The Step and Visit Plan (The Diet, Day 31)

I hit 12,000 steps today without getting on the treadmill. Yay, me. It wasn’t even difficult, not nearly as difficult as 45 minutes on a treadmill at the end of the day. I did it all (or most of it) through the Step and Visit Plan.

I walked from my office to Tammy’s office a couple of times. I walked over to the library to ask Sherry a question instead of just picking up the phone to call. I took the long way around the library back to my office after I spoke to Sherry. I walked down the hall from Tammy’s office and said hello to Fred.

I didn’t just sit at my desk from 8:00-3:30, and I don’t think I was any less productive for it. Taking short breaks periodically helped me to refocus.

Of course, I still walked before work with Patricia of Next Door and after work with Tammy of the Work Place. I also went to Target on my way home. I didn’t buy anything. I only looked at a few things. But while I was at it I walked twice around the periphery of the store. Don’t knock it. Those shopping steps add up.

At home, I did a few things like unload and load the dishwasher, load and unload the washing machine, etc and so forth. I also played Wii tennis for 15 minutes. Believe it or not, that added steps to the pedometer.

Probably nothing I did today really counts as aerobic activity, and likely I would burn more calories by saving some of those steps up for the treadmill at the end of the day, but I’m not getting on it today. I earned a day off from the treadmill by being mindful of taking more steps throughout the day.

Robin Atwood, who has eschewed being given a name on this blog like Robin of Professional Development Professionalism by signing her real name in comments, has informed me that my goal ought to be closer to 18,000 steps per day. I believe her. Robin nearly always knows her facts.

18,000, then, has become a goal to strive toward. It is not my immediate goal for this evening, but it is something I would like to build up to. I don’t feel capable of reaching this goal today, though I do now feel it isn’t just a crazy pipe dream. I figured out today how it would be possible to fit 18,000 steps into a day while holding down a desk job without spending three hours on a treadmill in the evening.

Enter the Step and Visit Plan. I have to get up from my desk and walk to someone else’s desk periodically, perhaps even regularly, throughout the day. I have to move around even if only in short bursts as often as I am able while still doing my job. I have to build up to the point where I am coming home from work having already taken 10,000 steps just as a normal part of my day.

That way I’ll only have to top off the day with treadmill steps. I won’t have to make up the deficit of a whole day spent not moving around.

It’s a plan, and it’s mine.

I don’t think I was even aware of the degree to which my normal physical activity dropped when I quit working in a classroom and started sitting at a desk. I am now. And since I am now aware, I have the opportunity to learn to do better. Isn’t that how any development, be it personal or professional, works?

If you live on the JC campus weekdays between the hours of 8:00 and 3:30, and you would like a visit from me, just let me know. I’ll add you to my plan.