Trade Your Games for Gym Passes

[fitbabits]

From the 'it'll never work, will it?' category comes this story (http://www.pioneerlocal.com/cgi-bin/ppo-story/localnews/current/sc/12-15-05-775395.html):

Worried that your children will spend the next two weeks playing videogames nonstop?

The Schaumburg Park District [in Chicago] is offering a way to get your children up and moving during the upcoming winter break and it's free, but it'll cost them their videogames.

Turn in your children's videogame systems at the park district's Community Recreation Center (CRC) starting Friday and the park district will provide a free pass for open gym and the Water Works at the CRC. The passes are good beginning Monday through Jan. 1.
Don't worry kids, you'll get your systems and games back when school starts up in January! Just in time to distract you from your education.

[The Iron Weasel]

Don't worry kids, you'll get your systems and games back when school starts up in January! Just in time to distract you from your education.

Thank god! I couldn't live if I knew that somewhere out there, there was a kid doing his homework and studying instead of playing video games. :D

[Atepsflame]

They're geniuses! Because god knows that the "smokers turn in their cigarrettes for gym passes" idea worked real well too. Yeah. And the "beer drinkers turn in your beer for soda" and "meth users turn in your meth for niquil" ideas. Yeah. No.

[OUX]

Boooo! Winterbreak is the best time to play videogames, no homework, no responsiblities.

[Kelegacy]

Good idea, but I don't think it will work. Most parents secretly want their kids playing games, because it keeps them out of their hair for a few hours. Lazy parents=lazy kids.

[mightbe]

I call dibs on bitchslapping the first kid who brings in DDR or a Katamari game.

We need to teach our children values. Duh.

In other news, a Dreamcast just became the cheapest gym membership ever.

[ezra]

... and "meth users turn in your meth for niquil".


Hey. It worked for some people, alright?


/meth free since ninety-three!

[AniAko]

I love this idea! Get free stuff for "temporarily misplacing" old-games-you-don't-play-anymore-but-remain-valuable-to-you. Pizza Hut should run a competing program.

"Trade in your games for a while for free personal pan pizzas everyweek until Jan. 1st!!!"

[Nite_Moogle]

Actually they are probably doing this to get some donated video game systems more than to get kids to come to the gym. I work at a dormitory school and our rec room has several donated N64s, SNESs, and a few PS1s. Finding games for those systems is, for the most part, very inexpensive compared to the cost of buying newer systems and games.

[AniAko]

Actually they are probably doing this to get some donated video game systems more than to get kids to come to the gym. I work at a dormitory school and our rec room has several donated N64s, SNESs, and a few PS1s. Finding games for those systems is, for the most part, very inexpensive compared to the cost of buying newer systems and games.

They give the games back at the end of the winter break, you're saying the kids won't come back for their games???? If that's the case they didn't deserve them in the first place :p

[mightbe]

Hey. It worked for some people, alright?


/meth free since ninety-three!

Haw. It must be hell trying to grow your teeth back.

You made me giggle. *thumbs up*

[Nite_Moogle]

Some of them might not, and if they do, hey, bonus.

And that part wasn't in the quoted text, I can't be arsed to read the entire story!

[Liquidize105]

Work that hamburger!

[captainspankypants]

I'm picturing some parent standing at the front desk at a health club -- with a child with red, watery eyes standing sheepishly behind them -- handing the sales clerk a PS2 and saying "He wants a membership."

[Heretic Machine]

Fuck these guys, and fuck any parent who does this to their poor children.

[The Letter 3]

Good call on taking video game systems for winter break then handing them back in time for school! Those kids will get so much more homework done now! oh, wait.

One other obnoxious point I really wanted to make is what would parents do if they had two weeks off and couldn't drive anywhere (I'm putting them in the place of their kids, basically). Hmmm, they would watch TV!

[XxSATANxX]

This is actually right by me. I live in the next suburb over Elk Grove Village. (were a village dammit)

Not sure it's really gonna work but hey not an all bad idea either. Sure hope they like
sega CD!

