Dear reader,
For every month of this year I am going to do a challenge. I am going to challenge myself to do something I should or should not be doing. By doing this I am able to create the best version of myself and see where I am addicted too in life and what great changes I can make to improve my health, well being, finances and mood. Maybe more improvements that I don't know will come up during these challenges.
This month's challenge is to walk 10.000 steps each day. While being in a lock down and having a curfew we all tend to get lazier. The motivation to go out and do something loses sight of the reality. For my job working in a restaurant I am used to walking and standing almost the entire day. With different times of the year there come different amounts of steps. On a quiet winter day I would manage 10.000 steps and on a busy summer day I can easily reach somewhere around the 25.000 steps. For the last while I have been feeling a bit more tired, lazy and in pain in different areas that normally function just perfectly. So I want to try to get back to a "normal" rhythm.
I have been looking at the amount of steps I have been taking during the last few months and they have not been anywhere near where I was last year. Also if and when we open up again I want to be able to feel good and not need to get used to walking these amounts again. So I am challenging myself to do 10.000 steps each day to keep my body in shape and to keep myself going physically and mentally.
Preparation and expectation:
First of all you need to divine why you want to walk 10.000 steps. If you want to lose weight, gain more fitness or improve your overall health it is good to walk these amounts of steps. There are major benefits to walking 10.000 steps a day, these include lowering risk of heart disease, obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure and depression. Specially this last one is just one of the major reasons why you should go out each and every day during these times.
One of the major expectations people have of walking 10.000 steps is that they can lose weight. Walking 10.000 steps a day will average out to burn the 2000 and 3500 calories each day. Depending on what your goal is and the amount you are used to exercising the expectations and reality can be close to far away. Not only is it good for your physical health but also for your mental health. It reduces depression and anxiety. You will start to feel overall better, energetic and motivated to do more during your day.
How to get started?:
There are many ways to get started, as I mentioned earlier it is good to look at your overall health and maybe set some goals before you actually start going after 10.000 steps at first. Maybe you should start with 5000 and build up as the progression continues. In combination take a look at your diet. You can walk 10.000 steps but if you fill your remaining diet with foods and drinks that gain back those calories than you stay in the circle. Later on I will be giving some tips and tricks how you can combine your diet with these steps.
Now you are ready to walk, you got your shoes and jacket and it is time to go outside. The main objective is to improve your physical and mental health. So walking in parks, forests and other areas that are greener improves your mental health. With more silence around and not too many distractions you will feel that you get calmer and more relaxed. A good way to track the steps you are taking is a smart watch, like an Apple watch or a FitBit. On your phone you also have different trackers that count your steps and moments during the day, even when you are just at home.
Now I am going to share with you what has happened for me week by week and I am going to look at how it has affected my sleep, motivation and energy during the day.Walking 10.000 steps is roughly 1.5 hours just depending on your speed. It equals in distance to about 6.5 km.
Week 1:
I just moved to a different part of the city with great areas around me for walking. There are many different routes and I am excited to find out the different routes and how it will affect me. I do need to say that finding the motivation can be hard sometimes. If it is raining and cold you don't really want to go for a walk. So every time I go to the supermarket I walk back and forth and the time spent in the store counts up to an hour. My parents live only 20 minutes a way walking so I would walk back and forth whenever I go over there. I take a moment at the end of every day around 4 or 5 o'clock to go out for a walk. This is often the time during the day I get lazy from whatever I have been doing during the day. When it rains I take an umbrella, I put on good shoes for walking and I go out.
Week 2:
I enjoyed walking more than ever. It has been snowing and the peace of mind you get from walking in the snow is just great. It is relaxing and I love to be outside in this weather. Also the lakes were able to freeze up so I could go ice skating. This helped me a lot in reaching the amount of steps necessary for the days. As an addition I started to leave my scooter at home and bike to work. The bike ride is about 20 minutes and this also gives me more and more energy. During the days that I work I will get around 7000 to 8000 steps in. So after dinner I would go out for a short walk before the curfew to make sure I got my 10.000 steps in.
Week 3:
The first day I failed. Because of the intense ice skating over the weekend I was tired on Monday. The snow and ice was melting like crazy and I did not really feel like walking. I did go to the supermarket but I was not able to complete the steps needed to make up for it in the coming days!! During the rest of the days the walking went better. In the Netherlands we had a 40 degree temperature difference within just a week. So going from minus 20 to nearly plus 20 degrees makes a huge impact. The enjoyment that spring is around the corner makes it more fun to walk and complete the 10.000 steps.
Week 4:
By now walking is a part of my daily life just like taking a shower and reading. Everyday I look at what I am going to do and I plan my walks around them. I made a habit of changing my walking roots and even the times that I go out. After dinner I would do my last bit of walking even if it is just a walk around the block. I know for sure this is going to become part of my routine even when this month is finished. By keeping this habit it would keep me healthy and focused on what I need to do each and every day.
Conclusion:
Walking 10.000 steps a day has a lot of different benefits. The one and major benefit that I have found is that I have more and more energy week after week. By going outside, being in nature and making sure you get the steps is enough to make sure you don't get lazy. Also I have noticed that I sleep much better. Because having a good routine and evening walking after dinner instead of watching tv or reading a book has improved my sleep. I use a sleep tracker and at the end of the month I had a sleep quality of 85% and a regularity of 80%.
During the days I would feel more enthusiastic to do something instead of being lazy. I would get more done and instead around 4 or 5 when I would start to relax for a bit I would go out for a walk. Because I would go out for about an hour at that time I would lose a moment during the day to feel lazy too. One of the major differences that I have noticed is that some (just a bit) of my belly fat would disappear. I don't say that you would get lean from walking these steps but it does have some kind of effect and even small improvements are noticeable.
Tips and tricks:
Everyone has their own way of doing things. The same goes for walking. But if you want to see results there is just more to it then walking. By making sure you eat and drink the right kind of food you will be able to improve and see more or better results. One person even said that going for a small walk in the morning when you work from home can be your commute. This means that you get a head start on your day and even some time to think about what it is you need and want to do during the day.
Change the routes that you walk to see different things. Even by just walking the same route but in an opposite circle can be interesting and you will see maybe things are different on your path. To get a piece of mind leave your phone at home or silence it when you are walking. This clears your mind and makes sure you don't get distracted when you are walking. This is much easier if you have a smartwatch because the watch will count the steps and no phone is needed. Also take a bottle of water or some fruit with you. You might want to rest for a moment or maybe your walk tends to be longer than you planned to do.
Overall is walking the most easiest of exercises. It is free, costs little efforts and the rewards can have major impacts on all areas of your life. By just going out or even having a walking buddy can keep you both accountable to continue walking each and every day. If you have any other tips or questions let me know in the comments and I will get back to you as soon as possible.
Thank you for reading and enjoy your week!!
Franklin, Moments 2 Success
Photo by Glen Carrie on Unsplash
Photo by Harsh Gupta on Unsplash
Photo by Artur Łuczka on Unsplash
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