Walking

Since yesterday was a day to enjoy so many wonderful foods in quantities not normally eaten, I thought I'd spend today talking about my walking!

(side note: Thanksgiving dinner was wonderful! We managed to pull it off and it wasn't half bad!)

Anyway, for my birthday all the way back in May my husband bought me a fitbit! I had read about them on-line and had asked for one. He, being awesome, got it for me!

He gave me the fitbit flex. It is a pedometer in a bracelet and it's perfect for me. Some of the pedometers clip to your waistband and/or your bra. At the time I wasn't wearing a bra because of reconstruction and I was afraid that if I put it on my waistband I'd forget about it and wash it! Or I'd take it off and forget to put it back on, because I'm really good at being forgetful!

Anyway, I got and read that my goal should be 10,000 steps a day and I thought, man, I've got this in the bag! 10,000 steps - no problem! Um, no, not at all. Apparently I didn't move around nearly as much as I thought I did!

So I started walking a lot more, though it did help I was training for the avon walk, but after the walk, my steps plummeted! I really had to make sure I was taking time to walk and get steps every single day. There have been times when I had to set my daily goal lower than 10,000 - post surgery or other medical things that have come up.

In late summer, when my low iron levels got really bad, I had to walk a lot less. I was actually getting dizzy spells and that wasn't good for much. But in the fall, I realized even though I was exhausted, I could start upping my steps again. The whole, a body in motion stays in motion tends to apply for me. If I can keep moving, or make sure I'm getting up and walking on a regular basis (even just 10 minutes to pace the house every hourish) I'm less exhausted. Of course, I have to balance this with pushing too hard, and I think I'm able to find this middle ground most days.

Right now, my goal is 12,500 steps every day. A lot of days I actually hit 15,000 steps (which, not to brag, but I'm pretty proud of!). I often pace the house or job in place or go up and down stairs. Sometimes I go to track by house to walk or to the mall.

Sometimes my kids tease me as I jog in place in our living room or walk around the living room in endless circles. Sometimes I knit while I walk (or jog) or read a book. Mostly I watch tv, but I figure it's better for me to be moving while watching it than just sitting.

I've had my fitbit since May 21 (I only know because the website tells me LOL) and I've reached 2,143,538 steps. 2 million steps in 6 months. I have no idea if that's really good, but I'll take it! It's nice to have the pedometer. I walk and move a lot more now than I did before. I especially like it because the doctors all want to know if I'm exercising or not and I'm always like "Yes! And I'll show you proof!" (for the record no doctor has doubted me but a few have asked me some questions about the fitbit and seem pretty excited about it!)

How about you? Do you walk or do other exercise daily? Share and tell me all about it!