If someone asked you what are some of the things that you can't live without, what would you tell them? Your sewing machine? Your Bible? Picture albums? Of course those are some of the first things I'd grab too if I had to, but there's another little object that I can't live without. It's my pedometer!
I started wearing a pedometer about 7 or 8 years ago when a doctor told me I had high cholesterol. I don't exercise and I hate to sweat. I have zero athletic ability. The only thing feasible for me was to walk and since I have great countryside to walk in (and a dog that wanted to walk with me) I started roaming the rice fields every day and then wanted to know how much I was walking. I also set a goal for I think 10000 steps a day. That went on for a couple of years and my cholesterol went down, lost a little weight and the dog was happy.
As my age goes up the weight goes up too so I set a new goal of 12000 steps and that worked pretty well for awhile. My pedometer gets clicked on to my jeans every single morning at 6:00 and gets put on the bedside table at 9:30 every night.
More years go by, Choco is my new walking companion but my steps barely cover my calorie intake I guess so I upped my goals again and for the past two years it has been 13000 steps a day. I also found a website, The President's Challenge where I can record how much time I've "exercised" each day and that gives me motivation too (and my pedometer will also record consecutive minutes walked.)
Since Choco joined our family, even Tetsu walks now with us in the mornings for about 40 minutes. I'll go out once again for 20 minutes with Choco in the afternoon and the rest of the steps I can get in just shopping or running errands. Unfortunately sewing and quilting never add any steps to my pedometer so on major sewing days I have to "walk" in front of the TV before going to bed. Tetsu just shakes his head.
4 comments:
Tanya, I wish we shared a neighborhood so we could become walking partners. After reading your post I see we have several things in common and the walk together would be so much more fun than walking alone. You have inspired me to get a pedometer and strike out on my own. Formerly I was a walker but somewhere along the way I have neglected it. The soon-to-arrive spring weather is a perfect time to begin. This post was very inspiring. Thanks!
Tanya you are very good to walk for your health and like Conni lu I would like to live near you to walk together. I'm a bit lazy and I need other people to do this kind of activity. ciao, ciao
Hello and greetings from Toronto Canada,
I found your comment & blog url on one of the german garden blogs.
Perhaps you would like to visit my blog as well.
One is about gardening and the other about the village, where we live.
http://guildwoodgardens.blogspot.com/
http://guildwood.blogspot.com/
I love hiking and walking along Lake Ontario. It is wonderful to be with nature and away from the big City.
cheers..
By the way, I do speak German.
It was fun corresponding with you via email :)
I share your love of walking but the one thing I can't live without is tweezers! Can't have that mustache and chin hair growing in, you know - *hehe*. I hope in heaven, in our resurrected bodies we won't have to worry about facial hair.
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