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| Play safe-don't drive and catch critters |
In his never-ending quest to keep up with current trends in the high-tech world, Jeff has succumbed to the pressure to join the Pokemon GO movement with me. It's become an enormous virtual cult invading the real world and dragging gamers of all ages out of their digital habitats and into the great outdoors. Or at least outside of their own front doors and into new and foreign enclosures like the local mall (everyone knows that true "techies" do all of their shopping online!). Unfortunately this means that some of our other apps are being neglected in favor of levelling up in our Pokemon game. Our Nike Running apps have been discarded like those leftovers that have begun to grow fur in the back of your fridge. This presents a problem in the wardrobe department. How will I know when I have walked 300 miles in my sneakers and need to go shopping for new ones??? Actually, the Pokemon GO app tracks my distance, but in kilometers. I just have to keep an eye on the "Jogger" medal. I have to walk 482.803 kilometers before I get new shoes. (So not fair! It's only 300 in miles! *Yes, that is a dumb blonde joke. I know it's the same distance. Sheesh!*) I had 21.5 miles logged onto the Nike app (since my last new pair), so I convert that to kilometers, add the 58.27 kilometers I've racked up on Pokemon so far (OH THE MATH!!!!!) and I'm 92.8709 kilometers to shoe shopping day!
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| Let me grab my purse... |
So what you guys want to know is, "Is this game of yours REALLY getting you and Jeff out walking? Are you TRULY seeing any benefits to your health?" I'm going to say mostly yes. Like 85 to 90% yes. We are definitely getting out and walking. I've logged 36 miles (I did the conversion for you. You're welcome.) in the 18 days since I started playing. No, I haven't been playing every day, but yesterday I got up early and walked down at the Silverdale waterfront for about 45 minutes BEFORE going to work. In my 46 years on this Earth I have never once done any kind of exercise BEFORE going in to my job. Pokemon GO just may be the end of the world as we know it. And since Jeff has joined me in the game, we are getting out for walks a little more often. Now, in all fairness, our walking is sometimes fairly slow or stop-and-go due to the demand for concentration required to capture some of the more difficult critters. And Jeff (having done some internet research, as is his nature when tackling any new venture) has discovered a few ways to cheat the game. If you drive under 10 miles an hour with the app open, it will count as "walking". He is able to accomplish this safely when he is working in areas on military bases where slow driving is required. Also, if you open the app, plug your phone in and leave it on your desk at work, you will gain a very miniscule number of kilometers walked. Like maybe half a kilometer in a work day. But MOSTLY we don't cheat. And Jeff more so than me. He's such a rebel!
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| Bad to the bone!!! |
If you're interested in trying out this game, you should know that it will have an affect on your relationships and contact with the general public that you may not have expected. First off is Poke-fights. As I have mentioned before, I am not a gamer by nature. Jeff most definitely IS. When Jeff joined my team I was completely ignorant of how gaming can get quite heated when attempting the multi-player version of a virtual battle. In the Pokemon game, you can fight other Pokemon players in a virtual "gym". Sounds fun, right? Jeff and I were getting the hang of this combat thing and taking over a handful of local gyms one evening. We stopped at the park by our home for the last takeover of a long evening. Sitting in the car (don't judge-we walked a lot that night!) my phone was not allowing me to compete, giving me the "This gym is too far away" message. I had voiced my irritation with my phone, but Jeff hadn't heard me and charged ahead into battle without me. He got really frustrated because he was losing the fight without my assistance. (Don't judge. He's a tough guy.) I showed him the notification on my phone that I was too far away and he hollered, "Well get out of the car then!!!" Oh, really? Apparently (and Katie has confirmed this to be true) when gamers are not performing up to snuff, it is perfectly acceptable and fairly common for their associates to become verbally abusive toward not only the game, but also toward themselves and others. So this was my introduction to collaborative game-play. I should note that Jeff was very sweet and apologetic afterward. And, might I add, quite forgiving the next day when a certain short, blonde woman he lives with became hot-tempered over his failure to drive home the "right way" so she could collect more needed items from Poke-stops as her virtual bag of gadgets and gizmos was barren (we're not naming names here). So we both have that competitive spirit (you guys knew THAT) and can get a little carried away in the heat of combat. Which makes us an invincible team when we're tearing down other players' gyms. BOOM!!!!!
