{"id":30840,"date":"2012-10-15T08:50:58","date_gmt":"2012-10-15T12:50:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?post_type=feature&#038;p=30840"},"modified":"2016-01-08T11:39:09","modified_gmt":"2016-01-08T16:39:09","slug":"get-ready-get-active-take-the-big-blue-test","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=30840","title":{"rendered":"Get Ready, Get Active, Take the Big Blue Test!"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/Big-Blue-Test-2012.jpeg\" rel=\"mfp\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-30842 lazyload\" title=\"Big Blue Test 2012\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" data-src=\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/Big-Blue-Test-2012.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"340\" height=\"446\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/Big-Blue-Test-2012.jpeg 600w, https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/Big-Blue-Test-2012-229x300.jpeg 229w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 340px) 100vw, 340px\" \/><\/a>During the month leading up to November 14th, World Diabetes Day, you can participate in the Big Blue Test, one of the leading diabetes advocacy events of the year.\u00a0 When you take part in the Big Blue Test, not only do help yourself, you help others living with diabetes.<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/h2>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\">Not sure what the Big Blue Test is?<\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The Big Blue Test was created in 2010 by Manny Hernandez, founder and president of the Diabetes Hands Foundation (DHF), with the goal of emphasizing the importance of exercise for people with diabetes, while providing funding to diabetes-related charities.\u00a0 Manny and his team have created inspirational videos each year to encourage participation.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The Big Blue test participants are invited to test their blood sugar, exercise for 14-20 minutes, test again, and record their results on \u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.BigBlueTest.org\" target=\"_blank\">www.BigBlueTest.org<\/a>. \u00a0Most participants in the Big Blue Test experience an average blood sugar drop of 20% each time they take the Big Blue Test.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/Manny.jpg\" rel=\"mfp\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-30844 lazyload\" title=\"Manny\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" data-src=\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/Manny.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"293\" height=\"234\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/Manny.jpg 326w, https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/Manny-300x239.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 293px) 100vw, 293px\" \/><\/a>This year\u2019s Big Blue Test, which kicked off yesterday, has the same inspirational message as always, but it&#8217;s some what different than the projects of 2010 and 2011.\u00a0 To start off, while the previous years\u2019 tests involved some 10,000 participants. \u00a0According to Manny, \u201cThe target expected number of entries this year is 20,000.\u201d\u00a0 And\u00a0 for each of those first 20,000 entries, DHF will receive $5, for a total of $100,000.\u00a0 That money will then be re-granted among seven diabetes charities in the U.S., Haiti, Dominican Republic and Ecuador.<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\">Who is donating the money to the Big Blue Test?<\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Roche Diabetes Care provides the donations that, through the DHF, will fund the following seven diabetes charities:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Auxanomen Health Clinic at Parker Lane United Methodist Church in Austin, TX<\/li>\n<li>American Youth Understanding Diabetes Abroad, Inc. (AYUDA) for its work with the Pascua Yaqui tribe in Pima County, AZ<\/li>\n<li>DASH (Diabetes and Sports Health) Camps \/ LIFT-Levantat\u00e9\u00a0 in Oakland, CA<\/li>\n<li>Insulin for Life USA in Gainesville, FL<\/li>\n<li>University of Colorado, Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences in Aurora, CO<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Fundaci\u00f3n Aprendiendo a Vivir in Dominican Republic; and Fundaci\u00f3n Diabetes Juvenil Ecuador in Ecuador, through American Youth Understanding Diabetes Abroad, Inc. (AYUDA)<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Fondation Haitienne de Diab\u00e8te et de Maladies Cardio-Vasculaires (FHADIMAC) in Haiti<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">But that\u2019s not all that\u2019s new in this year\u2019s Big Blue Test.\u00a0 \u201cThis year there&#8217;s not just a single video. So far, we&#8217;ve produced five videos telling stories from last year,&#8221; says Manny.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">[youtube]http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/playlist?list=PL587A50D8F42115FB&amp;feature=view_all[\/youtube]\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">&#8220;We are about to launch 5 more videos to complement the campaign,&#8221; he continues. &#8220;There will be, though, a main video which we&#8217;re super-proud of, that features a number of Big Blue Test video alumni and some famous names with diabetes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">20,000 participants!\u00a0 That sounds like a lot, but Mike Lawson, Head of Experience at the DHF isn\u2019t worried about meeting the goal.\u00a0 \u201cThe Diabetes Hands Foundation is incredibly aware of how powerful the diabetes online community (DOC) can be, and we&#8217;re trying really hard this year to make sure that it is easy for people to share their Big Blue Test experience with their online networks of friends,\u201d he says. \u00a0&#8220;The DOC is really good at helping spread messages and causes that are genuinely helping people, and The Big Blue Test is one of those. \u00a0Because of this, we expect the Big Blue Test to be wildly successful.