[fushi]

Yeah, fuck them for fighting obesity.

/hates fat kids. And grownups.

[Kelegacy]

Yeah, fuck them for fighting obesity.

/hates fat kids. And grownups.
fat people should be ground into Spam and given to homeless and the starving.

[Coolnut]

fat people should be ground into Spam and given to homeless and the starving.

mmmmm.... Soylent Green...

[OUX]

fat people should be ground into Spam and given to homeless and the starving.
I'm fat and you make me sad :(

[Kelegacy]

I'm fat and you make me sad :(
Mmm, but you taste so damn good! :)

[AniAko]

Mmm, but you taste so damn good! :)

You'd also gain all of Oux's special powers, like dying in a warthog while bapenguin's driving into a tank...:p

[OUX]

You'd also gain all of Oux's special powers, like dying in a warthog while bapenguin's driving into a tank...:p

To be fair I was shot in the face by my so-called "team mate"

Eat now and also gain my encylopedic knowledge of zomibes...which is usually ignored

[AniAko]

To be fair I was shot in the face by my so-called "team mate"

Eat now and also gain my encylopedic knowledge of zomibes...which is usually ignored

OMFG that was me wasn't it? Sorry if it was dude, but that was pretty funny

It happened like this: Bap was on the opposite team coming for a territory in a warthog. As I was trying to pick off his head, one of my teammates jumped in the passenger spot of the hog, just before I got bap's head in my site. He swerved at the last second and I clipped my teammate in the face. It was on Coag I believe.

[OUX]

OMFG that was me wasn't it? Sorry if it was dude, but that was pretty funny

It happened like this: Bap was on the opposite team coming for a territory in a warthog. As I was trying to pick off his head, one of my teammates jumped in the passenger spot of the hog, just before I got bap's head in my site. He swerved at the last second and I clipped my teammate in the face. It was on Coag I believe.

THAT WAS YOU!?!
you bastard
:p
Yeah that was fun. Who was it that got killed through the window on Zombie?

[AniAko]

THAT WAS YOU!?!
you bastard
:p
Yeah that was fun. Who was it that got killed through the window on Zombie?

I think it was bap, but I followed your advice. "They always come in through the windows"

[ezra]

I like how this thread got sidetracked twice. First to cannibalism, then to Halo 2.

[Dienzen]

I live in schaumburg

lawl

[Logik]

I live in schaumburg

lawl
Same here. This town does shitty stuff like that all the time.

[DeadPixel]

Seriously, how many EA readers are overweight? Before you make fun of anyone at least trying to help others, take a look in a mirror, what have you done lately? Killing a bag of Dorritos in one sitting while playing BF2 does not justify a workout.

[Derwin]

i wonder just how far you can push the definition of "video game" before they refuse to trade for a free membership. i mean, theyre expecting PS2s and XBoxes and GameCubes, which are pretty valuable, to cover the cost. but what if i give them one of those Tiger Electronics handheld toys that were made in the 90s? what if i make my own "game" that's basically just a black box with a light on it and one big button? i can call that a game, can't i? who are they to say?

[Kelegacy]

Seriously, how many EA readers are overweight? Before you make fun of anyone at least trying to help others, take a look in a mirror, what have you done lately? Killing a bag of Dorritos in one sitting while playing BF2 does not justify a workout.

We could start an EvAv Fit Club. But the people who want to lose weight will do so on their own, the ones who don't, don't. Diet and exercise works, and anyone who thinks they have tried both without success has just not done it properly. Cutting calories works 90 percent of the time, the 10 percent failure rate being medication that inhibits weight loss or a medical condition like an overactive thyroid. Still, even under MAOIs and other antidepressants increased exercise and lowered calories still usually results in some sort of weight loss. Don't blame the Prozac completely.

Willpower is a virtue. Strive for it.

[Mr. Lake]

No America! Don't do it! We're not fat enough yet!!!

