(Editor’s note: Marcia Worth-Baker is blogging about her experience as a participant in SOFit15. She receives no compensation from The Village Green or from any businesses she mentions in these posts, and she pays for the classes she takes.)
Guilt-free, gluten-free, dairy-free cheesecake? Yes, it exists at Above Restaurant, where South Orange Health & Fitness Challenge participants gathered for dinner last week. On Thursday night, about 50 of us came together for a healthy meal of grilled salmon or chicken, salad, roasted vegetables, and an extraordinary mini-cheesecake. What kept us all at the tables for hours, though, was the company. We met, mingled, and shared our motivation for becoming fit.
Dr. Hugh Snyder, whose practice is the Summit Family Practice, launched the movement that became #SOFit2015. He talked to trustees, and a good idea became a fitness initiative that twice, due to popular demand, extended its membership limit. Village trustees Steve Schnall, Sheena Collum, and Mark Rosner attended the dinner.
Individual stories of what drew us are compelling, and I’ll share some here in future posts. However, what grew from the gathering is this: if you see someone around town with a SOFit t-shirt, or see that hashtag online or a menu, please ask us more. Most of us involved are eager to share our experiences with local fitness initiatives, and we welcome public support. Even a casual, “How’s it going?” is validation of the effort to live more healthfully.
I have had a busy week or two and I have allowed exercise to fall off my agenda. At the same time, I’m not eating well either. I wasn’t feeling hopeful about getting my act back together soon. However, I feel more motivated after getting together with the group. It was meaningful to me to learn of the many local businesses offering support. When D&I Fitness, Maplewood Karate, and Spa Lady offer us big discounts – which I can’t wait to use – I feel that those local folks are saying they believe in us. (A full and growing list of opportunities is here, for participants or members of the public who want to check it out.)
So if you see us wearing our shirts or showing off our #SOFit15 cards, ask us about our challenge. If we’re making progress, we’ll share. And if not, well, we will tell you good the cheesecake was.
Next Week….The Weigh-In, Part 2
