January 29, 2009 - game over

The Step Up Your Health Challenge ended yesterday with our weigh-ins. I didn't post the results right away because they were not pleasing. Not only did my waistline grow, I gained weight and body fat. I want to be perfectly clear that Cardiac Rehab is not responsible! I am. I was talking with another participant and she, too, had unpleasant results. We concluded that it didn't help that the challenge took place during the coldest part of winter and began during the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. We finally decided that if we hadn't been in the challenge, things may have been even worse...

Once I've had a chance to mull things over, I'll post Lessons Learned. In the meantime, I'm ready for Spring, how about you?

January 26, 2009

When your pedometer isn't accurate it takes all the fun out of the challenge. Are they necessary to leading an active life? Of course not, but pedometers are a measure of how well you're doing - a little proof that you're making forward progress. Games are more interesting when you keep score or have a goal.

My goal was to reach 10,000 steps by the end of 8 weeks. I may have reached it on Jan. 23, or even while Christmas shopping in December, but I can't be certain because I didn't actually see the number on my pedometer - I can only guess that I probably accomplished it. I'm going to buy a new battery this week (or a new pedometer) and keep going until I get there, with proof.

January 24, 2009

As soon as I got into the car after work yesterday, my husband said, "I read your blog today. You need to say something positive." I told him it's hard to be positive when I feel like I'm walking my you know what off and I don't have the steps to show for it. We went to the mall and I vowed to walk three laps instead of my usual two. I started the walk at 5,399 steps, but when I finished I had only 7,956 - the pedometer should have read at least 9,722 (3 laps x 1,441 per lap + 5,399).

Aha! No wonder I felt like I was doing more, but logging less steps. I had killed another battery. I do that to watch batteries, too - they slowly lose time and pretty soon they're dead. I'm positive this won't be the last battery I have to replace.

January 23, 2009

Here's the real problem, I mean challenge: I want to be healthy, but I don't want to do the work. While I enjoy eating healthy foods, I do not enjoy exercising. It interferes with my down time. For example, yesterday I squeaked in extra steps all day at work, then walked for half an hour at the mall right after work, yet when I got home I had logged only 6,200 steps. So I spent another half hour dashing back and forth from one end of the house to the other. How do people get 10,000 steps in every day? Are they active because they enjoy it or are they doing it because they think they have to? Those of us who think we have to may never make it to 10,000.

When I started this challenge, I thought my biggest challenge would be having enough time to fit this in. Let's face it - exercising has nothing to do with "finding the time." While there will never be enough time, you probably have more time than you think. It all comes down to how you want to spend your time.

January 20, 2009

Not a big increase in step goal this week, but forward progress just the same. There were days last week when I wanted to quit because I knew I was going to fail. Of course, I met my expectations. The important thing for me to remember is that wanting to quit and quitting are two different things. I'm still in it.

January 16, 2009

I hate to admit it, but I'm feeling less stressed by everyday annoyances as well as big challenges since I've stepped up my activity. When I left the house yesterday morning it was 32 degrees below zero. We had to cancel an event that everyone had worked very hard to prepare for and we had spent a lot of energy promoting. Not fun calling everyone with the disappointing news, but my blood pressure stayed in check. When I left work at the end of the day my car didn't start, but I didn't fall apart.

What's been most helpful for me is leaving my desk every 90 minutes or so and walking for just 5 minutes. I'm surprised at what a difference it has made for me. Especially if I walk when I feel stuck or in a loop trying to work something out. I used to stay put until I figured it out and what I've discovered is that I can usually solve whatever it is before I get back to my desk. Walking seems to exercise my brain as much as it does my legs.

January 14, 2009

At 14 below zero and dropping, it's too cold to explore outside today. The winter wonderland is best viewed from indoors. I wish I had a good treadmill on a day like this. I plan on attending the Cardiac Rehab Open House so I can try out all of their exercise equipment and ask for their thoughts on one type vs another.

