I've lost 7 kg so far (that's 2 kg less than I was last Thursday) and I'm so close to 'halfway'! This week I've been focusing on finding easy ways to get more activity into my days.
Note: This neat little weight loss counter I got from myfitnesspal tracks my progress.
It will be updated automatically as I lose or gain weight!
It will be updated automatically as I lose or gain weight!
Walking is an easy activity (now that I'm not CONSTANTLY tired and the thought of walking doesn't make me want to pull out my own teeth instead)! I DO already own two pedometers AND I never use them. Hmm.
So three days ago I thought, "I should wear one of my pedometers and see how many steps I take in a day (and try to get to 10,000 steps everyday!)." So I did. Almost. The first day I was all ready to go, I had my pedometer on and I consciously added extra steps to my day. I had decided on the first day I wasn't going to look at how many steps I was at until bed time. I hadn't peeked and I thought I had done really well with adding steps all day so I was pretty excited to see how I did. When I finally got around to looking at the step count on the pedometer, it said...
NOTHING!
It was dead. The battery had died because apparently pedometers don't like not being used for multiple years in a row and then having to count past 10. It was working perfectly in the morning when I tested it and put it on, but at some point during the day it died. So on to number pedometer two.
Second day (yesterday) I used the second, non-dead pedometer and quickly realized (while continuously checking it every few minutes to make sure it hadn't died) that I don't take very many steps during the course of a work day... Like less than 2000 many (and that includes from the moment I wake up in the morning to the time I get home after work). I work a typical sedentary office/desk job and don't move very much at all! Luckily, I had a baseball game last night and I walked there and back, which brought my number to just over 10,000 (boo-ya!), but needless to say, I needed a plan to get my goal of 10,000 steps every day met.
I came up with a plan that I tried out today that so far has worked well (still not entirely sure it will get me to the 10,000 though yet). Basically for every hour I'm awake, I have to take at least 500 steps. Sounds simple and fairly easy right? Well at work I can sometimes go hours without ever getting up. Usually I stand up once in a while to deliver stuff to people, but nowhere close to 10,000 steps worth. I work in a small office that is all on one level, so there is not a whole lot of room for "walking".
To achieve the 500 steps/hour goal, I made a "rule" that if I had been sitting for more than 30 minutes, I would get up and walk/jog in place for 100 or so steps. I also made a "game" for myself where I HAD to attain or exceed:
If I didn't have enough steps by these times, I'd have to get up and walk/jog until I got the amount of steps I needed. It worked really well and I attained each of those goals today. The only "problem" that I can foresee is that it only gets me to 5,000 by 5:00 p.m. I am currently up to 5,587 as I'm writing this and it's 7:50 p.m. Even 5,000 steps is a great start considering how many I usually take, but I've come up with a few ideas to help the count along:
So basically for the rest of this month, I'm going to try and pedometer things to see how it goes. I know I need to add more activity into my day (particularly my work day) so it will be a good way to keep track. I've been feeling a bit more energetic lately, so the idea of going for a walk doesn't make me groan quite as loudly as it once did not so long ago!
So far, so good! Ho do you get more steps into your day?
Bye for now!
Note: If you're wondering how I'm losing the weight and what "diet" I'm on, take a look at my original post "I'm going on a diet" and my "What I Do" posts.
So three days ago I thought, "I should wear one of my pedometers and see how many steps I take in a day (and try to get to 10,000 steps everyday!)." So I did. Almost. The first day I was all ready to go, I had my pedometer on and I consciously added extra steps to my day. I had decided on the first day I wasn't going to look at how many steps I was at until bed time. I hadn't peeked and I thought I had done really well with adding steps all day so I was pretty excited to see how I did. When I finally got around to looking at the step count on the pedometer, it said...
NOTHING!
It was dead. The battery had died because apparently pedometers don't like not being used for multiple years in a row and then having to count past 10. It was working perfectly in the morning when I tested it and put it on, but at some point during the day it died. So on to number pedometer two.
Second day (yesterday) I used the second, non-dead pedometer and quickly realized (while continuously checking it every few minutes to make sure it hadn't died) that I don't take very many steps during the course of a work day... Like less than 2000 many (and that includes from the moment I wake up in the morning to the time I get home after work). I work a typical sedentary office/desk job and don't move very much at all! Luckily, I had a baseball game last night and I walked there and back, which brought my number to just over 10,000 (boo-ya!), but needless to say, I needed a plan to get my goal of 10,000 steps every day met.
I came up with a plan that I tried out today that so far has worked well (still not entirely sure it will get me to the 10,000 though yet). Basically for every hour I'm awake, I have to take at least 500 steps. Sounds simple and fairly easy right? Well at work I can sometimes go hours without ever getting up. Usually I stand up once in a while to deliver stuff to people, but nowhere close to 10,000 steps worth. I work in a small office that is all on one level, so there is not a whole lot of room for "walking".
To achieve the 500 steps/hour goal, I made a "rule" that if I had been sitting for more than 30 minutes, I would get up and walk/jog in place for 100 or so steps. I also made a "game" for myself where I HAD to attain or exceed:
- 1,000 steps by 9:00 a.m.
- 2,000 steps by 11:00 a.m.
- 3,000 steps by 1:00 p.m.
- 4,000 steps by 3:00 p.m.
- 5,000 steps by 5:00 p.m.
If I didn't have enough steps by these times, I'd have to get up and walk/jog until I got the amount of steps I needed. It worked really well and I attained each of those goals today. The only "problem" that I can foresee is that it only gets me to 5,000 by 5:00 p.m. I am currently up to 5,587 as I'm writing this and it's 7:50 p.m. Even 5,000 steps is a great start considering how many I usually take, but I've come up with a few ideas to help the count along:
- take a walk after dinner on nights I don't have sports
- go forage for fruits/vegetables in the trails/poke around in the garden
- take the dog for a walk or run
- log some "run" time on Wii Fit or Wii Active
- walk to/from work on days I don't have prior night plans
- bike to work on nice days (I'm looking into getting a commuter bike so I can travel on rainy/wet days as well)
So basically for the rest of this month, I'm going to try and pedometer things to see how it goes. I know I need to add more activity into my day (particularly my work day) so it will be a good way to keep track. I've been feeling a bit more energetic lately, so the idea of going for a walk doesn't make me groan quite as loudly as it once did not so long ago!
So far, so good! Ho do you get more steps into your day?
Bye for now!
Note: If you're wondering how I'm losing the weight and what "diet" I'm on, take a look at my original post "I'm going on a diet" and my "What I Do" posts.