|
Getting to 10,000
 from the book
You're a Walking Miracle—Walking, Weight Loss and Wellness
© 2005 Martin Collis
«A five mile walk (about 10,000 steps) will do more good for an unhappy but otherwise healthy adult than all the medicine and psychology in the world.»
:: Former Surgeon General, Paul Dudley White
As I noted earlier, there's nothing magic about the number 10,000. However, for most adults in North America it provides an attainable goal, which will mean taking the time to do up to an hour's walking beyond the daily demands of home and work. This is not as difficult as it sounds and this chapter will suggest many ways to "find" enough steps to get you to 10,000.
Roger Ebert, the film critic, would not describe himself as an athlete, but he is walking, watching his diet and losing weight. In an interview with Ed Lewine of the New York Times (02/13/05) he said, "I usually get up around 7:00 and make my oatmeal. Then I take an hour long walk: outside if the weather's good; on my treadmill if it's cold. I wear a pedometer, a little device that counts every step. It works as a goad, because you walk additional distances to pile up the numbers. The average person walks 2,000 to 3,000 steps a day. I walk 10,000 steps a day. I have lost a lot of weight as a result. " |
When you first get your pedometer it's not a bad idea to wear it for a week without attempting to get any 'extra' steps. This will provide a good picture of your activity lifestyle, and the number of steps you typically average each day.
Examples of Different Lifestyles and Professions
Note: There can be tremendous variation here. I have provided some typical figures from my own observations and readings.
In a piece of research involving 239 workers including teachers, office clerks, technical workers, retired people, housewives, people on vacation at home and administrators the average number of steps per day was 4551. Highest of the professions were elementary school teachers, who averaged 6730.
Every job and every person is different, but if you have a sedentary job and commute by car it's unlikely that your daily total will exceed 5,000 steps. Recent research has pointed out the dangers of the suburban lifestyle where communities are designed for cars and not pedestrians. You have to drive to the shopping centre, medical building, school and even the fitness club. In contrast, the downtown, urban lifestyle often means walking to the store, café, work and other locations because they are nearby, traffic is difficult and parking is either impossible or very expensive. Many urbanites also include a walk to and from subway or train station as part of the rhythm of their days.
| www.speakwell.com/2004spring |
| Dana Sullivan picked out representative women in various countries and had them wear a Sportbrain pedometer. |
| | Steps |
Mia Petree (suburban) age 33.
Arlington, VA, USA
(garden work and shopping) | 4,138 |
Florence Labedays (urban) age 59,
Paris, France
(Train to and from work, errands, evening out. Does
not own a car). | 13,522 | |
Once you have familiarized yourself with a typical step-count for your day, select a reasonable target and a strategy for reaching it. Remember every step counts so put your pedometer on first thing in the morning, and keep it on until you go to bed.
Set a reasonable goal and do everything you can to achieve it. Steven Covey says that if you want to feel good about yourself, "Make a promise and keep it." We live in a permissive culture that excuses laziness and poor performance and is afraid of the word "failure". This easy acceptance of less than our best is one of the primary reasons why we are fatter and less fit than at any time in our history. The successful steppers I know, and that includes myself, have a non-negotiable agreement with themselves and do everything in their power to achieve their daily goal.
If your stepping target is 8,000 steps, you do not go to bed until your pedometer clicks over to 8,000. A sure way to destroy your program are thought patterns such as: "I did 12,000 steps yesterday and I'm tired this evening so it's OK if I only do 4,000 today." Learn to value your words. "Every day" means "every day" or "6 days a week" means just that: "10,000 steps" means 10,000 steps. One of the saddest situations is if you make a 'promise' to yourself, knowing that you probably won't stick to it. If you don't believe in yourself, who else will? Having said that, there will be times when life and circumstances make it unrealistic for you to reach your daily goal. For instance, you or one of your children is sick; you have to deal with an emergency situation or you sustain an injury. If this happens, it's not a reason to abandon the program, it's just the reality of life getting in the way and you do the best you can in the circumstances. Then go right back to your chosen program as soon as possible. It's important that you feel in control and that you don't miss your steps for trivial reasons. Excuses such as, "We've got people coming to dinner", "I'm a bit tired", "It's raining", "I can't miss the Oscars" are not acceptable if you want to make a real difference to your life. I'll repeat the words of Steven Covey, "If you want to respect yourself, make a promise and keep it."
