10,000 steps

I mentioned the other day that I went to see my doctor for my yearly check up and to bitch about how crappy I have been feeling.  
 
I didn't mention that there was a plus side......... when they weighed me I had - officially - lost 30 pounds!! which is a very good thing and has been a long process.

It started a long way back when Kaya from "under his hand" was talking about having to walk (under orders from her Master) 10,000 steps a day - the one post that stayed with me was how she was on the treadmill late at night trying to reach the goal. That little nugget of information just rattled around in my head ........ for months - maybe longer.

Then I saw my doctor and bitched that I couldn't lose weight - and he suggested walking - 10,000 steps a day.  

Do any of you have any idea how hard it is to do 10,000 steps a day??!!!  

All that to say I bought myself a fitbit late last winter - one of those fancy bracelets that monitor your footsteps - your heart rate - and your sleep.  I have the basic version - the fancy one does a whole lot more - but I just wanted steps and sleep.

I guess it was April or May before I really took the whole thing seriously.  Let me describe how difficult it is to get 10,000 steps.  I go to the gym every morning and spend one hour on the treadmill - going 3mph - panting and sweating.  That gives me approximately 6,000 steps.  ONLY 6,000 !!!  Apparently -- I have learned - it takes 2000 steps to walk one mile.  

BUT to compare - since I retired I don't walk nearly as much as I did when I was teaching -- duh!!  On average I was only walking 1800 steps a day - sitting around the house doing very little.  SO I needed the gym and incentive.

I have been pretty faithful to the gym and the treadmill since June I guess it was.  I would pull on my cute denim runners and off I would go.  I noticed somewhere around August that there were tiny splits on each side of each runner.  and thought then that I should buy a new pair.  BUT I hate shopping and the thought of investing in a good pair of walking shoes was too much for me.

Well - all of that to say --  about 3 weeks ago I noticed my legs were really hurting after 15 minutes on the treadmill - until the last day I could barely stand the pain in my shins after 20 minutes and had to give up and come home.

The doctor scolded me.  Apparently I really do need to invest in good walking shoes if I am gonna work out on the treadmill every day - and strive for my 10,000 steps.

I have spent the last 2 weeks not setting foot in the gym.  Just walking down the hallway to the laundry room made my legs ache.

Yesterday I had my blood tests  -- the ones to make sure there is nothing physically wrong with me.............. and I decided I would go find a decent sports store and see how much these new walking shoes were gonna cost me.  My incentive - the weight had started to creep up again - ok ok - it was only 2 ounces but I saw the writing on the wall.  And besides my birthday is coming - and I would buy myself an early birthday present. (it feels a lot like "socks and underwear" but the skinnier version of me is the BEST birthday present)

I went to two different sports/shoe stores.  And finally settled on a pair that weren't glow in the dark - look at me shoes!!  and didn't totally break the bank!!  who knew proper walking shoes cost that much??!!!

Today I am gonna head back to the gym - gonna walk my 3 miles - gonna start feeling better about me again....... HELL I lost 30 pounds just walking every day - it's  one small step in taking back my life