You see I bought this bright blue 'fits in the palm of my hand' tool that I strap on to my pocket every morning called a pedometer. It's purpose is to help me know how many steps I take in a day. The thin little piece of paper with the instructions on it claims that a person of good health should walk about 10,000 steps a day. I know for many of you who walk - or run (God forbid!) that doesn't sound like a whole lot. But that sounds like a lot to me. For the last 5 years, I can't say I haven't cared about my health- but not enough to make the effort.
But now I think I'm up for it. I strapped that little gadget on one morning last week when I felt particularly energetic and I thought to myself, "this is the first day of the rest of my life. I'm going to walk my way to health."
I kept checking it every little bit and I was a bit surprised that I wasn't 'stepping' as quickly as I had thought I would. I decided that I wouldn't look at it any more- I would just focus on walking. So I put on my walking shoes and went to get the mail (our lane is about 1/4 of a mile). I even walked a bit farther down the road so I could get a few more steps in. When I came back to get to the house to work, I would get up every now and then so I could get a few more steps. I even walked the stairs all the way to the 3rd floor a couple of times to add steps. Believe me, stairs should count for double points.
I was pretty confident that I had made a hefty dent in my 10,000 steps. That night, I climbed the stairs to my third floor bedroom, kept the pedometer on until I just had to take it off to climb in bed. I got ready to write down the big number of steps I made that day in my 'step log' and pushed the button.
2680 steps! 2680! That's it! And this was a good day for me!
So the next day I tried to top it. I did- but I had to work at it.
Wednesday, I even danced all the way through our worship team practice so I could increase my steps alot over the day before.
5, 482!
Thursday I was whipped! I didn't feel good! I couldn't get my meds to even out with my extra 'stress'! (That's a deal with Addison's disease. You have to be aware of the stress- good or bad and be sure you have the right amount of cortisol in your system to deal with it. ) How am I ever going to get 10,000 steps?
I facebooked my fitness trainer/friend. I only got 5,000 steps working really hard at it. How am I ever going to do 10.000?
"Wow, 2.2 miles...that is excellent! I like what you're doing, trying to accumulate steps throughout the day. You're right, 10,000 steps is a lot...it's about 5 miles. Just remember...every step is a good step! You're doing great!"
Every step is a GOOD step! Every step is a good step! Every step is a good step!
Hmmm!
I must admit, for a few days (after less than a week of trying) I already wanted to quit. And I did for a couple of days. But I've been thinking hard about what she said. I tell my clients things like this all the time. I know our attitudes and actions don't change overnight. It takes one right thought or action at a time. Just like it takes the discipline to walk another day- one more step than the day before.
My high school class motto was "a thousand mile journey begins with a single step". I guess a 10,000 step journey does too!
So ... I'm walking again. How about you? Will you join me! I could sure use some walking buddies- even if it's just over the internet. Tonight, I'm up to four thousand, nine hundred and sixty- six! I figure by the time I let the dog out, shut off all the lights and make the trek upstairs- I'll hit 5,000!Tomorrow, I'll aim for 5,001!
Are you with me?
No comments:
Post a Comment