10,000 Steps A Day
The acronym for successful goal setting is SMART (Specific, Measurable, Agreeable, Realistic and Time-limited).
| Specific | 10,000 steps, no less (or whatever number you designate). |
| Measurable | No problem, your pedometer will record every step. |
| Agreeable | Walking is the most popular form of exercise in North America. |
| Realistic | 10,000 steps is easily attainable by most healthy adults. The challenge is not physical, but one of setting priorities to create time to be active. |
| Time Limited | The time frame is 24 hours. |
Ten thousand steps is indeed a very SMART goal.
The Major Walk
Part of every stepping program should contain one purposeful walk of half an hour at the very least.
Note: Some of the better pedometers record these steps as "aerobic steps" so that at the end of the day you can separate your intermittent house and work based steps from continuous walking steps.
On your major daily walk you are getting much more than steps.
(I) You get an excellent cardiovascular stimulus. When walking, it's like having 3 hearts, one in your chest and one in each leg squeezing the blood around with every step.
(II) You get time to think. Many writers use walking to unblock their thoughts and free-up their creative processes. Charles Dickens, who walked up to 20 miles some days, said, "The length of my walking is the length of my writing." Nietzsche noted that, "All truly great thoughts are conceived by walking."
(III) Sustained walking is a form of meditation. In the repetitive movement of walking you can find stillness. Angels whisper louder when you walk and as Matthew Henry noted, "It is not talking, but walking that will bring us to heaven."
(IV) Stress is relieved by walking. The old Latin proverb of 'solvitur ambulando' means "It is solved by walking". When I was a professor and had a stressful day, if I drove home in my car, I'd drive my stress home with me, but if I walked home the stress, which seemed so large in the office, would melt away with every step. Remember the 3 'A's' (Activity Absorbs Anxiety) and the best stress reducing activity is walking.
(V) Even if you are getting a lot of incidental steps at work or by playing with your children, the major walk should still be part of your day.
Continuous walking has a rhythm that is different from the discontinuous steps of work or play. There is a different pace, a time to clear your mind and a few minutes to separate yourself from the demands of the day.
When is the best time to walk?
The easy answer to the above question is, whenever you can find time in your day. This, of course is true, but not particularly helpful. The best time to walk is early in the morning, it is a great way to start your day. People who are most successful at sticking to an exercise program are the early birds. If you get up and get out before most people are awake, the phones won't ring, only sadists hold meetings, and nobody wants a piece of your time. If you are really lucky you might be able to walk to work and arrive awake and refreshed while your colleagues are hitting the coffee machine hoping in vain for the same feeling. Psychologically, it is satisfying to have been up and moving before the day has really begun, to start the business of the day with 5 or 6 thousand steps already under your belt.
| An interesting study at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle discovered early morning aerobic exercisers were about 70% less likely to have trouble sleeping than other early risers who exercised less or not at all. Lead researcher Anne McTiernan theorizes that morning walking may help adjust the internal clock that governs the sleep/wake cycle. While in contrast, evening exercise may hinder sleep by temporarily boosting metabolism and triggering the release of nerve-stimulating hormones. McTiernan added that stretching and muscle relaxation at any time seems to promote restful sleep. |
Having said that early morning walking is best, I know it is not for everybody. It is not practical for some and just not right for others who have no desire to win the mind over mattress battle. There is a long tradition of lunchtime exercise for people taking a break from work. A lunchtime walk or workout breaks up the day and can send you back to work in the afternoon refreshed and reinvigorated. A colleague said that his lunch hour walk gave him a "two morning day". Steps are just as valuable in the evening, but harder to come by. You are often tired and want to sit down to dinner, to play with your children or watch the evening news. The most successful evening walkers are dog owners who might deprive themselves of exercise, but cannot say "no "to their dog.
| By getting their owners out walking on a regular basis, dogs really are a man's (or a woman's) best friend. It's not just Lassie that saves lives, but every pooch who shames their owner into getting up from the couch and going for a life-saving, health enhancing walk. |
You Must Have a Plan
The important thing is to plan your walking time and schedule it into your day. If you tell yourself you'll take a walk when you have some time later, it won't happen. It's like saying you'll save money if you have some left over at the end of the month. The rule is to pay yourself first. Set aside time for your walk before it gets crowded out by other events. Many, many walking and exercise programs die a logistical death. Walking will save your life, and what meeting, chore, TV show or conversation could be more important than that?
