seven bridges to weight loss
Without enough money to book an exotic holiday -- and feeling glad in a way that they would avoid airport crushes and possible terrorist strikes -- Giovanna decided to treat the kids to a holiday experience in their own city craftily designed to whip herself (and them) into shape!
"At first they were happy, thinking it would mean movies and McDonald's every day," laughs Giovanna, "but they moaned and groaned and tried to make me feel like a mean and nasty mom when they heard what I had in mind."
"Around where I live there are seven bridges," says Giovanna, "and I proposed that we walked all of them."
"We all needed to lose a bit of weight and it sounded like a healthy thing to do and hopefully a fun thing, too," says Giovanna, "and I was right on both counts. It was the best experience we could have had."
"We started off with the nearest bridge, about an hour's walk away, and packed a picnic lunch," says Giovanna. "It was strange leaving the car at home, but I reminded the kids that we were having an adventure. We were on holiday!"
"Actually, the first walk took us much longer than an hour, but that was okay," says Giovanna. "We weren't out to break any records and I didn't push the kids to walk faster because I wanted them to enjoy themselves and look forward to the next bridge walk."
"My daughter is 8 and surprisingly she coped much better with the walk than my son, 10," says Giovanna. "I suppose he thought we were doing something girly, and didn't care, but when he saw how his sister was way ahead of him he woke up to himself."
"As we walked, we talked and laughed and pointed out things that interested us,"says Giovanna, "and reaching the first bridge was a wonderful achievement. The picnic was a welcome reward, and although I expected fatigue on the walk home it wasn't an issue at all. In fact, we all seemed to gain extra energy!"
"I'm so glad the first bridge walk was a pleasant experience because it would have been very difficult getting them to accompany me on the second bridge walk --two hours walk away!"
"The next day they were up before I was, excitedly talking about the second bridge walk," laughs Giovanna. "And we made it in less than two hours. Suddenly,it had become a goal to achieve, a mountain to climb, and I was so proud of my kids for taking it on like a real challenge."
"Yes, we made all seven bridge walks and the only one we had any trouble with was the fifth one, which didn't have pedestrian access."
"We walked for miles around it, trying to find a way to walk the bridge,but apparently it was for vehicles only and this information wasn't mentioned on the map we used," sighs Giovanna. "Several passing motorists honked us and one guy shouted out something about a crazy lady. It was a nasty experience."
"We got home about 11pm after the fifth bridge walk, hungry, thirsty and exhausted -- feeling disappointed that we couldn't claim it as an actual walk over the bridge -- and I didn't think the kids would want to try the 6th and 7th bridge walk," says Giovanna, "but to their credit they did."
"They're back at school now and I'm back at work, and we still talk about our bridge walking holiday as the most exciting thing we've ever done."
"It's the first holiday we've had -- at home or away -- where we did something memorable together and in doing so we became very close and shared thoughts that we otherwise would have kept to ourselves."
"I got to know my kids really well on the bridge walks," says Giovanna, "and I'm so proud of them both for being little troopers, and slimmer little troopers now, too."
(Giovanna's story first appeared as bridge walking and is reprinted with permission.)
"At first they were happy, thinking it would mean movies and McDonald's every day," laughs Giovanna, "but they moaned and groaned and tried to make me feel like a mean and nasty mom when they heard what I had in mind."
"Around where I live there are seven bridges," says Giovanna, "and I proposed that we walked all of them."
"We all needed to lose a bit of weight and it sounded like a healthy thing to do and hopefully a fun thing, too," says Giovanna, "and I was right on both counts. It was the best experience we could have had."
"We started off with the nearest bridge, about an hour's walk away, and packed a picnic lunch," says Giovanna. "It was strange leaving the car at home, but I reminded the kids that we were having an adventure. We were on holiday!"
"Actually, the first walk took us much longer than an hour, but that was okay," says Giovanna. "We weren't out to break any records and I didn't push the kids to walk faster because I wanted them to enjoy themselves and look forward to the next bridge walk."
"My daughter is 8 and surprisingly she coped much better with the walk than my son, 10," says Giovanna. "I suppose he thought we were doing something girly, and didn't care, but when he saw how his sister was way ahead of him he woke up to himself."
"As we walked, we talked and laughed and pointed out things that interested us,"says Giovanna, "and reaching the first bridge was a wonderful achievement. The picnic was a welcome reward, and although I expected fatigue on the walk home it wasn't an issue at all. In fact, we all seemed to gain extra energy!"
"I'm so glad the first bridge walk was a pleasant experience because it would have been very difficult getting them to accompany me on the second bridge walk --two hours walk away!"
"The next day they were up before I was, excitedly talking about the second bridge walk," laughs Giovanna. "And we made it in less than two hours. Suddenly,it had become a goal to achieve, a mountain to climb, and I was so proud of my kids for taking it on like a real challenge."
"Yes, we made all seven bridge walks and the only one we had any trouble with was the fifth one, which didn't have pedestrian access."
"We walked for miles around it, trying to find a way to walk the bridge,but apparently it was for vehicles only and this information wasn't mentioned on the map we used," sighs Giovanna. "Several passing motorists honked us and one guy shouted out something about a crazy lady. It was a nasty experience."
"We got home about 11pm after the fifth bridge walk, hungry, thirsty and exhausted -- feeling disappointed that we couldn't claim it as an actual walk over the bridge -- and I didn't think the kids would want to try the 6th and 7th bridge walk," says Giovanna, "but to their credit they did."
"They're back at school now and I'm back at work, and we still talk about our bridge walking holiday as the most exciting thing we've ever done."
"It's the first holiday we've had -- at home or away -- where we did something memorable together and in doing so we became very close and shared thoughts that we otherwise would have kept to ourselves."
"I got to know my kids really well on the bridge walks," says Giovanna, "and I'm so proud of them both for being little troopers, and slimmer little troopers now, too."
(Giovanna's story first appeared as bridge walking and is reprinted with permission.)
Labels: bridge walking, bridges, family holidays, holiday, kids, walking, weight loss
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