We all know we are supposed to get 10,000 steps a day for our health. Over the summer I did a pretty great job of getting my 10,000 steps each day. On the days that I hike, I hit the 10,000 easily. Other days I find I need to take two separate walks to reach that goal.
I feel happier and healthier when I do it consistently. After several weeks of making the 10,000 steps daily I can start to feel my body changing little bit by little bit. Plus I feel the pride of making time for my health day after day.
Just recently I’ve been averaging a little over 7,000 steps a day. That’s 3,000 or so fewer steps than I averaged over the summer. It doesn’t really sound like that extra 3,000 could make a big difference but I definitely feel it. We’ve been extra busy with soccer and cross country and band and taekwondo over the last weeks and it is easy to let my health goals slip in the process of getting everything else done.
A few things really help me do the work consistently – a hiking or walk buddy (someone who is expecting me to show up so I’m not tempted to skip), listening to podcasts or fast paced music on the days I walk alone, a husband willing to take that second walk with me even if it is after dark by the time we can manage it and I really like using my Fitbit to track steps.
I like all the Fitbit badges and being able to see an actual record of my daily steps. At some point I’m going to need to switch over to something newer than my current Charge 2 but for now I’m fine. I got a Fitbit to track my steps in July of 2016. Since then I’ve earned lots of badges. Here are four of my favorites so far:
I earned both the Castle and Trail Shoe Badges in November 2017 as we hiked out of the Grand Canyon as a family.
Since then I’ve earned the Cloud Badge in February 2018 and the Monarch Migration in September 2018.