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| This one is just for Jeff |
Also, date nights are a lot different now. Last night our walking/Pokemon playing took us down to the Bremerton waterfront boardwalk, a place where we don't generally spend a lot of time. We walked for about 4 hours, along with a sizeable population of fellow Pokemon players. It's quite amusing seeing such large groups of people wandering back and forth, all staring at their phones. People will strike up conversations with total strangers, especially when they overhear your Pokemon-related conversations and outbursts. Early in the evening, Jeff and I were discussing a Pokemon character that Jeff refers to as "Tits McGhee" and I call "Jugs" when a guy interrupted, asking if we were talking about "Jynx". Jeff pointed out that this fella and I were both wearing "Book of Mormon" T-shirts. We chatted a moment and resumed our walking, with this guy discussing all things Pokemon, often keeping step in-between Jeff and I, making our "couples evening" a trio for much longer than was comfortable for me. We eventually engaged in conversation with another guy and then broke free from the two dudes to continue our romantic stroll for two.
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| Tits McGhee |
We have also walked through the nearby cemetaries playing the game because there are a plethora of Poke-stops and gyms there. I know, I know. I feel a little creepy about it. There is a part of me that feels there is something a little disrespectful about playing a video game in the sacred resting place of others. Jeff has a number of family members there and we both have some friends interred in this particular cemetary, so we visit the gravesites, clear away dead flowers and pay our respects. This area is up quite a steep incline, so it's a heck of a workout, too. Date-night at the cemetary? THAT'S a new one.
ENOUGH about the game already! There's more to us than some silly game!
I may have forsaken my Nike app, but I am still quite enamored of my Jawbone Up band. I try to get those 10,000 steps every day, or at least several times a week. I try to get at least 500 steps in before I leave the house for work. Every morning after my shower I'm walking around the house brushing my teeth wearing a towel. It's a challenge to brush my teeth, walk and not drop the towel. I'd just as soon forget the towel but, you now, windows. (For you tech-geeks I don't mean the Microsoft operating system, I'm talking about the glass squares in the walls that, when opened, create glare on your screens.)
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| This Pokemon obsession has to stop!!!! |
For the last couple of months I seem to be losing and regaining the same 5 pounds. So I started taking my measurements again a few weeks ago and there is definitely a drop in inches. So it isn't the SAME 5 pounds, I think it's 5 pounds of fat lost versus 5 pounds of muscle gained. That's the theory I'm going with because it sounds so much better than complete and total failure. Power of positive thinking!!!
I'm still trying out new low-carb recipes to vary our diet and keep things interesting. We had been eating an awful lot of grilled animal flesh and roasted veggies. While Katie, Jeff and I really like these meals, they were getting extremely monotonous. Jeff hasn't fired up the barbecue in a number of weeks. Oddly enough, he prefers grilling in the rainy season. He's not a huge fan of standing outside in the hot summer sun, sweating over our dinner. And, since we are blessed with air-conditioning, turning on the oven in the sweltering heat is not a big deal. My Pinterest addiction for recipes of a low-carb nature is rivalling my Pokemon obsession right now! And with summer school being over, I have even more time to experiment. I'm hoping to have an arsenal of at least 10 go-to meal ideas by the time school starts in a month so I don't have to try to think when I get home from work.
So what are some of the ways that you're getting in 10,000 steps a day? What are your thoughts on playing Pokemon GO at a graveyard? Comment below or email me at: sprout624@gmail.com
Want to try some of the recipes I'll be test-driving this summer? Check out my Pinterest board at:
https://www.pinterest.com/missgigi70/low-carb-meal-ideas/
Thanks for reading!
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| For my puppy parents and dog-loving friends. |
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