Each year we challenge the whole group to be active in January. It can be a challenging month. It’s cold, its dark and after Christmas you can feel a bit blue. So what better way to lift the mood than get out and be active!
I set myself the challenge of trying to keep a record of all the things the group got up to! Everyone knows about me and my love of spread sheets!
This hasn’t been as simple as I thought it was going to be, and is far from complete as I’ve relied on members posting their activities on the WhatsApp group and Strava. I know that members have been out and about, and not logged it anywhere. I apologise now, if I’ve missed your efforts!
There has been such a wide range of activities driven largely by the weather. I haven’t attempted to quantify time spent or distance travelled, all I have recorded is an activity. It has been difficult to classify, with some exercising done in a gym and some done on a mat in front of the telly! Walking has ranged from walks to the shops to tackling snow clad fells. Many spent much energy clearing snow and gardening, which I classed as an overall ‘domestic’ along with energetic housework, done when it wasn’t fit to go out. It all counts!
No names, no pack drill. Here are the results!
The efforts of those 46 women has been amazing. What jumps out is the number of walks taken – an average of almost 10 per person through a miserable January.
65 bike rides, even when it was fit to go out, it was bitterly cold.
Well done everyone!
It has been very hard to choose a selection of images which not only reflect the variety of activities, but also the range of places visited and the artistic eye of so many of those taking part. The dedicated WhatsApp group was very busy and came to a close with many quotes/ comments:
My Greatest Achievement during active January has been :
Leaving my bed – Liz
Enjoying a few different activities that I don’t normally do especially badminton and the swim/sauna at Nuffield more of a treat than an achievement but it’s been forever since I last went swimming – Nicola
Barbelles – Eliz
My greatest effort was staying focussed when I sprained my ankle and that was encouraged by the Beautiful Belles who continued to exercise, even cycle in all weathers and kept going no matter what, plus I’ve loved seeing the photos and different activities everyone’s taken part in – Julie
Active January has meant to me:-
Doing more than usual – Eliz
Being conscious of doing more and keeping in touch with the lovely Belles even if I haven’t been out on my bike – Rachel
Being motivated to be focused on improving my daily fitness and knowing that other women were supportive and being motivated by others being active. – Marian
Confirming that I need to be accountable to someone to motivate me into exercising! It’s been fun keeping up with everyone – Beth
It’s motivated me to do daily exercise…i.e. walking into Bingley instead of driving. Others comments have encouraged me to do more – Simone
Motivated me to do something however small to keep moving! Steph
Being motivated and inspired by everyone’s efforts no matter how great or small. -Julie
Active January has meant realising how much walking about I do as part of everyday life(!), trying HIT exercises from the Internet and enjoying reading others’ exploits! Being part of Bingley Belles! – Barbara
Seeing so many different activities has been inspiring. Didn’t get to do very much but as soon as my knee has recovered, I’ll be ready to go – Jane McG x
Enjoying seeing everyone’s exploits and gaining a sense of community through the long dark drab month of January!!- Nicola
Encouraged & motivated by everyone’s posts to overcome my significant internal excuses & do something…anything – January has gone surprisingly quickly -feel better for it – thanks all – Jackie
Active January definitely motivated me, just as it did last January. I enjoyed seeing photos of different Belles and different activities . What a brilliant group to belong to!- Meryl
And to round off, here are some photos of the sights we spotted whilst out and about.
Judy and Sarah