You know that song that goes “I would walk 500 miles, and I would walk 500 more”?
Yeah, that guy doesn’t have a desk job.
So one of my goals for the month of February is to walk 10,000 steps a day. The 10,000 steps is something that I kind of picked because I’ve generally heard that 10,000 steps relates to health. Upon further research, I’m not sure if that number has any magic to it, but I’m sticking with it.
Have you read Mark Sisson’s FREE Primal Blueprint Fitness eBook? No? IT’S FREE PEOPLE! I really liked it. In the eBook, he covers several exercise principles to follow for optimum health. The first – “Move Frequently at a Slow Pace” is the foundation of primal fitness. Moving slowly could be a manner of different slower activities like leisure bike riding, gentle swimming, hiking, or walking. This month I’m focusing on walking because 1) I’m kind of lazy and getting into a swimming cap is literally my worst nightmare and 2) It’s winter in Colorado. Bike riding… not so much. Yeah, yeah, some people do it. Good on them. For now I’m going to work on walking.
So I procured a basic pedometer at Walmart. Of course, it’s not one of those fancy, digital pedometers. It’s the old-school kind. That clicks when I walk. Did I mention I’m in the process of procuring a digital pedometer? Yes.
Before I started my 10,000 steps, I decided to establish a baseline of how much I was actually walking in my average days. I started on Saturday: nearly 10,000 steps! That was a Saturday, so I was up and about more than normal cleaning, doing errands, and I took my dog for a monster walk. I knew that wasn’t the best picture of my normal day, so I did a couple more days of baseline. Sunday: 6892 steps. I took my dog on a shorter walk, and it was Superbowl Sunday, so I spent more time than my Sunday usual in a Lazy Boy. But, still not horrible.
But then, Monday came. Back to my office job I went.
An abysmal 2,661 steps.
Granted, it was a rare day that I didn’t take my dog for a walk, which would have likely added maybe 2,000 steps. I also took the pedometer off while at the Crossfit gym, because I’ve decided workouts aren’t going to count towards the daily goal.
2,661!?!?! According to the internet, less that 3,000 steps is considered sedentary. AGH!
Of course, I’m feeling all panicked and sorry for myself which is completely unreasonable because I have an amazing job, even if it is in an office. I love my work, my coworkers, and I actually have a really nice desk to sit at. But I started thinking “How am I ever going to walk that much? What am I going to do!?”
I read this article yesterday written by someone who is actually busy. He is a lawyer, he is married, and he has three children under the age of three. My life, its commitments and general business pale in comparison. This guy manages to be active throughout the day, and maintain a six pack. Damn him and his perfect life. But, bitterness aside, it did inspire me to get creative and seek out the little moments throughout the day when I can walk. Like walking to a colleague’s desk rather than calling them. Or taking a couple breaks throughout the day to take a brisk walk around my office building. And always arranging my days so I can always take my dog for a walk (she loves w-a-l-k’s). Is our family the only one that’s had to start spelling the word “walk” so as not to start a complete riot of excitement in the dogs?
I was going to do another few days of baseline, but I’m over it. I refuse to have another sedentary day, and February is a short month.
Callin’ all my desk jockeys! Does anyone out there have any tips or tricks they use to be active throughout the day?
photo credit: mrosswade.wordpress.com
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Trust me, it’s worth it! You set your steps and sleep goal for each day and it shows your progress. It also vibrates as an alarm to wake you up when you’re in your lightest sleep cycle so you feel refreshed. You can also set it to vibrate when you’re sedentary for a certain period of time during the day to remind you to walk around.
You can also add friends as teammates and keep track of each other’s progress/get competitive. You’ll get addicted! I’ve had mine for about a month now and love it.
My goal was 10,000 steps for the first few weeks, but now I’ve upped it to 13,000 to beat my “teammates.”
(I should be a sales rep for them, eh?)
Wow! I had heard of the Nike FuelBand, but not this. So cool! And it comes in cute colors… obviously the most important thing. I just might have to get one. Thanks for sharing!
Things were a bit slow today and the sun was shining, so a co worker and i decided to go for a walk outside. Great way to take a break. Reminded me of this post!
That’s great! I’ve been consistently getting outside and around the building a couple times a day.
As a software developer, I spend A LOT of time at a desk, but like you, I’ve also got a job that I love, so I’m not going to give it up to be the pacesetter for mall walking! Additionally, I’m in Colorado too, and living in Denver gives me 300+ days a year to be outside in the sun, so all the more reason to be walking outside! I’ve been on the Paleo diet for over a year, and since then I’ve cut back on the running, and instead do a lot more walking with much better results. It helps having a Lab that has a routine: every morning we have to (she’s very stubborn!) do our two mile walk (4,000 steps right there). Usually after lunch I’m ready for a walk to burn off the extra glucose (another mile or two). And during the summer when there are more daylight hours, I’ll do another walk with Abby (the Lab) for a couple more miles. It adds up quick!
And yea, my dog knows the w-a-l-k word, but she doesn’t get nearly as crazy as the d-i-n-n-e-r word.
That’s awesome! Yes – in an attempt to walk more, I’ve definitely had to take advantage of morning walks! I can’t wait for summer again so we can take nice, long, leisurely after-dinner strolls too. And “dinner” and “snack” are causes of shear madness in our house as well.
Thanks for reading!
it is standard protocol in our house to say “the W word” instead of walk. really surprised they havent caught on to that yet. our akita is very primal about her walk. she walks very slow (fat burn mode only,saving her energy for the one rabbit that strays too close) and our dalmatian mix…..not so much. hes very “chronic cardio” w/ it.