So, I finished my first virtual walk with Yes.Fit, a 20.8 mile Sleeping Beauty-themed walk. I first got acquainted with Yes.Fit through a Facebook ad and decided to check it out. I was already walking dogs for business and trying to get fit and lose weight.
With Yes.Fit, you choose a themed walk, pick the prizes you want to earn, pay and then start tracking your miles. Prizes can be T-shirts or medals or sometimes other items like fabric bracelets. You can choose one or more than one prize, and additional prizes are discounted a little bit.
You don’t need to do all of the miles at once but little by little, and any way you do your miles counts whether it is by running, walking, biking or swimming. You can sync a fitness tracker to your Yes.Fit account, but I tracked my miles with the Map My Walk app on my phone and logged my miles manually.
As I tracked my miles, I could see my progress on the virtual walk via Google Maps, a route in the Loire Valley of France in the vicinity of the “Sleeping Beauty” castle, Le Chateau D’Usse.
At the 6, 12 and 18 mile marks, I passed mile markers. This is a little extra incentive or fun. In this particular walk, these mile markers were links to three different sites. Two of these were articles about “Sleeping Beauty.” One compared the Brothers Grimm and Charles Perrault versions of the story. The other, a Wikipedia article, summarized the two versions and also listed all of the different ways “Sleeping Beauty” has been portrayed in different art forms. A third was a link to the official Chateau D’Usse site which showed photos of the exterior and interior of the castle and also shared the “Sleeping Beauty” story. I really liked that there was something for the mind and something for the body in this experience.
This is one of my four-legged walking companions, Janie, the Maltese.
Here are some scenes along our actual, not virtual, walks. I don’t have a lot of photos, because it’s hard to manage a phone, a leash and poo bags.
I was attracted to the Sleeping Beauty walk, at first, partly by the pretty medal. Then, I thought I would be practical and get the T-shirt instead. In the end, I got both.
It is a particularly nice one, with doors that swing open to reveal the sleeping princess.
Even the ribbon on which it hangs is pretty, with a subtle image of Sleeping Beauty there too.
Right now, I am signed up for two more fairy tale themed walks, Mermaid in Denmark and Peter and Wendy. The Mermaid in Denmark walk is in Copenhagen — virtually, of course — and should pass by the mermaid statue in tribute to Hans Christian Andersen, the writer of “The Little Mermaid.” The Peter and Wendy walk is in London and, I expect, should pass by the Peter Pan statue in Kensington Gardens.
I’m not sure if I will continue to collect medals. I still feel that the T-shirts are more practical. Many in the Yes.Fit Facebook group do share clever ways they have of displaying their medals. I have found the group to be very friendly and supportive.
There are many other choices of themed walks, and they are not all fairy tale themed. There are a few other literary themed walks such as Sherlock Holmes, King Arthur and Dr. Doolittle. There are animal themed walks like Elephants in Thailand and Sea Turtles. Proceeds from some of these go to help endangered animals. There are others that are more travel/landmark themed or history themed or themed on cryptozoological creatures such as Nessie, Yeti and the unicorn. Apparently, there were some art history ones, which I would have loved, but they are discontinued. There are so many to choose from, and most of these interest me on some level.
What do you think? Would a virtual walk like this be motivational to your fitness goals?