I'm always inspired when I see other walkers at work, outside, in the Cardiac Rehab gym, and at the Kandi Mall. On their own, or in pairs, they look so purposeful - like they take activity and their health seriously. Not like what I imagine I look like - someone whose legs hurt and feet are hot because she's wearing boots instead of tennis shoes. And the look on her face says, "When will this end?" Oh well, at least I'm out there getting inspired.

January 12, 2009

I can finally move ahead! Last week I averaged 7,308 steps/day (goal was 7,283) so adding 10% is another 730 steps/day. I may get to 10,000 steps/day, yet, but will not hold my breath.

I heard Jim Gilbert, of Nature Notes, say on the radio Sunday that for every wildlife creature we see, another 100 go unobserved. All the more reason to get outside and see who or what has been nearby.

When I saw the full moon setting Sunday morning, I set outside to photograph it, but by the time I got all bundled up, it had already slipped below the horizon. I went out later in the day when the sun was up to take winter photos. My husband couldn't believe I went outside in 6 below temps, but walking is more fun when it is to explore and not just to check something off my To Do List.

January 9, 2009 - progress

If ever there was a night when I wanted to go straight home from work, put my tired feet up and dig into a pint of Dove ice cream, it was last night. I had made a walking date with a friend, though. As I drove to her house at 5:00, I went through all of the excuses as to why I couldn't walk. I rang her doorbell thinking, well, at least we could still go out for supper - something comforting and high in carbs, but I couldn't do it. I just couldn't break the commitment I had made. While I might have let myself down on a day like yesterday, it's hard to let someone else down who has made time for you. My advice to people like me - make walking dates!

By the way, we measured the Kandi Mall perimeter using her pedometer which is a different kind, and alas, it measured exactly 1,440 steps on hers, too. (Mine had measured 1,441 steps).

I hate to admit it, but I actually felt better by the time I got home and had more energy than when I got off work. I didn't fall asleep the minute I sat down. I did have a bowl of ice cream to celebrate my success, though - I figure one step at a time.

January 5, 2009 - 7,691 steps - A turning point?

I'm addicted to the Food Network. See the problem? The other day my husband turned off the TV in the middle of a great recipe and I said, "Hey! It's New Year's Healthy Cooking Resolution Week!" He said he could understand my objection if I was ever actually going to cook something healthy. I hate it when he's right, so I asked him if he wanted to be happy or if he'd rather be right.

I remembered that conversation today when I read Randy Kobienia's Exercise Q&A on Anne Polta's blog, HealthBeat. He said "The biggest pitfall is not prioritizing it in your day." Bingo. I had put even the Food Network above my commitment to step up my health. I could no longer rationalize that I was learning new things (like healthy recipes) or getting other stuff done with the TV in the background for company because what I wasn't doing was exercising.

Does anyone else ever tell themselves, "I'm going to sit in a chair and watch TV for just 30 minutes - for some 'me' time," then 3 hours later they're still sitting there feeling like a guilty zombie? If you have kids in the house you probably have no idea what I'm talking about, but to anyone else who has ever been there, I ask you, just as I ask myself, How is that 'me' time when you feel worse than when you sat down?

How I spent my New Year's vacation

On New Year's Day my pedometer reset itself somehow - again. I was well over 2,500 steps by noon, then when I checked after supper I was only at 1,500. Ugh!!!

I seem to do better during the work week then on weekends. One of the things that keeps me from walking on a regular basis is that we live on a rural road where everyone drives 65 mph while talking on the phone, eating, etc. It's a scary walk. Driving to town (6 miles one way) to walk seems time-consuming and energy inefficient. However, I did make the trip one day JUST TO WALK. I discovered one lap of the Kandi Mall (walking every perimeter) was less than 1,500 steps. I thought it should count for more, but then, hey, I'm allergic exercise.

How I spent my Christmas vacation

Can we talk about stress? One of the reasons I took this challenge was because I had hoped it would help me through a time of year that is especially hard for me. Unfortunately, the idea of having to exercise added to my stress. Now you know what I did on my Christmas vacation ... nothing. And I'm okay with that.

