Wellness Wednesday Tip #40: National Walking Day! 10,000 Step Challenge!
/Welcome back folks! First and foremost, Happy National Walking Day! This week’s challenge comes from Diana Klatt, a new member of the WW crew, she can be found on Twitter @DianaKlatt, also check out her blog at onethirddoctor.com. She challenges everyone to get in the recommended 10,000 daily steps for the rest of the week!
So, what’s so magical about taking 10,000 steps? Most people recognize this number as the step count associated with the fitbit and other fitness tracking devices. But where did this number come from? 10,000 steps is equivalent to 5 miles. These numbers satisfy the suggested recommendations for physical activity by the CDC.
This number may be intimidating to many, but know that it’s okay if you can’t cross that 10,000 step finish line each day. Each person has a personal journey in increasing their daily activity. You can use this as an opportunity to slowly increase your steps to the recommended 10,000 or even go beyond. Taking on a walking and daily step challenge can help you to increase your daily mileage. Anyone and everyone can walk their way to health.
Many of us have adopted a sedentary lifestyle. Most people have a day that goes as follows: sit in car/train/bus on commute, sit at work, sit on return commute, sit at home, and so on. If this sounds like you and you are just starting to keep track of your daily activity don’t feel intimidated by the magnitude of 10,000. You can begin with a tangible, realistic number of 2,500 steps and try to maintain that for each day of the week and then add 1,000 steps the following week and so on until you reach your step goal.
It’s all about making small changes to impact your overall health and walking can surely play a part. Check out a previous tip for more information on the health benefits of walking by clicking here. Sometimes it’s hard to get yourself motivated to continue working towards increasing your walking. Sometimes you need that extra level of commitment to keep you accountable. I’m here for you! If you need someone to keep you accountable or to challenge daily or weekly feel free to add me on fitbit and send me a challenge. What are you waiting for? Step to it!
Thanks again for all of the #WellfieWednesday support, be sure to post your pictures again this week and tag the WW crew members (@PBernerSPT, @Eric_in_AmERICa, @AaronPerezPT, @fitnerdaimee, @DianaKlatt) and keep the wave of healthy change going!
- WW Crew