[baz]

I think the fat videogamer stereotype is pretty damn false. I'm about to do a half marathon in a months time, go to the gym 4 times a week, and still fine time to play games 20 hours+. When I was a kid I played basketball, rugby and soccer, as did my mates who were chronic gamers.

A lot of the fittest people I know game non-stop. Its just lazy parents who don't take their kids out to kick a ball around and stuff.

[OUX]

I think every person should only be allowed to take up a certain amount of space, and if they take up more then that they should have to pay a fine. If you take up two seats on an airplane you have to pay extra, so if you take up two peoples worth of space you should have to do the same. I'm tired of not being able to walk around in stores because all the aisles are congested with fat people.
Yeah lets not ever hear what you think again,mmm k? That alright for you? Yeah? OK then settled.

[Kelegacy]

Fat people should be harvested for their precious oils and their carcasses tossed back into the ocean.

[OUX]

Fat people should be harvested for their precious oils and their carcasses tossed back into the ocean.
If you have never been fat you don't have an opinion about it.

[The Iron Weasel]

I'm overwieght but since I've gotten a job, and looked back on my high school life, I've been eating healthier and getting more exercise (I've dropped a pants size!), but yeah if you've ever been even chubby you know its not that easy to just lose wieght.

[Kelegacy]

I'm overwieght but since I've gotten a job, and looked back on my high school life, I've been eating healthier and getting more exercise (I've dropped a pants size!), but yeah if you've ever been even chubby you know its not that easy to just lose wieght.
Sure it is! Cut your calories down to 1200-1500 calories a day. I'd personally aim for 1250-1300 to really see weight loss, but most chubbsters think they are starving themselves. You may feel hungry, but when you learn to eat until you're satisfied instead of full, you will conquer your addiction to eating and/or bad food. Eat things with useful calories (french fries are an example of wasted calories...up to 600 in a large McDonald's fry--that's a little less than half of what I eat in an entire day!) instead of sugar and fat laced foods and you'll be good as gold. The first 2 weeks are always the hardest, but if you can purge yourself for 2 weeks, you are through the worst part of it.

[Twigmaster]

Sure it is! Cut your calories down to 1200-1500 calories a day. I'd personally aim for 1250-1300 to really see weight loss, but most chubbsters think they are starving themselves. You may feel hungry, but when you learn to eat until you're satisfied instead of full, you will conquer your addiction to eating and/or bad food. Eat things with useful calories (french fries are an example of wasted calories...up to 600 in a large McDonald's fry--that's a little less than half of what I eat in an entire day!) instead of sugar and fat laced foods and you'll be good as gold. The first 2 weeks are always the hardest, but if you can purge yourself for 2 weeks, you are through the worst part of it.

Personally I play alot of games for a fair amount of my day but I dont eat will doing so all that does is pack on the poundage, let alone the fact that typing and stress from knowing that theres always a newb camping around every corner has got to account for some sort calories lost. :D

[AniAko]

I'm overwieght but since I've gotten a job, and looked back on my high school life, I've been eating healthier and getting more exercise (I've dropped a pants size!), but yeah if you've ever been even chubby you know its not that easy to just lose wieght.

Indeed.

I've been on the weight roller coaster a couple of times, but I'm by no means taking up more than my allotted space. Some people are just big, no rhyme or reason to it. Plus I've got a big head, I'd look ridiculous with a small body. ;)
I honestly eat about 1000 calories a day (a little more on the weekends, eh, bar food ya know?) And I exercise every morning and sometimes in the evening. Oh and I drink water like there's no tomorrow. I'm joining a new gym, as weight lifting is the best exercise you can do.

[AniAko]

Sure it is! Cut your calories down to 1200-1500 calories a day. I'd personally aim for 1250-1300 to really see weight loss, but most chubbsters think they are starving themselves. You may feel hungry, but when you learn to eat until you're satisfied instead of full, you will conquer your addiction to eating and/or bad food. Eat things with useful calories (french fries are an example of wasted calories...up to 600 in a large McDonald's fry--that's a little less than half of what I eat in an entire day!) instead of sugar and fat laced foods and you'll be good as gold. The first 2 weeks are always the hardest, but if you can purge yourself for 2 weeks, you are through the worst part of it.

