My gradual wellness journey continues as I’m proactive and creative with my nutrition and my exercise. I have multiple jobs and two children, so there’s rarely an ideal moment of the day. In this post, I want to share how to get 10K steps on a busy schedule because that’s my reality.
The first thing I do is to make sure my devices – smart watch and smart phone – are charged for the the day. This helps me to begin tracking movement from the time I rise to help get my kids off to school. Once that’s done, I can count on getting plenty of steps with onsite work as I usually have jobs that keep me on my feet. I sometimes end up working from home and that’s where things can get interesting.
There’s no typical day work from home day for me. For example, the other morning I thought I would get in a quick walk before starting my work when I discovered my teenager playing hookie from school with friends. They were, of course, surprised to find me there. Long story short, I “guided” them back to school, which involved some walking. It wasn’t how I planned it, but I got some steps in.
Later that afternoon, I drove the same teenager to a testing site for their online class exam (it’s May). I had 90 minutes to wait, so I got in some more steps while pausing to check email. Before I knew it, I was at 10K steps by dinner time! But I didn’t end my movement there. Between setting up dinner and organizing bed time for my little, the steps accumulated.
By the late evening, I amassed about 12K steps when I went for a late stroll with my wife. This gave me an additional 2K steps toward my daily total. I should note that my eating for the day was sporadic. I had boiled eggs for breakfast. Beet soup (borscht) for lunch and fried chicken with more soup for dinner. I also ate fruit (and a homemade sweet treat) throughout the day.
My active day would end with a late night workout with another dad who’s trying to get in shape. We met at the gym and did a Funk Roberts bodyweight workout which destroyed our quads. It did give me an additional 2K steps, which brought my daily total to over 16K steps. So this is how you get to get 10K steps if your schedule and circumstances allow. If not, there are other ways to get there.