Our target was to hit 15,000 steps per day within this month. We made it to 10,000 steps a day – our target last month. It was a major achievement for us. So now we want to hit 15,000 steps per day. The intent of this goal is our holiday happening on the 1st of July. We want to be in a position to enjoy ourselves without pain when walking, as that would otherwise impact on the experience of those people we are going for holiday with. Also, we are already self-conscious about eating with a gastric sleeve in restaurants, so we didn’t want to have this concern to worry about as well and we know this is just a concern we have, no one would really care but people reading this will probably understand what we are talking about.
Weeks 13-14: June 18th to July 1st:
- Walking:
- Building up from around 10,000 steps per day to 15,000 steps per day.
- We went on 3 walks per day, one in the morning, one on James’ lunch hour and one in the evening after James’ work.
Weeks 15-16: July 2nd to July 15th:
- Walking
- Continued to walk, and through it, we were on holiday at this time, so some of the days, we hit 20k steps.
- The focus on the last two months has mostly been about walking. This is because we had planned to take Tenerife with James’ younger sister and not constrain her need to sit down often at the parks. No need to upset his sister when she desires to play around, and she can’t do just that. In addition, James had more of a healing process because his injury was more severe, so practicing walking was a way for him to recover while also regaining the strength to walk with a 10-year-old.
Additional Tips:
- Hydrate: Make sure to get and continue to drink plenty of water throughout the day, but drink additional water leading up to our walk and during/after our walk.
- Supportive Shoes: Whether we’re walking in or out of the house, put supportive sneakers on to prevent discomfort and injury to joints and feet.
- Monitor: Use a log to record the number of steps you make and slowly increase the duration or time for walking toward your goal.
- Listen to your body: In case of any pain or other abnormalities, take a break immediately and consult your health professional if necessary.
- Integrate Physical Activity into Daily Routine: Stair use, walking during breaks, seek any opportunity to be active.