The one day I actually pushed myself to get outside and go for a walk (ignoring that it was only 23 degrees and windy), my heavy outdoor clothing must have reset my pedometer because I ended up with only 1,795 steps for the entire day.

My total steps for the holiday week were 29,783. Divided by 7, my average was 4,254 steps. Rather than go backward in determining my goal for the next week, I'm repeating the previous week's goal of 7,283.

December 23, 2008 - 7,519 steps

What a difference a new battery makes. I did nothing extra today and easily logged my target number of steps.

December 22, 2008 - it's not my fault...really!

I don't imagine anyone will believe me when I say there's a problem with my pedometer...but, on Dec. 17th last week I had an identical day as the one before and my steps were a lot less. Then, the next day we went Christmas shopping and I walked more than two hours, but had only 7,872 steps. On the 21st, only 5,328 steps when I had spent hours at Cub, the mall and Target doing final holiday shopping - it didn't add up. So, I stopped by my sister-in-law's house and wore her pedometer for part of the afternoon. During an identical time period (grocery shopping and one mall store) my pedometer logged 3,374 steps and hers registered 6,335 steps. Aha!

The Cardiac Rehab program assistant told me that you should put in a new battery every time you buy a new pedometer or start a challenge and I should have listened to her! Now I think I have a flawed week's worth of data and still have to find the right sized battery.

December 17, 2008 - 5,982 - short by 1,195

Is anybody else having trouble? It should be easier at first because, let's face it, I don't have that many steps to do, and I should be motivated and excited to do well. Wait, that was someone else. I'm skeptical and hate to exercise. Okay, I see the problem here.

December 16, 2008

I've received a lot of advice since beginning this challenge. One of my friends read this log and promptly sent me a flyer titled, "Healthy Holiday Tips for Staying Stress-free." Someone else suggested that I would feel better if I'd just go for long walks by myself after dinner. (Yes, she lives in Minnesota.) Another person said I should watch more funny movies. The best tip, though, came today - "I tried that add-more-steps-thing a long time ago and found that if I shook the pedometer really hard it would add steps to my count." I was tempted to try it just to see if it would work, but to my surprise I was over my goal without having to do anything extra, like my usual running around during TV commercials.

P.S. I vow not to shake my pedometer during the course of this challenge.

December 14, 2008

At the end of Week 1 I see that I've made my average steps for the week, even though I couldn't make the daily average count on three of the days. I was worried about Days 5 and 6 because I was driving to and from the Twin Cities on those days with all of Day 6 in a seminar. Day 5 worked out because I was close to a mall so I went there to eat supper, then walked until I had my steps in. Day 6 was tough because I was in class all day and in the car for 2+ hours afterwards. Day 7 I crashed - why is sitting in class and sitting in a car so exhausting? I could hear the exercise police, though, telling me that if I would have exercised I would have had more energy! I chose not to listen.

December 9, 2008

I have to shout out to Target because I would have never made my steps today without a shopping list to tackle after work. One of my biggest challenges is to step away from the desk during the day. I get stubborn about a project and won't leave - "As soon as I get this right I'll take a break," I think, but then I always fiind one more "as soon as I get this right" to do.

Dec. 7, 2008 - The Challenge Begins

I'm already in trouble - short 261 steps by bedtime on the first day. I wondered briefly how many people would find a way to get those steps in before going to bed. But then I fell asleep.

Dec. 6, 2008 - Baseline Day

Yikes! How did I end up with so many steps today? I should have waited to decorate for Christmas until tomorrow when the challenge officially starts. Too many trips to the basement for boxes of decorations and to do laundry and it threw my baseline way off. I'd have to step it up right away.

I had to add total steps taken on Days 5, 6, and 7 of Week 1, then divide by 3 to find my steps starting point.

4,829 + 4,007 + 8,672 = 17,508.
Divided by 3 days to get a baseline of 5,836 steps.

To determine the goal for Week 1 --
Multiplied 5,836 steps by 10% to get 583.
Added 583 to my baseline of 5,836 steps to get 6,419 steps per day. Every day of Week 2 I would be challenged to walk 6,419 steps or more.