Margaret
Riding The Tour in	California
Riding out of	Claymont, DE
Motivation for joining The Tour	My motivation for joining the tour centers on promoting good health including eating right and exercise. My mom passed away of lung cancer a short while ago. It was a huge loss and stressed the importance of taking care of yourself, especially early on in your life. While adults are a great target to reach on this tour, I really hope we are able to touch the lives of young adults, maybe even children. I have never been a part of a campaign of this magnitude and it promises to be nothing less than spectacular.
Reasons for adopting an active lifestyle	Growing up I was always ‘encouraged’ to eat healthy and participate in sports. I was a scholarship athlete in college and ate a meal plan that followed the guidelines of the university. My first job out of college was working for Rodale Press (publishers of Prevention Magazine, Runner’s World, and Men’s Health). I was surrounded by the healthy habits of my fellow peers, test kitchens that tried out new recipes, a workout facility that catered to an active lifestyle and obviously access to all the magazines as a continual resource of ‘healthy’ tips and knowledge. I was lucky enough to work there out of college as I feel it has stuck with me till this day…13 years later.
Why a healthy lifestyle is important	A healthy lifestyle is important to me because it gives me freedom – freedom to travel anywhere I need to go without worrying about limitations, freedom to eat without worrying about my cholesterol or too much sugar and basically freedom to ‘live’. I see many people who are in a very unhealthy state and it has affected their life and how they live.
One piece of advice to help others live a healthier life	Do not look at being healthy as a chore rather identify the positive changes you want to make, do it slowly and adjust at your own pace. Sometimes people take on a new workout routine or diet plan and give up because they cant stick to it or it is too hard or it doesn’t fit into their life – when in fact they are sometimes trying to fit ‘someone else’s’ routine into theirs.