Measured Steps

With a title like this, it sounds like we're going to be talking about some serious emotional or philosophical issues, but it's a little less intense than that.

Here, here, here, spring is finally here.  Looking back at these winter photos still gives me little shivers, but I'm glad winter is behind us for the next eight months or so.  It's good to be out and about again, taking our afternoon walks to the mail box whenever possible, and just to generally be moving again.  I know this is the time of year by which most people have long ago given up on their New Year's fitness resolutions, but I'm just getting started.

I was reaching my wits' end with all the sedentariness of the past year.  Having the internet in my home has impacted my activity level far more than any quarantine or winter storm.  My contract will be up in a few short weeks and I'm debating on whether or not to keep it.  I'm just not sure I should.  In the meantime, I also bought a pedometer.  Remember those?  I had one years ago when they first came out to remind me to be active throughout my day and throughout two pregnancies and it worked pretty well.

Since I needed that little reminder to get up from the computer not just at work now, but more especially at home, I decided to get an inexpensive little pedometer to see if that would help me now the way it did back then.  Back in the beginnings of that movement, "experts" said one should aim for 10,000 steps per day.  Turns out that number was chosen arbitrarily because it sounded good, and it is extremely hard to reach that goal unless you regularly walk long distances as part of your day. 

My pedometer is very basic.  It cost less than $10 and took about 10 minutes to set up, the most time consuming part being measuring my steps and entering the info, but very little has changed in pedometer tech in the last decade or so, so I pretty much remembered how to do it all from the last time I set one up.  On a day of very high activity I get about 8,000 steps and that includes exercising.  But, most of the time I get 2,000 to 4,000.  So, while 10,000 is quite a lofty goal, I do love having that little reminder at my hip to get up, get moving, and get away from my screen for a bit in the hopes of making my favorite jeans fit the way they're supposed to again.  I think it's working and I'm feeling better for the reminders to be active again.

If you set some fitness goals this year, now is the time to get started and get moving.