Hi there, Mrs. 1500 today.
My friend, Miss Mazuma, texted me a few weeks before 2019 started, asking if I’d like to part of a step challenge.
Sure, I answered. Because I DO want to get 10,000 steps every day, but it’s SO EASY not to get them in. (As I sit here, at 7:35 in the evening, I have 5,270 steps.)
I work. By choice, but I’m still sitting at a desk 5 days a week. Some days, I leave the office with 1,300 steps. Last year, I stopped wearing my FitBit because it’s kind of depressing to keep seeing 2,000 or 3,000 steps total for the day, every day for 6 months.
Miss Mazuma wrote in her blog post announcing the contest/accountability group, that we were looking for people to join us who struggle to reach 10,000 steps every day. Mrs. WoW from Waffles on Wednesday quickly joined us.
Frankly, I’m surprised that both of these ladies struggle. They’re both fit, while I still have 30 pounds of baby weight to lose. (No, you didn’t miss a memo, the baby is 9 years old.) But it’s also encouraging to know that I’m not alone. The accountability group has helped me see that I’m not alone.
Josh from JoshOvermyer.com lives on the east coast (whereas I’m in Colorado) so he already has a lot of steps in before I even wake up! He’s also in my same boat, struggling to hit 10k every day, walking laps around the house to go over the line.
Miss Mindful Cents is another who struggles, but always gets her steps in. She’s also super encouraging of those of us who haven’t hit 10k yet that day.
We’re up to 13 people in our group, and another has started with 5.
There is something about having to tell other people about your progress (or lack thereof) that makes you want to do the work, accomplish the goal. While my favorite quote is “I don’t care what you think about me, I don’t think about you at all” from the Sassy Coco Chanel, I DO want people to think I’m a woman of my word.
On days that I don’t hit my total in the course of the day, I walk laps around the kitchen island until I do hit my 10k. I’m not knocking it out of the park, though. I routinely hit 10,223 or 10,128. REALLY productive days are 11,201.
Because of this group, I’ve only missed my daily step goal once. (The contest is for 70k a week, so technically I could wait and bang it all out in one day, but that’s not going to happen.) And yeah, I know it’s only January 23, but in the month of December, I hit 10,000 steps zero times. (Same for November. Can anyone guess my highest step total in October? Not 10,000.)
September was a bit different, as I attended FinCon in a hotel that is enormous. The convention center was technically attached to the hotel, but located about 2 miles away from the actual hotel. I really enjoyed forgetting something in the room… I think I hit 19,000 on two separate days.
But I digress. Other members have also commented that this is a very motivating group. We’ve got a twitter chat group where we constantly encourage each other, show off our steps, create tiny challenges throughout the day like get to the next 1,000 steps before the top of the hour, etc. It’s SO HELPFUL to have people that are in this with me, who struggle just as I do, and who truly want me to meet my goal.
This is my first encounter with Accountabilibuddies, and I’m loving it. Mr. 1500 is great, but he’s routinely getting 25,000 steps every day. While I know he wants to encourage me (and he does) it’s not the same as finally making it to 10,000 by 8:45, marching in place or circling the island, while reading about an accountabilibuddy who is doing the same thing.
I have discovered through this challenge that I am more competitive than I thought I was. I pretty much suck at team sports, so I never thought of myself as competitive. But seeing these numbers add up (and being in the middle of the pack the first week, but coming in lower the second and third) makes me want to do better. (Not today, obviously, with that blistering 6,209 I’ve got currently – been doing laps around the island between paragraphs.)
Weekends are easier for me to get more steps in. But what keeps me coming back every single day, are my accountabilibuddies. I can’t let them down!
Join the 10s who have signed up already!
Subscribing will improve your life in incredible ways*.
*Only if your life is pretty bad to begin with.
Except for the half marathon in April, most of last year I was sub 6000 steps per day. I kept wearing my watch but it was for a reminder of how lazy I was being. So far this year I’ve been over 70k/week and had days in the teens.
Other days (weekends) I’m at 4-5k stop by 7pm due to kids being home and not getting to hike, walk, etc… I’m also doing laps around the living room or sometimes hit the treadmill.
It’s been great having accountabilibuddies with the group and has kept me on it. In the last I’d just go to bed at 5k steps and not think about it, but not now. Not now. 😁
This is totally my experience, too. I stopped wearing my fitbit in late summer, so I don’t even know how few steps I was getting. But yeah, Definitely going to bed with whatever I had.
When at work, find the restroom that is the farthest away from you. Only use that restroom. Drink a LOT of water at work. The combo will get you steps.
My Samsung Gear Fit2 smart watch tells me when I’ve been sitting for 50 minutes.
When it buzzes, I get up and do a short walk. I’m on the 3rd floor. I go to the restroom on the 1st floor in the complete opposite corner. I get 2 flights of stairs and 400 steps to use the restroom.
🙂
Good plan! Unfortunately, I only have one bathroom here. But I do a lot of laps around the desks, the kitchen island and the ping pong tables.
Any chance of getting work to install a walking treadmill desk or two for the office to use? Or if you’re working from home a lot and have the space. You can find super cheap ones that should be decent enough for this purpose.
Just a thought. Either way, thumbs up for focusing on being more active.
Glad to have you as an accountibilibuddy! And glad to have this challenge to keep us motivated.
Mrs.Wow recently posted…Stepping It Up
I have always struggled to get in regular exercise till I found something I like beyond the exercise. In my case, it’s Pilates and Masala Bhangra (Indian dance-based cardio). I easily get in several sessions of these b/c the activity itself is rewarding, beyond being a good habit. I do like measuring and tracking things so maybe getting a pedometer and tracking steps would also work for me. Interesting challenge!
I like to walk. Its great for some low-impact exercise and always makes me feel fresher afterward.
However, like most people, I still have trouble getting in the desired mileage. A gamechanger for me has been to listen to podcasts and audiobooks. I know this kind of thing has been around forever, but it is only 1-2 years ago I realized how great it can be!
Marcus@strengthery recently posted…Kinobody Warrior Shredding Program Review & Results