At the University of Victoria I was a member of the slowest jogging group on campus, known as the 'Escargots'. Our slogan was 'No Pain, No Pain'. However, we were dedicated and every lunchtime the Escargots would shuffle around the 5k chip trail. If people asked me to attend a lunchtime meeting I'd politely tell them that I had another commitment. I'd return to my office in the afternoon showered, renewed and ready to take on the challenges of the 2nd half of the day. |
Social or Solitary Walking
The old song says that, "You'll never walk alone", but in pursuit of your 10,000 steps there are times when you will have to, with only your thoughts for company. Having a partner or group can add a pleasant social dimension to your steps and you'll find that walking and talking go well together. At times you can combine walking and business.  As a professor I'd often talk through a problem with a graduate student while walking around campus and many business professionals have discovered the effectiveness of a walking meeting.
Some walkers use an iPod or Discman to provide a sound track to their steps, others listen to a radio or chat on a cell phone, it doesn't matter just as long as walking is part of your day.
So take your pick, early morning, lunchtime, late afternoons, evening; with dog or dogless; on your own, on the phone or with a friend, every step is a step in the right direction.
Practical Ways of Adding Steps to Your Days
Walk around while talking on your cell phone or cordless phone.
Walk around the field or rink if your child is playing.
Use stairs whenever possible.
Use some planned inefficiency:
- Take some extra trips with your grocery bags.
- Walk to a co-workers office rather than send an email.
- Walk to the mailbox.
- Always return your grocery cart.
- Walk to the local store regularly rather than doing a huge shop at a supermarket.
- Use a bathroom on another floor or different part of the house or workplace.
Walk at airports while waiting for a flight. (A big source of steps for me.)
Walk your dog.
Volunteer for anything involving walking:
- Rake or mow the lawn of an elderly or infirm neighbor.
- Walk a friend's dog while they're away.
- Do some walking errands for housebound neighbors.
- At work, always be ready to deliver a package or any other task that requires walking.
|  |
Get a treadmill so you can walk at home whatever the weather.
Walk to the movies.
Walk with your children.
Walk around the shopping mall.
Walk during TV commercials.
Walk while listening to a talking book or to music.
Get off the bus or train one or two stops early and walk the rest of the way.
Park a short walk away from your office.
Walk in your garden or nearby park and follow the seasonal changes.
Walk around your house or apartment and make one improvement, such as picking up, tidying or rearranging.
Walk your children to school.
There Must Be 50 Ways to Lose Your Blubber Just get off the bus, Gus
Put on some new shoes, Suze,
Pick up the pace, Ace,
Your body's a disgrace.
There must be 50 ways to lose your blubber.
Go on a hike, Mike,
Cut out the carbs, Barb,
10,000 a day, Ray,
You know what I say.
There must be 50 ways to lose your blubber
|
It's been estimated that the use of a TV remote control instead of getting up and manually changing channels accounts for more than 1 lb of weight gained per year for the average TV watcher. The original remote was called a "Lazybones" and was manufactured by Zenith. 
How can we not gain weight if we sit in our "La-Z-Boy" chair, with built in beer holder and aim our "Lazybones " remote at the TV? You can't say the manufacturers didn't warn you with their descriptive names. |
Initially, you might have to be a bit obsessive to keep coming up with 10,000 steps each day, but within a few weeks it becomes easy and natural, and the pay off in feeling good is self evident. In the past week I'll give you 3 examples of 'finding' some extra steps. I live on Vancouver Island and sometimes have to use a ferry. The ferry was late and during the 1 hour wait while most people sat in their cars or made a pilgrimage to the food services, I walked 5000 steps and figured out some ideas for my newsletter. Two days later I was at the local hospital where I was having a cast removed from my wrist. I was given a number and found there were 23 people ahead of me. Instead of taking my place in the corridor on the hospital chairs, which are designed for stacking rather than comfort and complaining about the health care service understaffing,  I walked the hospital corridors and grounds. I went past one of the saddest tableaux just outside the doors of the hospital where the smokers congregate with their IV drips, wheelchairs, hacking coughs and despair. Lastly, I found a stepping device at a garage sale and now crank up the TV or stereo and get some hardworking steps in my own den.
