Checklist Before You Can Read This Blog:
Did you buy your pedometer?
Did you keep track of everything that you ate and all the steps that you took?
Did you average the number of steps you take per day in a typical week?
If you answered ‘yes’, you can keep reading!
I hinted in last week’s blog that we were going to talk about increasing our average steps by 2,000. That’s your goal this week. Take your average from last week and increase it by 2,000 steps per day.
When I first contemplated the idea of increasing the number of steps by 2,000 per day, I was sorely convinced that this is, in fact impossible. Surely there has to be other mothers out there who find these extra 2,000 steps equally impossible? Someone said to me, “Oh I just take the stairs and get my extra walking in that way.” This someone said this to me as she’s staring at me. . .and my 5 children. Did I mention that two of these 5 children are twins who are still dependent on a stroller? Taking the stairs most of the time for me would most definitely be a Herculean effort. It may also cause a hernia or back spasms. I think I’ll be using the elevator when I’m with my children (which is in fact, almost all of the time.)
Someone else said to me that they just take the jogging stroller to the track and get in a 20 minute work out. There are two problems with this. First of all, I homeschool. This means that to take a 20 minute jog, we ALL have to take a 20 minute jog. The second problem is directly related to the first in that if I take all 5 children to the park to jog it is no longer a 20 minute jaunt outdoors. It is probably an hour long adventure with numerous potty breaks. I suppose it could be done, but the prospect is not exactly motivational.
Do It Your Way
One problem I always have following strict fitness regimens is that they don’t quite fit into my lifestyle. I have to make major readjustments to what I’m doing and I become a slave to my exercise–working for it, rather than it working for me. I cannot make major readjustments for exercise at this point in my life.
I then had a ‘light bulb’ moment. I don’t have to make major readjustments to fit in a certain number of steps. I can make minor adjustments to what I’m already doing, so that the extra steps fit in easily. It’s true that I cannot go for a quick jog, or take the stairs. . .but there are a whole slew of other things that I can do and you can too. If you can spare 20 minutes in the morning or evening to go for a walk. . .then go for it. Here is what I did to get in my extra 2,000 steps:
Took the train instead of driving down town. (Not only do I have to walk the block to the train station, but it usually results in my walking with the twins outside rather than sitting in the car with them asleep while the older kids are taking lessons.)
Added an extra 15 minutes to my cleaning time. I admit that it’s not exactly a cardio blast—but doing a few extra chores spares me the excuse of being too busy. I’m killing two birds with one stone.
Park at the back of the parking lot. Every where I went, I parked at the back of the parking lot. The kids don’t mind the extra walking, and it helps me get in extra steps!
A Note on Food:
I had mentioned in my first blog that I wasn’t going to blog on weight loss and eating better etc. because this is after all, the fitness blog. However, after I first kept track of what I ate for a week, I realized that I had an insatiable sweet tooth that undoubtedly affects my ability to get into shape. So if you’ve found some menacing unhealthy habit in what you eat—why don’t you change it, one small habit at a time. This week I worked on drinking more water.
Total Steps: 9,771 per day
Read other blogs on our 10,000 steps journey!
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