Can I assume you're a trained nutritionalist and physical trainer? Or should I ask you to STFU now?

I'm happy you've had success, but your body's chemistry is very different than even people in your own family, a trained nutritionalist would know that. I consume no saturated fats where ever I possibly can avoid them, no cheese, no oils. I eat whole grain wheat bread only, and I love my veggies. Sorry to burst your bubble twig boy, but McDonald's isn't on my "fat man diet". Different body chemistry, different results.

You are right about determination though. You shouldn't give up, and you should be proud of your accomplishments even if you don't get the results you're looking for. I was a twig until highschool when I started weight training, then I packed on the pounds in college (Yes I learned beer, pizza, stromboli, and Vodka isn't healthy the hard way.) For about a year I've been living a new healthier lifestyle, quit smoking, and I feel about as fit as I did in highschool, minus the bulked up muscles. Although I've lost weight, I'm not down to my Dr's "ideal" weight. I talked to a nutritionalist, and while getting the last of the weight off is important, the most important thing was the healthier lifestyle I've adapted.

[OUX]

Can I assume you're a trained nutritionalist and physical trainer? Or should I ask you to STFU now?

I'm happy you've had success, but your body's chemistry is very different than even people in your own family, a trained nutritionalist would know that. I consume no saturated fats where ever I possibly can avoid them, no cheese, no oils. I eat whole grain wheat bread only, and I love my veggies. Sorry to burst your bubble twig boy, but McDonald's isn't on my "fat man diet". Different body chemistry, different results.

You are right about determination though. You shouldn't give up, and you should be proud of your accomplishments even if you don't get the results you're looking for. I was a twig until highschool when I started weight training, then I packed on the pounds in college (Yes I learned beer, pizza, stromboli, and Vodka isn't healthy the hard way.) For about a year I've been living a new healthier lifestyle, quit smoking, and I feel about as fit as I did in highschool, minus the bulked up muscles. Although I've lost weight, I'm not down to my Dr's "ideal" weight. I talked to a nutritionalist, and while getting the last of the weight off is important, the most important thing was the healthier lifestyle I've adapted.
Right now i am at the point where i just quit smoking and I have started to eat more. I am hoping to get into some kind of routine once break is over because right now it is just so hard. My Mom is one of those people that makes a lot of holiday food and it hurts her feelings if you don't eat any, so that makes it hard to cut back right now.

[Kelegacy]

Indeed.

I've been on the weight roller coaster a couple of times, but I'm by no means taking up more than my allotted space. Some people are just big, no rhyme or reason to it. Plus I've got a big head, I'd look ridiculous with a small body. ;)
I honestly eat about 1000 calories a day (a little more on the weekends, eh, bar food ya know?) And I exercise every morning and sometimes in the evening. Oh and I drink water like there's no tomorrow. I'm joining a new gym, as weight lifting is the best exercise you can do.
I'm not attacking fat people (my above comments about Soylent Green and stuff were jokes, if you couldn't tell) but you need to eat more than 1200 calories a day if you want to have any hope of losing weight. Your body needs a certain amount to function, and without adequate fuel, the body will revolt and refuse to give up any of its precious cargo (fat).

And I agree, people have different chemistries, but not so different that we are different species. The fact of the matter is, lowering calories and increasing exercise WILL help you shed pounds. The rest is motivation and willpower. I work in an office filled with fat women and everyday we have some sort of cookie, donut, or candy offering laying around the office. Our celebrations for the office are always planned around food. They always piss and moan about not being able to lose weight, that they diet but nothing works, but I work with these people everyday and I can observe their eating habits...these same whiners order pizza every day or eat handfuls of candy when they walk by the chocolate dish. They drink lattes covered in whip cream and chocolate, filled with cream and sugar. Because they might have a banana or yogurt with a Lean Cuisine for lunch a couple days a week they think they are on a diet. It's absurd.