If it's steps you want, they're there for the taking, but you might have to rearrange your thinking to see extra walking as a bonus rather than a problem to be avoided at all costs.
Getting to 10,000 and Beyond
"Form good habits, they're just as hard to break as bad ones."
How you approach becoming a 10,000 step a day person might depend on your fitness, your job or your personality. There's a lot to be said for the Nike slogan of 'Just Do It'. For many people, adding 4 or 5 thousand steps to their day in order to reach 10,000 is not a physical challenge, but an organizational challenge. By walking early and walking often it's surprising how quickly your pedometer will be registering 10,000.
A reminder here: Record Your Steps!! One of the biggest benefits of using a pedometer is that it makes you deal with reality. Without a specific goal and without a way to measure and record your steps it's so easy to kid ourselves that we're doing enough. You can keep a log book, or better still, go to  Speakwell.com and record your steps on 'iPed'. I'll remind you of the words of Tom Peters, "What gets measured gets done."
If you've not been used to walking much at all, or have some physical restrictions or maybe like to approach things gradually, then begin by recording your average daily steps for a typical week and try increasing that number by 1000 steps per day. If you are able to achieve this for a week or two, add another 1000. Weight lifters call this 'progressive resistance training', which is increasing the resistance (in your case the number of steps) until a desired goal is reached, or even exceeded.
The strategy you use is up to you and anything is fine as long as it results in you making a significant increase to your walking. Remember that W.E.L.L. is an acronym for Walk Everyday, Live Longer (not to mention live better).
Personally, I like to get 10,000 steps every day. I wear one of Lance Armstrong's "LiveStrong" yellow bands on my wrist as a reminder and a reward for getting to 10,000. If I miss a day, I have to remove the elastic bracelet and have to 'earn' it back by doing 7 consecutive days in which I get to 15,000 steps or more.  It might sound obsessive but you don't change your life by being half hearted or average.
I'm writing this on March 19, 2005 and so far this year I have been over 10,000 steps every day and the LiveStrong band has yet to come off. At times it's a challenge. I recently played most of the day in a bridge tournament and then went out to dinner and at 9:30 in the evening still needed 4000 steps. While other people went to the lounge bar, I put on my hat, scarf and coat and set out around the city streets to get my steps. It wasn't a 'fun' walk, I didn't have any great thoughts and I regretted not having done a longer walk in the morning but 40 minutes later I felt a certain satisfaction that I'd earned the right to wear my 'LiveStrong' band and quietly sang the old Beatles song "You know it don't come easy."
 
"Never, never, never, never, never give up."
:: Winston Churchill
"Success is not something you wait for, but something you work for."
:: Henry W. Longfellow
Your First Million
Each rectangle represents 10,000 steps, just keep crossing them off until you've completed the large rectangle and have successfully achieved your first million. For a person of average weight a million steps represent about 15lbs lost, or at least 15lbs not gained.
REWARD: (write your own reward)__________________________________________
If you like something a bit more colorful and stimulating than just crossing off little boxes, you can purchase the "One Million Footstep Challenge" from Creative Walking Inc., PO Box 50296, Clayton, MO 63105 USA. They offer sheets of heart-shaped stickers, which you can put in your log book or on a wall chart.
Click on the thumbnail to see the full-size graphic in a separate window
Get a good pedometer, set a S.M.A.R.T. goal and remember the words of Goethe:
Until one is committed
There is hesitancy, the chance to draw back,
Always ineffectiveness.
Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation),
There is one elementary truth,
The ignorance of which kills countless ideas
And splendid plans:
That the moment one definitely commits oneself,
Then Providence moves too.
All sorts of things occur to help one
That would never otherwise have occurred.
A whole stream of events issues from the decision
Raising in one's favor all manner
Of unforeseen incidents and meetings
And material assistance,
Which no man could have dreamt
Would have come his way.
Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it.
Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it.
BEGIN IT NOW.
:: Goethe
|
Stay-at-home mother/father of pre-school children
(there's a big variation here depending on whether
the children are taken on walks or the parent
participates in lots of active play).
