Members: (Left to Right) SATYAGRAHA, MAZUR157, BYTHYSEA, EZMERELDA, TARA925, FRECKS96, DDOORN

One of the GREAT accomplishments of our local SparkTeam is that when adjusted for population, Binghamton is NUMBER TWO in the USA on the city leaderboards for accumulating Fitness Minutes!! We even beat Cincinnati...woo hoo! :-)

Our local SparkTeam the Binghamton Area Losers held our Spark Rally yesterday from 10:30 to 2 pm. Nine of us (including THREE SparkTeam Leaders!) met at a restaurant where we had lively discussions about "The Spark" along with other topics such as creating vision collages, some of the goals we had for ourselves, suggestions for health foods and food preparations, types of workouts we preferred, tips for maintaining a healthy kitchen and the importance of motivating ourselves through positive coaching strategies for ourselves. We also looked forward to types of gatherings we would enjoy in the future including returning to the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life fundraiser (and other fundraisers as well!), kayaking and potluck get-togethers at our local parks. We also want to be sure to have meet 'n greets which are "user-friendly" for those who have limitations which prevent them from being more physically active.

Another idea was to become more connected and involved with any / all local health events such as health fairs, conferences and conventions by doing presentations, discussions promoting SparkPeople and Spreading the Spark!

Around noon time we moved outdoors to our local Rail to Trail for a 4.2 mile walk on a gloriously sunny 40 degree day. We continued to enjoy super conversation while having fun moving along the trail. I even broke out my Nordic Walking Poles to *at long last* USE 'EM! A tad awkward at first, but I soon felt natural with them and was pleased by the upper body work they offered while walking. It's been said that they add another 20% caloric burn to one's walk...so hey, why not? :-)

I am SO PSYCHED and LOOKING FORWARD to getting to know more of my local fellow members of SparkPeople and getting together in the future for more fun and good causes!

Don