Step by Step

In the last post, I talked about making healthier choices and gave some suggestions on how to do that. But, you still may need to find the motivation to make these changes.

Here is a suggestion: purchase and use a pedometer. Pedometers are sold almost every where now and are often times given away at health fairs and even in adult happy meals. (If you absolutely have to eat at McDonald's you might as well get a pedometer while you are there.) Some are pretty simple and just tell you how many steps you have taken. But you can also buy pedometers that tell you how many miles you have walked and how many calories you have burned.

It has been said that walking 10,000 steps per day helps to meet the Surgeon General's requirement of getting 30 minutes of moderate physical activity each day. This is a great goal to set for yourself. Put your pedometer on when you get up in the morning and wear it all day. At the end of the day, record how many steps you have taken. Expectant mamas can use this as a goal too.

Need more motivation? Promise yourself a trip to the spa after a week of walking 10,000 steps per day. Or you will buy yourself those wonderful red shoes you have been lusting after if you meet your goal at least 25 days out of the month. You will see that you will start to push yourself to meet the goal. It will motivate you to get up and take a walk during your lunch break, to walk to the store instead of driving and to take the stairs instead of the elevator.

Now, I will warn you: if you are not currently active, it is a good idea to work up to 10,000 steps per day. For example, start off with 4000 steps as a goal for the first week. Once you have reached that goal on a consistent basis, you can increase it. It is good to have short term goals on the way to your long-term goal.

Ok, let's get to steppin!