I am not a twig. I have been reasonably sized throughout my life, but after college I ballooned up a bit. 210 to be exact. But I care about how I look and I care about my health, so I dieted the healthy way and am now 165 lbs. The ladies in the office think I've gotten too skinny and threaten an intervention, but I am still at a healthy weight and their complaints are echoes of jealous, willpowerless attempts to lose weight themselves. "It's easier for men," they say, but these are people who cannot hold themselves to strict diets for two weeks at a time. Refusing to give up things such as chocolate, potato chips, soda, and french fries will never help you reach your goals. I thought I would go nuts when I first attempted a diet change, being in an office full of deadly food, but I persevered. Now I don't have desires at all, and if I do, I have the strength to splurge once a week--maybe going out to supper and eating outside my diet plan--and then come back and continue on my healthy path.

It's hard at first, but the people who truly want to be healthy, want to lose weight, will do it. I'm an example of this.

And I have to salute you people who quit smoking as well. Stick with it! I admit that quitting smoking and staying quit is a bigger achievement than adhering to a diet plan and losing weight. So congratulations and good luck!

[AniAko]

I'm not attacking fat people (my above comments about Soylent Green and stuff were jokes, if you couldn't tell) but you need to eat more than 1200 calories a day if you want to have any hope of losing weight. Your body needs a certain amount to function, and without adequate fuel, the body will revolt and refuse to give up any of its precious cargo (fat).

And I agree, people have different chemistries, but not so different that we are different species. The fact of the matter is, lowering calories and increasing exercise WILL help you shed pounds. The rest is motivation and willpower. I work in an office filled with fat women and everyday we have some sort of cookie, donut, or candy offering laying around the office. Our celebrations for the office are always planned around food. They always piss and moan about not being able to lose weight, that they diet but nothing works, but I work with these people everyday and I can observe their eating habits...these same whiners order pizza every day or eat handfuls of candy when they walk by the chocolate dish. They drink lattes covered in whip cream and chocolate, filled with cream and sugar. Because they might have a banana or yogurt with a Lean Cuisine for lunch a couple days a week they think they are on a diet. It's absurd.

I am not a twig. I have been reasonably sized throughout my life, but after college I ballooned up a bit. 210 to be exact. But I care about how I look and I care about my health, so I dieted the healthy way and am now 165 lbs. The ladies in the office think I've gotten too skinny and threaten an intervention, but I am still at a healthy weight and their complaints are echoes of jealous, willpowerless attempts to lose weight themselves. "It's easier for men," they say, but these are people who cannot hold themselves to strict diets for two weeks at a time. Refusing to give up things such as chocolate, potato chips, soda, and french fries will never help you reach your goals. I thought I would go nuts when I first attempted a diet change, being in an office full of deadly food, but I persevered. Now I don't have desires at all, and if I do, I have the strength to splurge once a week--maybe going out to supper and eating outside my diet plan--and then come back and continue on my healthy path.

It's hard at first, but the people who truly want to be healthy, want to lose weight, will do it. I'm an example of this.

And I have to salute you people who quit smoking as well. Stick with it! I admit that quitting smoking and staying quit is a bigger achievement than adhering to a diet plan and losing weight. So congratulations and good luck!

Well I'm sorry if I seemed a little agitaed in my response but in your previous post you made it sound "so easy" to lose weight. "You just got to do A, B, and C". I feel that inspires false hope, and can leave many people discouraged if they follow your advice and don't get the results you did. I just didn't like how you presented the information is all, I know this because before I knew better, I used to get discouraged when people used to give this "it's that easy" advice. You hear it on every infomercial, and all the fitness center commercials, and even the supplement commercials. If it was "that" easy why are there 20,000 ways to do it?

I guess what I'm trying to say is don't think it's that easy for everyone. It took a physical toll on me, a mental toll, and a social toll. I ended up in the hospital with back spasms because of the stress the diet was putting on my body, I couldn't remember the smallest of things, I constantly couldn't think of words, but knew the meanings I wanted to use. Socially I had to stay away from being out all night racking up a $300 bar tab, but the friends of mine still wanted to do so, so I kinda feel left out.