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/Mike-Lawson.jpg\" rel=\"mfp\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-30843 lazyload\" title=\"Mike Lawson\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" data-src=\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/Mike-Lawson.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"250\" height=\"250\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/Mike-Lawson.jpg 250w, https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/Mike-Lawson-150x150.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 250px) 100vw, 250px\" \/><\/a>The preparation for this grand event hasn\u2019t been easy. Mike says, \u201cThe planning of a month-long event like Big Blue Test is pretty intricate. \u00a0There are a lot of moving parts and it is almost like an elaborate juggling act. \u00a0There are the obvious things that need to be planned out like our website construction. \u00a0But then there are smaller moving parts that you might not realize are happening like trying to find a really diverse cast of people that have been touched by diabetes to show up to a film studio. \u00a0We&#8217;re collecting Big Blue Test entries at a few JDRF walks around the country. \u00a0We&#8217;re talking to reporters. \u00a0We&#8217;re at community events. \u00a0And when we&#8217;re not doing all of that, we&#8217;re tweeting (#bigbluetest) and using Instagram to share our own Big Blue Tests.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">After all of the hard work Manny, Mike, and others from the DHF have put into the Big Blue Test, the fun will take off now as the entries come in.\u00a0 You might expect Manny to be sitting at his computer all day clicking \u2018refresh\u2019 to see the results rolling in, but I suspect he\u2019s doing a little more that that.\u00a0 I think he\u2019s out there pushing for your participation.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">For Manny the best part of the Big Blue Test is its impact, \u201cwhat it does for the people who do it and what the people doing it are for others.\u201d \u00a0And in the\u00a0long-term, he hopes to make the Big Blue Test synonymous with diabetes and exercise, empowering individuals around the world to help themselves while they help millions of people with diabetes in need. &#8220;This vision aligns with our most deeply held belief,&#8221; he says. \u00a0&#8220;That nobody touched by diabetes should ever feel alone.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.bigbluetest.org\"><strong>Take The Big Blue Test Now<\/strong>!<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><em><strong>Jessica Apple\u00a0<\/strong>is co-founder and editor-in-chief of ASweetLife. \u00a0She writes the blog\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/author\/jessica-apple\/\" target=\"_blank\">The Natural Diabetic<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<div><em>Follow Jessica on Twitter (<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/jessapple\" target=\"_blank\">@jessapple<\/a>)<\/em><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>During the month leading up to November 14th, World Diabetes Day, you can participate in The Big Blue Test, one of the leading diabetes advocacy events of the year.  When you take part in the Big Blue Test, not only do help yourself, you help others living with diabetes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":30841,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1429],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v22.9 (Yoast SEO v22.9) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Get Ready, Get Active, Take the Big Blue Test!<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"During the month leading up to November 14th, World Diabetes Day, you can participate in The Big Blue Test, one of the leading diabetes advocacy events of the year.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=30840\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jessica Apple\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=30840\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=30840\",\"name\":\"Get Ready, Get Active, Take the Big Blue Test!\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=30840#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=30840#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/Big-Blue-Test-2012-home.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2012-10-15T12:50:58+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-01-08T16:39:09+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#\/schema\/person\/1f33fe649de04a31a493d746b6e72607\"},\"description\":\"During the month leading up to November 14th, World Diabetes Day, you can participate in The Big Blue Test, one of the leading diabetes advocacy events of the year.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=30840#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=30840\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=30840#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/Big-Blue-Test-2012-home.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/Big-Blue-Test-2012-home.jpg\",\"width\":596,\"height\":386},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=30840#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Get Ready, Get Active, Take the Big Blue Test!\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/\",\"name\":\"ASweetLife\",\"description\":\"The Diabetes Magazine\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#\/schema\/person\/1f33fe649de04a31a493d746b6e72607\",\"name\":\"Jessica Apple\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c10409e04c60ee9e1a01fbe9c4a704b9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c10409e04c60ee9e1a01fbe9c4a704b9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Jessica Apple\"},\"description\":\"Jessica Apple grew up in Houston. 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