I have learned that to love doing 10,000 steps every day, I just need to get up and attempt to do it! We all know that walking can improve one’s life, but I wished to meet the person who decided I needed to take 10,000 every day. However, It’s not like I was going to sit around and wait for the answer. No, I needed to get started on this new venture because, quite frankly, my life might depend on it. Come with me as I share some compelling reasons why you should strive to get in 10,000 steps daily.
My Life Might Depend On It
I thought about how four people in my immediate family died at 60. And since I am knocking on age 60’s door, I got off my pandemic couch and started getting it done. Perhaps, my life depends on this.
One day, I was so proud that I took a snapshot of my health app to prove my success to my children. As the app made clear, I had exceeded the recommended 10,000 steps that day, and I wanted to brag about it!
Overly Zealous Right Out The Block
You go, girl. I told myself. Nevertheless, I had overdone it and could hardly walk the next day. My muscles got so cold that I couldn’t make it up the steps to my bedroom that night. Honey, I just needed to rest my aching left knee, so the couch became my place of slumber for the night.
The Knee And The Nephew
The next day, I contacted my nephew, Patrick, an Occupational Therapist. He suggested that I do low-intensity strengthening of my quads to reduce the pain in my knee. Still, I wanted somebody to tell me who in the heck was the “10,000 steps-a-day” guy.
What? Is it Not One Person?
To my surprise, I discovered it wasn’t one person who came up with the idea of making 10,000 steps every day. It was a Japanese company that sold a pedometer during the 1960s. They called the pedometer the “manpo-kei,” their word for “10,000-step meter”. Who knew?
Regardless, as I continue this journey to improved health, I have a few suggestions that might also help you learn to love doing 10,000 steps every day.
But first, a commercial break:-)
Hi there! I am Denise:-). Thank you for visiting my blog! If you haven’t done so already, you can help me by clicking the blue button below to subscribe for free, and leave a comment below the article. You can also email me at Denise@TalkGumbo.com
If you know any empty-nesters that might appreciate my blog, feel free to share the link with them. You can also click on the icons below this article to share it on your social media pages! Thanks, again! Now, back to the article;-).
Here are a few things to consider when you create a walking habit:
1. Don’t Worry If Your Pace Is Slow
Some experts say that walking only counts if we do it at a pace that makes our breathing feel labored. On the contrary, taking even a 4000-step walk in slow motion is better than taking zero steps.
Besides, I am proud to get my 10,000 steps any way I can get them, even if other walkers usually pass me. I am just as proud of my effort, whether I do 4,000, 3,000, or even 500 steps daily. Anything beats lying around binge-watching reruns of The Property Brothers.
2. Combine Walking With Dancing
Listen, I am a grown woman, so I make my own rules no matter what some 1960’s Japanese company says. Sometimes, I combine walking with dancing to get to that 10,000. Shucks, sometimes I might even do 7,000 steps by walking in my neighborhood and then dance to some great music when I return home.
To me, the only way to love getting in 10,000 steps is to make walking fun every day. But don’t judge me. I still get something done. LOL.
3. Any Number Of Steps Beats Sitting All Day
The good news is that regular walking smacks down the habit of too much sitting. There is some controversy about this, but I read that too much sitting could be as bad as smoking a few packs of cigarettes every day. Whether true or not, that visual certainly was a gut punch for someone who swore never to start smoking.
Hence, it does not matter if you are sitting and writing, like me, or if you have retired and think you have earned the right to sit all day. It all amounts to the same unhealthy results unless we commit to increasing our activity levels.
“Sitting too much does increase your risk for poor health outcomes, like cardiovascular disease, all-cause mortality, cancer mortality, and even depression. The strongest risk of sitting too much is diabetes – it doubles the risk.”
Sitting May Not Be The New Smoking But It’s Still Bad
4. When Asked, You Can Tell The Truth
If someone asks you if you’ve been taking regular walks, you can tell them the truth. Okay, maybe it’s an emotional benefit, but it is still a benefit. My son does this thing when he visits me. It starts when he comes downstairs and gives me a distinct look. You know the look you get when someone knows that you’re guilty, and you know it, too?
Conversation Between My Son And Me
“Mother, have you walked yet?” he asks as soon as our eyes meet.
Only “Uh….Uh” comes out when I haven’t practiced an answer. The look continues, but it’s more piercing the next time.
Rain Or Shine
One day, he stood in front of me and made me put on my walking shoes. Then he escorted me to the front door, gave me a gentle push, and said, GO!…. WALK!”
“But it looks like it’s going to rain, son.” I offered to try to buy some mercy.
