10,000 Steps a Day, for 365 Days !!

On March 31st 2020 I had written about Another 10000 after 7 years ….. That was the first month in my entire life that I had walked 10000 steps a day on average !

Menopause and Exercise

Am absolutely thrilled that I managed to walk 10000 steps on average for an entire year starting March 1, 2020. This happened despite my well researched PhD on excuses. I could find every excuse NOT to exercise. In 2009, I took up cycling and just fell in love with it all over again. I loved cycling throughout my school years and then the habit just fell off.

I got myself a treadmill for a few months only to have a colleague buy it from me. His fur baby walked on it and got fit while I struggled to stay fit. I kept trying different things to manage my weight. Age caught up and suddenly I was in the Peri Menopause phase. The mood swings, irrational behaviour, and the unseen stress just helped with the weight gain.

I tried affirmations about walking everyday. I blamed everything from the alarm clock to Jockey’s track pants to Bata’s shoes, but exercise remained sporadic. As I have written in the blog on March 31st, everything unravelled on Feb 8, 2020.

BP shooting up was the best wake up call ever. My hard earned PhD on excuses just went out of the window.

10000 steps a day for a whole year

I just took the decision that I will walk 10000 steps a day on average for three months first. The lockdown happened on March 22. I still managed to achieve the goal for the month of March. I have paced the corridor in my house for 60 days to get to the 10000 mark.

When my ankles and knees pained a bit, I would take a break for a day. I will make up over the remaining days. Then in June, our condo board relaxed the norms a little and allowed residents to walk inside the condo. We have a 1 mile walking path – 1.6 kms that is roughly 2300 to 2500 steps depending on whether you walked the shorter side or the longer.

It is certainly easier to walk outside than inside the house. Newer excuses came up. For e.g – “its too humid”, “I feel sleepy, sleep is equally important”, “My shoes are worn out”, “The T.Shirt is tight”, “nothing much seems to happen with walking”. Several more excuses came up and sometimes they won.

I would take a break and then continue. Krishnan was totally convinced that I will remain consistent after he saw it happening over six months. Now, he doesn’t even doubt it.

Benefits of walking 10000 steps a day

Here is a before and after pic.

1. I have got fitter, but I haven’t lost a lot of weight. Probably 5 to 6 kilos is what I have lost.
2. My blouses and T.Shirts no longer shrink overnight. I am able to wear them without letting out a seam.
3. The aches and pains that plagued me have reduced significantly. I don’t FEEL old and rickety. The popping sounds every time I bend my knees have reduced.
4. The double chin melted without “face” yoga.
5. The bloating before my periods has reduced.
6. I feel a lot better and it has done a world of good for my mental health.

Tips for walking indoors

1. Put your clothes to dry one at a time. Keep the bucket full of clothes at the farthest point in the house from the clothesline. Repeat when removing the clothes.
2. Get a cross bag and put your phone inside as soon as you wake up, to count steps. I don’t have a pedometer and I won’t buy one :):).
3. As soon as you get a call, start pacing. Never take a call sitting down.
4. If your house is really small or you live in an one room apartment, walk in the figure of 8. De-clutter the house to create some space. Another collateral benefit of walking indoors – a cleaner house :).
5. Dusting is a great way of getting additional steps. Take the things that you want to dust, one at a time and put it at the farthest point in the house. Repeat to put them back in their place.
6. Cut vegetables in a different place and pick one item after another from the fridge.

Future Plans ?

I have no other future plans except to keep walking and get moving to stay healthy. Walking works. Its the cheapest, safest and easiest way to stay fit. The idea is to keep moving and not keep sitting in one place.

#GetMoving #KeepWalking

Other blogposts of mine – What Happens to Your Body When You Walk 10,000 Steps Every Single Day