Reaching Your Step Goal

Reaching Your Step Goal

It’s March..How are your resolutions going? Are you still on track? One of my gifts to myself was a smart watch. Honestly, I wonder if this watch is smarter than I am! I know it has a better track record and never seems to forget when it is time for me to get up and move.

One of the settings on this watch asked for my step count. Huh? Sadly I admit my first response was “as few as possible” but I really had no idea what number to put in the little box. So, I Googled it and found out that the 10,000 step number was originally just pulled out of the air by a company in Japan and had no medical backing at all. Yay! I didn’t feel quite so bad about my initial response.

Further research led me to more information that seemed better backed by studies and more realistic for people like me that are getting older and have new aches and pains everyday.

So how many steps is considered normal? There doesn’t seem to be a sliding scale based on age but according to the majority of research if you have under 5,000 steps each day you have what is called a sedentary lifestyle. Low activity lifestyle would fall in the 5,000 to 7,499 steps per day not counting any sports or exercising.

The average American walks 5900 to 6900 steps per day, so the majority are low active.

Moderately active lifestyles will have between 7,500 and 9,999 steps each day. This number would include sports and exercise or perhaps a job that involves more walking.

Active Lifestyles will reach the 10,000 or more steps per day including sports and exercising. Highly active lifestyles are those that top 12,500 step each day. These individuals are normally athletes or those that are working to improve their health through exercise.

So where did I fall? Well, I guessed in the low active lifestyle but I wanted to know for sure so I monitored my steps for several days. Um, let’s change that to a super sedentary lifestyle – well under 5,000 steps in the average day!

My first step goal was set at 5,000 steps a day. Honestly, that wasn’t too hard to reach. Here are a couple of things that I changed that made up the extra steps.

1. Set a timer on my watch to buzz at me when I had been inactive (usually at my desk) for 45 minutes. When the buzzer would go off, I would get up and walk to my front door and walk back and forth on my front porch for 10 laps. This added 290 steps each time I got up and made the walk or an additional 1,450 steps in an average day.
2. Anytime I needed to use the ladies room, I would walk upstairs to the master bedroom instead of using the hall bathroom. This alone added 100 steps each break or an additional 500 steps in an average day.

Just the two activity changes brought my daily step count to the 5,000 goal I had set. Not too much effort but not much of a challenge either.

Then I increased my goal to 7,500 steps a day and this is where I am now. I average between 7,500 and 8,500 and would like to work up to 10,000 over the next couple of months. Sure I can push myself and hit the 10,000 every once in a while but then I am sore and unable to hardly move for several days and that does a number when you start averaging your step count for the week.

Other ways I am trying to increase my steps is by just walking. I know it sounds simple but sometimes simple is what works. Now when I visit the grocery store, instead of getting the go cart to ride in, I walk. There are days when it is more like leaning/holding on to the cart..but I am on my feet throughout the shopping trip.

My girls and I joined a gym. They have become gym rats while I am happy to just sit on the bike and ride for 30-45 minutes before hitting the shower.

Where are you on your step count? 5,000? 7,500? 10,000?

If you are working on improving your overall health by increasing your activity, consider adding an additional 1,000 to 2,000 steps a day for a week. If that is doable, then increase your goal by another 500 steps for a week. Continue to increase your goal until you are topping 10,000 steps a week.

As you continue to increase your daily steps you will soon see physical changes in your body too. Yay! This was a big motivator for me.

Another big change for me was taking my vitamins every day. This habit, like getting up and moving, was one that I had let slide for far too long. If you haven’t heard, I recently signed on as a Superior Source Vitamins Ambassador which means that I am using their products as well as talking about them on my social media platforms.

One of the main reasons I accepted this Ambassadorship with Superior Source Vitamins was that I had already heard about their products and they had been recommended to me following my RNY surgery. Following my surgery, I lost almost 300 pounds within 18 months. Slowly over the last couple of years, I have allowed almost 100 pounds to creep back on. I also had stopped taking my vitamins because of absorption issues related to the surgery. You can’t imagine how happy I was to learn that Superior Source Vitamins are now MicroLingual® meaning they use “Under the Tongue Technology.” They dissolve quickly and are absorbed quickly into my body. Add this to the fact that they are GMO and sugar-free with no binders, fillers, dyes, or preservatives and I couldn’t wait to start using them and telling others.

So let me tell you about some amazing offers that you can grab right now.

– 60-Day Supply – 1,000 mcg (only pay $3.95 S&H)

– Any D product (baby, child, adult) (only pay $4.95 S&H)

(Sour Cherry or Tangy Orange) – 500 mg – Buy One Get One Free

: All Superior Source vitamins are on sale for 15% off the entire month of March.  Stores are in the upper Midwest:

: All Bs and Ds on sale for the month, no specific discount across the board

: Better Health is running a 20% off promotion during the entire month of March

: Save 20% on Superior Source during the entire month of March!

Learn more at or check out the Store Locator or order online!

 

One lucky reader will win a Superior Source March 2 Health Vitamin 6-Pack (an $90 Value!) that includes:

Vitamin A, B-12, Vitamin D, Just Women Healthy Skin Connection, Biotin, & Vitamin K
Product Descriptions: March 2 Health Vitamin 6-Pack (an $90 Value!)

Vitamin A
Vitamin A is a group of compounds that support eye health and the maintenance of healthy skin, teeth, and the surface linings for the respiratory, urinary and intestinal tracts. Vitamin A also plays a vital role in the promotion of immune system health.

B-12
No Shot Methylcobalamin Vitamin B-12 / Vitamin B-6 with Folic Acid MicroLingual® Tablets go to work fast, dissolving under the tongue — with no pills to swallow! The combination of Vitamin B-12, Vitamin B-6 and Folic Acid works synergistically to support healthy heart function and provide essential nutrients for the cardiovascular system. Vitamin B-12 in pill form can result in a loss of as much as 50% of Vitamin B-12 potency in the high acid environment of the stomach.

Vitamin D
Vitamin D works in conjunction with calcium to promote the development and maintenance of strong bones and teeth. Our Vitamin D products are D3, the finest source of Vitamin D available.

Just Women Healthy Skin Connection
Just Women Healthy Skin Connection combines an array of key vitamins and our proprietary herbal blend to support healthy skin. Vitamin A is a group of compounds that support eye health and the maintenance of healthy skin, teeth, and the surface linings for the respiratory, urinary and intestinal tracts. Vitamin D is essential for skeletal, neuromuscular and immune system function.

Biotin
Biotin helps to maintain healthy blood sugar levels, promotes nail and hair strength and supports cell growth, metabolism of fats and amino acids and the production of fatty acids. Biotin is essential in the healthy functioning of the “Krebs Cycle” in which energy is released from foods and transferred to the body for use.

Vitamin K
Vitamin K supports normal blood clotting and the formation of prothrombin. Superior Source go to work fast, under the tongue.

This Giveaway:

• Will run from March 23th-31st
• Is opened to Adventures of 8’s readers – (see below)
• Is opened to the USA only
• All entries must be in the entry form
• For full disclosures, see the bottom of the giveaway entry form below!

Superior Source March 2 Health Vitamin 6-Pack

For more information on the products and promotions, make sure you connect on Facebook,  Instagram, Twitter, Google+, and Pinterest.

I do hope you will join me in this journey to become more active by increasing my steps each day. Let’s check in next month and see where we are at in April. I am looking forward to being a Superior Source Vitamins Ambassador and sharing my progress with you.

 

*Disclosure – this is a sponsored post on behalf of Superior Source s part of the Ambassador Program. All views and opinions are mine.