“Well, good. That means you’ll have to walk fast to get back home before the rain starts!” was my son’s final reply. So, I had no choice because he locked the door after he pushed me out! LOL.
He Is Silly But He Is Right
That son of mine is funny as heck, but he was also serious. He wants me to improve my health, and if I get lazy, he will tell his sister, and then they will double-team me. And since I know how that feels, I try to avoid it happening again.
So, I went out hating him and loving him at the same time. Even so, he didn’t care about my emotions. He just wanted to see my feet hit the pavement!
5. You Learn Self-Motivation
Eventually, my son returned home to New England. So, I had to learn the power of self-motivation because the onus was on me to develop and execute a regular walking habit. Sometimes, I tell myself that I need to get some writing done, chores, gardening, errands, or all the above and that I will walk in the afternoon.
Then the phone rings or something in the news calls me to the television. And I swear I can hear the TV remote control calling my name!
Thoughts I Am In My Head
10,000 steps? Yeah, right. Denise. What are you doing? You know the children will ask if you’ve been walking, and you don’t want to lie to them. 10,000 steps. Just any number of steps, please. Any number will do.
Procrastination: The Enemy Within
The crazy thing is, once my feet cross the threshold of my front door, I feel liberated, and I wonder why it took me so long to get in line with my children’s commands. Admittedly, I had procrastinated for several months before I started walking regularly; a luxury my aging body cannot afford to take. Hence, those days of ignoring my body and letting things magically “happen” are over for me.
My Daughter Throws A Few Hints
My daughter gifted me with a Girl Trek T-shirt and sweatshirt. Hint. Hint. That has also encouraged me to walk more as I listened to its entertaining and informational Podcast.
Girl Trek is an international organization started ten years ago by two young African American women to encourage black women to start walking for better health.
Health Issues And The Black Community
Health issues plague the African American community. Yet, while some of it results from poor access to proper health care, mental stress, and societal stress, committing to regular walking is imperative. In addition, it comes with little to no financial cost, just a decent pair of walking shoes.
So, I proudly don my GirlTrek sweatshirt and hit the pavement. It is a gift to myself and my children, who only want the best for me. I am glad they care enough to stay on me about walking more.
6. Shed Pandemic Pounds
Establishing a regular walking routine can assist you with shedding unwanted and dangerous pandemic pounds that now call your waistline home. It will also help to eliminate the cookies, bread, and rice from your regular diet! Trust me, all of these are my biggest temptations in losing weight. But I am not going down without a fight!
Nurse, Can You Check The Scale Again?
Two years ago, I heard words that I had never heard before. “You are overweight, Ms. Lewis.”
Wait. What? Can you weigh me again? Does your scale even work?
I fired off questions like a cannonball to my doctor’s assistant. Then the doctor came in and sang the same tune.
Emotional Eating
Since the pandemic started, my doctor often told me I needed to lose an additional 20-25 pounds; all brought on by emotional eating. AAAAAH!
Nonetheless, I am glad that I am learning to love walking, and I no longer shrug my shoulders at the nurse as I did two years ago. It is past time I get serious about this walking thing.
7. Walk For Mental Clarity
If you are anything like me, you are prone to overthinking and need to let your brain air out sometimes. That’s what a good walk does for me. Sometimes, I walk while listening to a podcast or music. At other times, I prefer only the soothing sounds of my neighborhood to help clear my mental clutter. What’s important is that it feels like a cool breeze running through my mind, and I always return home with a fresh perspective on things.
8. Walk And Make New Friends
One day, after several laps around the soccer field at a nearby park, I sat down to rest before taking the trek back home. Suddenly, a cute puppy took a keen interest in me and forced her owner to stop so she could befriend me, too. The next thing I knew, the pup’s owner was telling me that through her son, she had gotten her puppy from New Orleans and that her name was Ruby.
Crescent City Connection
“New Orleans? Really? That’s my hometown!” I blurted out.
“Really?” That is what drew my dog to you. She knows friendly people”, the puppy’s owner said, and then introduced herself as Jayne. “Not like J-a-n-e,” she tells me. “It’s J-a-y-n-e.”
“Oh, okay. Like the actress Jayne Kennedy.” I said.
“YES!” Just like the actress! Most people don’t get that”, she said to me, and I laughed out loud.
9. Everything About You Will Reap The Benefits
In closing, coupled with all the fun stuff, science backs up the 10,000 steps theory because it has proven that walking is good for your heart, brain, and emotional well-being.
Therefore, out the door, I go, imagining a gentle shove from my son. Denise, I tell myself. Girl, GO….. WALK!
