Healthpointe Day 24 - Ten Thousand Steps

Happy Healthpointe day 24!  Today my weigh-in put me at 70.80 kg!  Yippee!  In previous weeks I have gone up a little so while I have seen some rapid losses over the past 3 days I am just waiting to see where my weight settles in at at the end of the week.

Today I wanted to discuss ten thousand steps!  This is a big part of the Healthpointe program in that Healthpointe is more of a "wellness" program than a weight-loss program.  Take away from that what you will.  So everyday I'm required to complete 10,000 steps though technically 8,000 is the bare minimum.  I've been a little surprised at how much 10,000 steps actually is.  I work a desk job so if I'm not making a conscious effort to get up and walk around more often I can easily end my working day with a paltry 2,000 - 3,000 steps.  Even on weekends where I tend to be a little more active my steps can still fall short around 8,000 - 9,000 steps.  Granted squeezing in another 1,000 steps isn't too hard and can be achieved just by walking around the house or the backyard.

To get a feel for how much 10,000 steps is for me, typically it takes me approximately 1 kilometer to make 1,000 steps.  I think it's a little less maybe around 850-950 meters but I'll say 1 km for simplicity.  At a moderate pace it would take me around 10 minutes to walk 1 km so even if I go for a 1 hour walk I only will achieve around 6,000 steps.  So 10,000 steps for me is actually quite a lot and I definitely have to put in an effort to make it.

While this may be inconvenient it has been great!  I had been very sedentary for the better half of 2015 so I definitely feel that having to get out and go for a walk or just move around more in general has been a great change for me.  I find that walking isn't just good for your body but also good for the mind.  Whether I listen to music or just walk in silence I find that it helps calm my mind and gives me time and space to either veg out or have a bit of a think.

Promoting the 10,000 steps has been effective in helping me maintain a healthier level of physical activity and I highly recommend to anyone who has a sedentary lifestyle to consider incorporating 10,000 steps into their daily schedule.  Don't worry too much if you don't hit it every day but aim to hit it more days than not.