The start of a new year is a good time to re-evaluate what you’ve accomplished and figure out your goals for the new year. I know it’s cliche’ to resolve to exercise more. It’s probably on everyone’s list. That’s why there’s so many gym commercials on this time of the year.
So I’m not resolving to work out more. I know I’m not motivated enough to exercise more. It’s too cold for me to drag myself outside for the sole reason of exercise. The only kid-free time I have to work out inside is in the evenings. By then, I’m beat. My kids never seem to stay asleep once I’m awake.
This year, I’m going to just walk more. After hearing my friend Stephanie rave about her Striiv, a souped up pedometer, I was thrilled to win my own during Elena’s twitter party. After carrying it around for a month, I’ve learned a lot about my physical activity.
As a stay at home (SAHM) and work at home mom (WAHM), I’m home a lot. Go figure right? Sure, there are days I have errands to run, but I bunch them up as much as I can. It’s not fun dragging a toddler all over town to run errands. Some mornings I leave my apartment to walk Sophia to the bus stop and I usually meet her at the stop every afternoon. If I want to get out more, I have to make up reasons to leave my apartment.
I kind of already knew that but seeing the real hard numbers on my Striiv really hit home for me. I’m not active enough. According to Striiv, the national average is 4,900 steps a day. Most days if I don’t leave my apartment except for picking up Sophia from the bus top, I barely hit 4,900 steps or don’t even come close. When I am out and about for whatever reason, I easily surpass the national average.
Carrying my Striiv around has motivated me to move more. I’ve been known to power walk around my apartment at 11:50PM so I hit or surpass the national average. On the days where I have been more active, the pedometer motivates me to add a few hundred more steps to beat my daily average or the previous day’s steps.
After being able to track my activity patterns, I now know how I can be more active. I just have to leave my apartment. This means a bit more planning, but it won’t be too hard. Unless it’s unbearable out, I’ll take Jaxson out to the park. He needs the exercise as well. Then we’ll hit some story times. My challenge is to find free or very low cost places to take him when it’s wet or too cold outside. Any ideas?
If I’m going to reach a healthier weight, I’ll need to change my eating habits as well. I’m bad about not eating breakfast. That’s the first thing I need to change. I’m not a huge fan of granola or energy bars so I’ll stock my favorite yogurt in the fridge. I’m giving up half and half in my coffee and will use whole milk instead. I also realized I’m snacking late into the night as I work as my desk. That has to stop as well. I will brew a cup of tea if I feel the need to snack.
So that’s my plan. Instead of resolving to lose x-amount of weight or work out x-amount of minutes a day, I’m changing my daily habits. I think that’s the way to staying healthy. It’s not just about the numbers but feeling good about myself.
What changes are you making to stay healthier in 2012?
While this post is sort of a Striiv review, I was not compensated to say nice things about it. Affiliate links are included in this post.
Walking photo by o5com via Creative Commons