by Jeanni Ritchie
October was Walktober for Louisiana Christian University as they invited the community to participate in their annual fall fitness challenge.
I lasted about as long as I did on my Proverbs 31 Woman experiment.
Walktober is a physical activity challenge from Oct. 1-31 in which participants track and record their steps or minutes of physical activity every day. Health experts agree that people should aim for 10,000 steps a day.
I didn’t want to use my phone nor wear a watch that tracked steps so I ordered an old-fashioned pedometer from Amazon that clipped to my pants. The first day I went as normal not looking at the pedometer til that evening. I’d walked 5800 steps.
It was more than I’d expected so I decided that all I needed to do was take two steps for every one. If I went up the stairs once, I’d go down and go up a second time. I made an effort and reached 10,000 the second day.
Then I had three busy days in a row where I barely reached 5,000 steps. The 5th day I left it on my dresser.
I’m not going to win one of the prizes LCU awards for Walktober age group winners. I may not even wear my pedometer again. But I am going to keep walking.
Some of my favorite “extra steps” tips:
- Take the stairs instead of elevator.
- Park away from the door instead of closest to it at the store.
- Walk outside during beautiful weather.
- Go for a leisurely after dinner stroll.
I do love walking. I just need to get more steps in and not look at my pedometer as the enemy! Perhaps I can go to LCU’s Parrish Fuller Fitness Trail on campus. It is a 0.4-mile track open to the public. It includes fitness equipment along the route as well.
Maybe I’ll do a personal Walk-April before swimsuit season returns!
Jeanni Ritchie is a contributing journalist from Central Louisiana. She can be reached at jeanniritchie54@gmail.com.
