I woke up this morning to icicles on my front porch and sleet covering my back steps. This icy cold weather does not have me very motivated to do much of anything other than turn up my heat and curl up under a blanket with a book. My desire to be warm and lazy has kicked in early. This is a problem.
With all the extra parties and indulgences coming up over the next month and a half, I can’t skimp on exercise. I need the extra activity to balance out a few well chosen delights and heavy meals. I need the activity to stay sane during all the holiday events. I need the daily activity to keep my progress and make more.
Since my softball season is ending and I’m struggling with the desire to go outside anyway, I’m thinking of trying to incorporate activity in another way: walking.
Walking is super easy. Sure it’s not very glamorous. It’s not a huge calorie burner either. But it adds up over the day and is easy to incorporate without much extra effort. For instance, I already walk JuJu so I can just walk her for a bit longer. I already have to park and walk into stores so I can just park farther away. I can walk inside easily even if it’s cold/snowy/sleety/icy outside.
That’s why I’m challenging myself to a daily steps challenge.
Daily Steps Challenge
For the rest of the year I will be wearing my Polar Loop Activity Tracker every day until the end of the year. Since I’m in the long sleeves and sweaters part of the year it’s very easy to conceal and will work perfectly.
I’ve been wearing my Polar Loop most days over the last few weeks and got a good baseline of my activity when worn. Since I want this to be something that is both challenging but achievable for me, I want to set my daily goal at 13,000 “steps”. This is a level that will earn me a “Well done, good amount of activity. This will really benefit your health!” in my Polar diary and it’s also something I can reasonably achieve on a daily basis.
Goal: 13,000 steps
(Note about the goal… I went back and forth between 13k and 15k and ended on the lower number since it’s one I’ve hit before on multiple days. It feels better and more achievable and I want to actually stick with it.)
Obviously I’d love to have anyone join me with this but it’s a purely personal challenge. I need something to stay accountable with through the rest of the year and this seems like an easy but effective way to do it. It can include hardcore workouts if the mood strikes me but it will also count all my walking and activity through the day. It’s a good motivator to move more!
If you would like to do the same thing alongside me, feel free to take my steps goal or make your own to fit your needs. All you need is a fitness tracker which can be in the form of a Polar Loop, or any of these fitness trackers:
- Polar Loop Activity Tracker
- Fitbit Flex Wireless Activity + Sleep Wristband
- UP 24 by Jawbone
- Garmin Vivofit Fitness Band
- Nike+ Fuelband SE Fitness Tracker
- Omron HJ-720ITFFP Pocket Pedometer
Just grab one of them, wear it daily, and hit your goals! I’ll be posting every day to show my progress and stay accountable to this so feel free to just join me in the comments if you do it as well.
I purchased a Vivofit about three weeks ago. It has definitely helped me move more! I admire your goal of 15.000 steps a day. I haven’t come close to that number. I went to crossfit the other night and we had to run 1600 meters and do walking lunges and sprint back etc. I only hit 7500 that day. Most days I am around 5500. I know I can get that number up but I think 10,000 would be a good challenge for me to try and obtain for now. It is definitely a great idea to help you move more, you are right! I love the sleep monitor on it too. It tracks your sleep movements to tell you if you had a good night sleep. Pretty cool!
I actually am thinking about changing it to 13,000. I played two softball games today and only hit 10,000 by 10 pm, so the 15,000 is probably too high. I originally wrote the post with 13,000 so I think I will stick with my first thought. :)
Also, let me know how you like the Vivofit! That’s one I haven’t tried out before but I’m curious.
I researched these bands and narrowed my choice down to Fitbit and Vivofit. They seemed to have the best reviews. The differences that I like d in these two were: Vivofit has a battery you replace about once a year. Fitbit you have to charge (I have enough phones, iPads etc to charge), the Vivofit has a display on it that shows your steps for the day, your goal steps for the day, a clock for the time, miles travelled, date too and monitors sleep patterns. I did not purchase the additional one with the heart rate monitor capabilities. This syncs to your phone so you can see all the details in depth for the day, week, month, year etc. the Fitbit does not come with a display on it. You have to sync it to read your data. Retail price is $99 for Fitbit. $129 for Vivofit. I did purchase my Vivofit at BJs wholesale for $99 and it came with four arm bands. Two black and two purple. Regular wrist size and small wrist (which I have, so another plus). Hope that helps! I am really enjoying it and haven’t taken it off except to shower since I got it. It is water resistant but not waterproof.
It does!! I have a fitbit and a polar loop and tend to wear the loop more because it goes on my wrist like a watch and is easier for me to remember and not lose. I’ve lost my little fitbit before for weeks at a time, tho a fitbit flex would resolve that. The vivofit looks really cool. Let me know if you continue to love it! I’m fascinated by wearable tech and how people incorporate it into their lives.