So to all us fatty's out there, it maybe easy for you like Kelegacy, and it maybe hard like it was for me. The important point is to NOT get discouraged, and you can do it, but you may have to give up more than you think you might.

[Kelegacy]

Just stay away from the diet pills. Really, they're nothing. High doses of chromium, the ingredient in many diet pills, may even cause harm to your DNA--so if you have offspring it may cause probems. Anyway, diet and exercise is the best way to do it. If you eat healthy and exercise properly, you're on the right track. The "easy diets" with pills and supplements or the fads like Atkins can cause MUCH more harm than good. The easiest way might not feel easy, but it's still the best. Weight loss takes time, it's not something that instantly happens. 2lbs a week is the healthy weight loss target, and that doesn't sound like much and can be discouraging for people who want to see quick results. But it beats starving yourself or killing your innards.

I've gone from being the forum pervert to Richard fucking Simmons. Ugh!

[OUX]

I've gone from being the forum pervert to Richard fucking Simmons. Ugh!

I am still waiting for the difference.

[AniAko]

Just stay away from the diet pills. Really, they're nothing. High doses of chromium, the ingredient in many diet pills, may even cause harm to your DNA--so if you have offspring it may cause probems. Anyway, diet and exercise is the best way to do it. If you eat healthy and exercise properly, you're on the right track. The "easy diets" with pills and supplements or the fads like Atkins can cause MUCH more harm than good. The easiest way might not feel easy, but it's still the best. Weight loss takes time, it's not something that instantly happens. 2lbs a week is the healthy weight loss target, and that doesn't sound like much and can be discouraging for people who want to see quick results. But it beats starving yourself or killing your innards.

I've gone from being the forum pervert to Richard fucking Simmons. Ugh!

Chromium also causes heart attacks :eek:

[mightbe]

Is now a bad time to mention that I think skinny chicks are scary?

[Kelegacy]

Is now a bad time to mention that I think skinny chicks are scary?
You know, I like a girl that is not super skinny, but not fat either. Thick or solid are terms I might use, I guess. I don't want a skeleton and I don't want a blob. In order to meet my breast requirements (not really requirements, i am just attracted to a nice pair of breasts) a girl needs to have some meat on her bones. Healthy meat.

What grosses me out? Those girls that are coined "barely legal". Skinny, nipple bumps for breasts, and adolescent looking. I have never liked that look. It just feels...wrong.

[mightbe]

What grosses me out? Those girls that are coined "barely legal". Skinny, nipple bumps for breasts, and adolescent looking. I have never liked that look. It just feels...wrong.

Amen. The last thing I want to do is wake up and wonder if that's an 11 year old boy next to me.

Nice fleshy booty is also one of my favorite things. Ya know, like Kaylee (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0821612/) or Shakira (http://www.shakira.com/). Grade A booty on those.

And my wife. But there's not a good site for pictures of hers.

[baz]

Yeah, a woman's got to have some body to her.

To lose weight a combination of weights and cardio is the go. Cardio will strip the fat faster, but weights has an awesome long term effect. Doing nothing but cardio will actually make your metabolism go down when you are not running (i.e. resting metabolism). I would go for 2 runs/2 weight sessions if what you want to do is lose weight.

The beauty of weights is that increased muscle mass increases your resting metabolism so you can get away with a couple of extra beers. In my second year of uni I bloated up to 220 pounds, then realised what was going on after seeing a couple of photos of myself and hit the weights/cardio and dropped to 184 where I've been ever since. (I'm 6'2" so thats about ideal)

The important thing is to not expect it to be quick. If you want to keep the weight off its less about getting to the end goal, and just changing your lifestyle so that you will end up being healthy as a result of how you live your life. Eventually your body will reflect your healthy lifestyle and you will have no problems at all keeping it off.