I was taking a walk at the Kensico Dam in Valhalla, NY when I spotted a woman working out swinging ‘sumthin' in the distance.

I was curious what the heck she was doing and wanted to ask her. So, I walked over and saw she was swinging a contraption around her waist and hips, similar to what we used to do as kids with that old Skip-It toy you’d swing around your ankle and jump over with your other leg. 'Weighted Hula Hoops' she said are a Tik Tok Trend. Who Knew? I instantly felt I might need one too! LOL

 I got to talking with Dr. Karen Blacks, who said according to her app, her 20 minutes of 'hula hooping' was the same as walking 2 miles, plus it tightens your core, she said.

 A few laughs later, I find out like me, Dr. Blacks enjoys talking to strangers, so I told her about my upcoming little book, “How To Talk To Strangers, Advice From A Professional Stranger Talker.”  Then she told me she wrote a book called 'Experiencing God in The Ordinary'. Then she mentioned she was excited she was being ordained at a Baptist Minister that weekend, then… I invited her on my show to share the big hula hoop discovery and celebrate her accomplishment! 

 Meanwhile, next day Amazon delivered my own 'weighted hula hoop’.  I chose blue. It was pretty easy to figure out how to size it to my waist and attach the weighted thingy. What was challenging was figuring ‘where’ to hula. I tried it inside my house and almost cleared all the glasses off my bar. I was too embarrassed to let my neighbors see me hula swinging outside my house, so I waited till almost dark and tried it out for like 2 minutes. Then I put it in my car and figured I’d just keep it there for when I went walking and do it in a random park. But every time I was about to take it out and swing it around, I thought I’d look stupid, so I didn’t. 

 One day just as I walked into a CVS drugstore, my phone rang, and it was my bestie Mo calling from the parking lot telling me that I’d just parked next to her and walked past her car without noticing. I knew she was in a funky mood, so I thought I’d cheer her up on the way back out, and make her laugh by showing off my moves with my new hula hoop in the parking lot while she watched from inside her car. That was a good laugh.

 Anyway, I finally found the perfect spot to do my hula exercise, a hideaway grassy area in my local park. The other day after walking I put it on, and got my weighted hula hooping swinging up to 5 minutes and found myself sweating. Even crazier, I checked my ‘steps’ on my iPhone and sure enough it was like I had walked another half mile. I’m getting the hang of it now. 

 Last night after walking, right around dusk when I got back to my car in a mostly empty parking lot, I figured no one would notice me hula swinging. So I put it on, and hula hooped with my phone in my hand to just again see if it counted as ‘steps’. 

 Out of the corner of my eye I saw random woman walking in the distance toward her parked car but paid her no mind, until she turned and started walking toward me and I knew why. In her Norwegian accent she said,… ‘What’ is that thing you’re doing?” 

 I was laughing while still hooping as I told her, I had done the same exact thing when I saw the random Baptist Minister swinging her weighted hula hoop. Now the Norwegian lady wanted to get one too. So, while still swinging away, I gave her the name of it to look it up on Amazon.

 Anyway, I decided some of you after reading this story, might get a kick out of the idea and want to try a weighted hula hoop too. I got my 'Dumoyi Smart Weighted Fit Hoop on Amazon'.

Let me know if you get one. LOL 

 

Meanwhile listen in and have some laughs and meet my latest 'Random Run In' Dr. Karen Blacks in this podcast of our live conversation from The Debbie Nigro Show.

 When she's not 'hula hooping' at the dam, Dr. Karen Blacks serves as the Associate Minister, and Minister of Women's Initiatives at Antioch Baptist Church in Bedford Hills, New York. Dr. Blacks is also the founder of Women of God in the World, a welcoming community of over 10,000 women from 30+ countries. Dr. Blacks holds a Master of Divinity and a Doctor of Ministry from New York Theological Seminary and a Certificate of Specialization in Leadership and Management from Harvard Business School Online. She also has a heart for volunteering and can be found distributing food to those in need in the White Plains community. She serves on the Town of Bedford Prison Relations Advisory Committee, is a member of the Westchester NY Black Women's Political Caucus and is on the board of the Women's Empowerment Forum located in Liberia, Africa.