Back in 201, when I did my first wellness challenge, one of the requirements was to get 10,000 steps a day for each day of the challenge. It was an 8-week challenge but it got me in a habit that I refuse to break.
I feel the 10,000 steps is a good reminder that I have to keep moving. I have a sedentary job. This is part of the reason that I became morbidly obese. I carried around 350 pounds of weight not realizing what damage I was doing to my body. The little of exercise I did do during that time was not enough to break a sweat and certainly didn’t lead to any weight loss.
I don’t ever want to go back to those secondary days. I remember sitting all day and by the time it was the end of the work day, I stood up. I remember that my legs did not want to move at all. They felt heavy and stiff. I was always hoping co-workers wouldn’t see me as I was most likely limping until my legs were finally strong enough to move.
That first wellness challenge showed me how such better I felt by moving. I didn’t need to be chained to a desk for several hours. I still have the same job, but the difference is I get up every hour. I take the stairs, I walk around the building, take the walk to the further rest room. I wear the Apple Watch and it reminds me to stand every hour.
Before the Apple Watch was launched, I kept a pedometer with me and would keep it in my pocket. I love the Apple Watch; t keeps me motivated. I want to close the 3 rings every day. For those who aren’t familiar, Apple designed this watch to keep you active. It has three rings that you can complete every day: Move, Exercise and Stand. For the stand ring, that means you have to have stood up at least a minimum of one minute each hour for 12 hours. Obviously, the exercise one is based on the amount of activities you are doing and move calculates the number of calories you are burning. The technology is awesome, but as I indicated earlier, even with the pedometer that I used to keep with me,
I made a lifestyle change to not be sedentary and it worked. Along with my healthy plant based eating, I have kept the 150+ pounds for over 10 years. I like how I feel, I like thee fact that I am on zero beds. The plant based foods gives me energy and the exercise keeps me fit. I know that 10,000 steps a day was not scientifically proven as the target number but it works for me. I can only recall a small handful of days (probably less than 5) when I did not get the steps. It was either because I was sick or knee injury. Other than that, I have never skipped a day. Same with my diet. I don’t ever intend to go back to my fast food days, and eating junk food at my desk. Health is too important!
