Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Walking For Health

So since the beginning of this month, my work has been trying to encourage its employees to pursue a healthier lifestyle, including working out more. As part of this initiative, they have given us pedometers and we've set up teams for some healthy competition between groups. An "active" person takes 10,000 steps a day, and to be honest, I never gave my activity level much thought until I started wearing the pedometer. I consider myself generally fit; I spin 2-3 times a week and do yoga another 1-2 times a week, and I walk the dogs, so I figured the 10,000 steps would be no problem at all.

Turns out, its harder than it looks!!! I usually walk the dogs for 20-30 minutes in the morning, spend the next 9-ish hours at my desk, with breaks to walk to conference rooms and the printer and the bathroom. All this only amounts to 5,000 or so steps a day!!! To get 10,000 steps, I need to walk for at least an hour and fifteen minutes a day, AND take the long route to the furthest printer at work!!! Needless to say, the pups are going to get lots of walks while I've got this pedometer on!!

Have you ever measured the amount of steps you walk per day? What do you average in your everyday life?

3 comments:

Bite Buff said...

For those of us with desk jobs, I think it's hard to realize that we don't typically do the 10,000 without trying! My former employer did a similar thing a few years ago, and it really opened my eyes. Good luck!

Sarah said...

As a nurse, I have NO problem getting in my 10, 000 steps...on an average day. Lets not even talk about a busy day. However, the JUNK I eat @ work is generally my downfall...

Tina said...

I did that a few months ago. I was at about 5000-6000 steps a day, as well. It's much harder than you would think.

I have to say, though, I think you should get some step credits for spinning. That business is hard!