10,000 Steps

Ruth bought me a “step counting” device for Christmas. It will do more than that.  It’s a watch, a calendar,  keeps track of your heart rate, calories burned, miles traveled, sleep patterns, and numerous other things.   I wear it all the time.  The package and promo material encourage you to take 10,000 steps each day.  10,000 steps is around five miles.  A typical person walks about 4,000 steps each day.  (I’ve been doing some research.)

My first big “lesson” is that I walk between 150 and 250 steps each night after I go to bed.  Who knew that trips to the bathroom during the night required so much movement.  I did a trial run to the guest bathroom today, and if I walk there each night, I could more than triple my nighttime steps.  I have made a decision that I will walk to the bathroom that requires the maximum number of steps each day, thus increasing my overall count.  Its become a part of my master plan.

There are several web sites that offer suggestions for increasing your step count.  Here are a few.

Try music. A bouncy tune or something with a strong beat can make activity more enjoyable and help motivate you to walk farther or faster.  For me this means purchasing a  music listening device.  I think I’ll just sing to myself.

Include the family. Instead of an afternoon movie, go for a walk or hike together.  Ruth and I can walk together, but her stride is longer than mine. I might end of running and that wouldn’t be good.

Go in person. Instead of sending a work email, walk to your colleague’s desk.  I’m retired so I don’t have any “colleagues”.

Walk while waiting. Take a walk instead of sitting when you’re early for an appointment or waiting for a flight.  I do this.  I don’t have many appointments – most days none – so these opportunities are limited.  I guess I could fly more often or just drive to Orlando and hang out at the airport.

Schedule workday walks. Put reminders in your calendar for short walking breaks to ramp up your energy throughout the day. Have a one-on-one meeting? Plan to walk and talk.  Again, I’m retired.  No workday walks for me.

Park farther away. Choose parking spots farther away from the entrance.   Easy, peasy.

Take the stairs. Even going down the stairs counts as steps and burns calories.  No stairs here.

Our neighbors learned that I had begun to count, and log, my steps.  They are doing the same thing so they challenged me to a “walkathon”.  We’re going to keep track of our daily steps, add them for a weekly total, and anyone who doesn’t reach their weekly goal has to put $20.00 in a pot.  There are three of us, so if we all fail $60.00 could find its way to the pot.

We’re going to do this for five weeks.  If everyone makes it every week, the pot will be empty.  If everyone fails, we’ll have $300.00.  Whatever we collect will go into a “happy hour fund”.  If we end up with $300.00 it will be more like a “sloshed fund”.

I’ve known that drinking water is important for a healthy life for several years.  Water will not be a part of the “happy hour” celebration, but it is a new goal for me.  I’m going to do my best to increase my daily intake.  There are hundreds of websites that promote drinking 64 ounces each day.  A couple suggest that you should drink one ounce for each pound you weigh.  For me that would mean sitting in a bathtub full with a straw,  and I’m not willing to go to that extreme.  I’ll work with the 64 ounce goal.

Increasing my water intake, and my daily steps, should help me become more physically fit.  I plan to drink at least a third of my daily intake just prior to going to bed.  That will insure more walks after I retire for the evening, should more than double my nightly count,  ultimately lead to my successful achievement of my daily goal, and insure that my $20.00 bill remains in my pocket each week.

I love it when a plan comes together.