Her husband has to do it and most of the housework. She said the other night that she wished she could come out on her bike with me as she knows it would help her lose weight. She is under doctors orders to try and lose weight, eats very sensibly and is losing weight but it is a slow process and there's no way she can speed it up. She is on medication to try to help her lose weight. I would so love for her to come out cycling with me but know she can't

[Tuckervill]

From another forum (food and weight loss), do you have people in your life who just don't get it. Don't understand why you ride, or why you ride the way you do?

Not to be catty, but ahemmm, most people on food and WEIGHT LOSS forums don't get exercise at all. They're mostly full of excuses about why they can't lose weight and would rather talk about it than do the things they talk about.

I'm a big fatty and I've tried and tried and I can't find any serious support on any weight loss forum. When you read comments like "I'm going to get serious and try to lose 10 pounds in two weeks." you know that this person is delusional. And when I try to point out the calorie deficit she'd have to achieve to lose that much in two weeks, I'm pounced on for not being supportive.

Sorry about the thread hijack...but I get it, I really do.

Karen

[SouthernBelle]

Not to be catty, but ahemmm, most people on food and WEIGHT LOSS forums don't get exercise at all. They're mostly full of excuses about why they can't lose weight and would rather talk about it than do the things they talk about.

I'm a big fatty and I've tried and tried and I can't find any serious support on any weight loss forum. When you read comments like "I'm going to get serious and try to lose 10 pounds in two weeks." you know that this person is delusional. And when I try to point out the calorie deficit she'd have to achieve to lose that much in two weeks, I'm pounced on for not being supportive.

Sorry about the thread hijack...but I get it, I really do.

Karen

No you misunderstood. The people who eat well and exercise have friends and family who don't get their dedication. The thread I referenced was started by a 60 y.o. man whose wife doesn't understand his dedication to healthy foods and 6 days a week at the gym. He's been doing this for 3 years and has been at a healthy weight for a long time.

[Python]

It can be very difficult for someone who is overweight, needs and wants to exercise but because of physical constraints, can't. About the only exercise my friend can take now is swimming. She can't raise her arms above her head because of spondylosis (sp) in her neck and spine so she has difficulty getting in and out of the swimming pool. She went to see an orthopaedic specialist on Monday and he thinks there may be something else wrong with her lower spine and has put her down for further tests. She so wants to be active because she has two young daughters, age 9 and 10 and wants to do things with them that at the moment she can't. She can walk 200 yards to my house but any further than that and she has to use a walking stick. It's so sad in someone so young

I sometimes feel guilty because I'm 10 years older and bouncing around like a demented frisbee, walking or cycling everywhere. I know if she could get on her bike, she would lose weight an awful lot quicker. It's a catch 22 situation.

[Crankin]

Here's my humble take on these things. Most of long time non-cycling friends don't get it, but they accept that I continue to need to do these things (cycle, gym, active vacations, hike, etc). The one that pisses me off is constantly telling me how she "used" to hike, climb mountains in Europe, etc. She plays tennis, but like a little old lady. She looked like she was in good shape until a couple of years ago, but now, it's all gone to pot. She can't go on a walk without huffing and puffing and complaining about her hot flashes. I spend a lot more time with my husband and another couple who ride and are as obsessive as we are. We also are obsessive about food and going out to eat, so we keep exercising! The people my age at work don't get it and never will. They didn't get it 20 years ago, either, when I was teaching aerobics and making sure i got a babysitter every week so my husband and I could go out without the kids (different workplace, same complaining type of females). Now that my school has mostly younger teachers, a lot of them get it. They tell me I'm a role model.
As for the mom waiting in the driveway with a car, don't get me started... When we moved to our last house, my kids were in 5th and 7th grade. We lived on a cul de sac, 2 houses from the connecting street, where the bus stopped. We were the only ones who did not sit in the car with our kids (in high school, no less!) in bad weather, or at any time. We gave them umbrellas and made sure they had snow hats... several times the other mothers made my kids sit their cars while waiting for the bus. Sometimes I watched from my window, and other times i drove right by, on my way to work. They also had to shovel their car out on snowy mornings when they started driving (the other parents did it for their kids). What is wrong with these people? My husbnd said that in our new neighborhood there are cars lined up by the high school bus stop every morning.

[Tuckervill]

I did misunderstand. Wish I had time to find a forum where people were serious and not in denial about weight loss!

But my anecdote still stands.

Karen

[Geonz]

How much website space and publicity is spent on bicycling... andwhat percentage of that is spent on "bicycling safety?" I remember reading (in another forum, maybe?) that somebody mused that when people talk about skiing with non-skiiers, they still talk about how much fun it is, not so much about how hazardous it is.
I would really like to change the sad reality that my gradual shift from being a car person to using the bike for almost all transportation has been a gradual shift into being someone "on the fringe" and a minor celebrity. I wish people could realize that while I've never been confused for normal, I honestly was your average couch potato for most of the years of my adult life before I decided that I'd rather be different and healthy. Healthy shouldn't be weird!
Ready to do some serious culture jamming here

[lph]

Re: family that "don't get it": my mother and I have always been the active ones in the family. She used to go hiking in the mountains for many years until now she has a really bad hip that needs replacing. I'm the one "bouncing around like a demented frisbee"...

My father is kind of a distracted genius, and has never put any store in taking care of his body, that annoying appendage to his mind. He started having mild heart trouble five years ago, and in the course of a few months had a bypass operation replacing FIVE arteries.

My brother was the same. He never exercised, sedentary lifestyle, ate anything put in front of him, smoked a few cigarettes a day. He died 3 months ago, 41 years old, of a massive heart attack.

Take care of yourselves! It DOES make a difference.

[btchance]

I go by a school bus stop on my way home from work. It happens to be the kid's personal driveway and his house is set not even a quartermile from the road. Everyday his mom is waiting for him at the end of the drive in a golf cart. A friggin golf cart! We are such a sedentary nation . . .

In my apartment complex two kids (who just happen to be overweight) were given motorized scooters to play with as if they were bikes. These were designed for people who can't get around, not for kids to drive around in the street. When I was growing up, it was always bikes or skateboards. I just don't get this.

But back to the original post - I get it all the time. Parts of my family can't understand why I would do this, and it scares them to death when I'm on the road with cars, or on the trails where I may fall. At least some of them understand why I have to be doing this, as a release from all the stresses of everyday life. Hey, at least they get part of it.