Saturday, December 13, 2014

Walk the Talk with Jabber Walk

Exercise has always meant dance to me so it has always been puzzling when people said they were too bored to exercise. Equally puzzled is my fitness freak husband who loves his runs more than he loves me. I have made peace with it since its the least of the evils out there. I'm ok as long as I don’t come second to a phone or an Ipad. 

As important as it is to keep our Body Mass Index in check, its essential that we enjoy the experience of leading a healthy lifestyle. Movies, magazines, social media and every other thing around us contribute to making us believe that being slim = being healthy. 

“Get up! Lose that belly!!” Look fabulous after you have starved yourself to death. 


Almost every weight loss/ healthy living program shares the same annoying condescending tone. Why would anyone ever want to 'fix' themselves after being shamed into it? 

Imagine there was a huge ad for a gym which said work out for an hour a day and enjoy a big juicy burger guilt free!!

Gyms around the world get their highest enrollments and client flow in the month of Jan and it starts to drop mid way through the year. So its a given that over time, exercise turns into a mundane, boring activity. 

So to break the routine, once a week my husband and I would go on a long walk...to chat catch up and soak in a little bit of the outdoors. It worked for both of us coz I got to talk to him without interruption and he couldn't run away. He loved it coz he could do the 2 things he loved simultaneously....walk and listen to my beautiful voice *flattered blinks*

We gradually began exploring new walking tracks around the city and introduced the idea to a couple of our friends. Everyone seemed to enjoy it and we continued adding new people to the group. We strapped on our fit-bits, fuel bands, jawbones etc and tallied our stats after each walk.  



 Now it was time to brand ourselves and organize the idea a little better. We were clear that we wanted the concept to remain casual where weight loss was never a concern. Make your fitness routine fun and you will realize that the advantages you reap are twofold. So keeping it cool and casual we decided to name it 'Jabber Walk’ (Get it? Jabber away as you Walk)
























Our 1st real Jabber Walk with a group was in March last year and since we've done 25 walks around the city. On an average we have about 12 enthusiastic Jabber Walkers every week. We managed to  gather some impressive statistics last year with a completion of 144 kms in 32hrs burning a collective 6,741 Calories!!

So while we chat our way to good health there are more perks to Jabber Walking. A real experience of this beautiful city.  We have covered 12 different routes in different parts of Muscat. We've mixed it up between hilltop treks, beach walks and garden walks. My personal favorites are the PDO walk and the walking track by the Seeb exhibition center.  



My resolution for 2015 is to find balance in everything I do. To start with, I will eat a big frosted cupcake when my heart wants it and Jabber Walk when my body needs it.

Do let me know if you are interested in being a part of the Jabber Walk clan :)