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10,000 Steps for Health
1 August 2013 | by As mentioned in my previous blog posting, I’ve taken a serious approach to my health. Much of what I accomplished in losing over 30 pounds was just done by following the Atkins diet and casual exercise. Much of this exercise has been in the form of walking as my wife and I are trying to get in better shape for our trip to Europe. In previous years, we didn’t prepare ourselves in advance for all the walking we end up doing. We suffer for the first week as a result. I believe this year will be different.
My goal of reaching 200 pounds prior to 15 August was in an effort to verify that diet and exercise will help improve my cholesterol levels. I will have a checkup next week and my ultimate goal of those results is just to verify that the needles are moving in the right directions. I know I have more work to do…but I am looking for proof that what I’ve accomplished in the past four months is the right thing.
Part of vacation is enjoying life and I don’t plan to follow the Atkins plan while in Europe. If you are familiar with Atkins or the Low Carb diet, you know that carbs are avoided like the plague. The national dish of Belgium is Belgian Frietjes or Belgian Fries. These are the best fried potatoes (can’t refer to them as French) that I have ever tasted and I’ve enjoyed more than my share of fries. In addition to the Belgian fries, I’ll also enjoy a few Belgian Waffles and many other delicacies which I just can’t get here in the US. I figure many of the carbs I consume while on vacation will be offset with the tremendous amount of walking we do.
Anyway…..10,000 Steps for Health is how I plan to tackle the next phase of my goal. I’ve heard people talk about losing weight just simply making sure they walk 10,000 steps daily. But just how many steps does an average person….or more importantly, how many steps do I take on an average day? A friend of mine has had incredible success with this this program and uses a little device called a Fitbit. A Fitbit is a small electronic gadget (fancy pedometer) which is worn to track the number of steps you take, the number of floors you’ve climbed, distance in miles or kilometers and calories burned. You basically wear this little device and sync the data to a free Fitbit account where you can view your results.
What I found by just wearing the device each day was without even trying I was averaging about ~6000 steps each day. So by adding an additional daily walk to my schedule (and taking the stairs more at work) has proven successful at pushing me over the 10K mark each day.
For now, my focus remains on the final 4.5 pounds which I plan to lose by 15 August, then enjoying a fantastic vacation with my wife. Once I return home and return to work, I will begin working on the next phase of my plan to reach 180 pounds by Christmas. At this point, I really don’t plan to go any lower than 180 pounds. I’m 6 foot tall and at 180 pounds, this places my BMI in the normal weight range. But of course, I’ll consult with my doctor and most importantly perform another blood test to check my overall cholesterol numbers.
Until next time…
Jerry
P.S. I realize this blog post has nothing to do with amateur radio. However, my getting in better shape, getting healthy and staying healthy will most certainly allow me to continue to enjoy the hobby for many years to come. Plus I just want to share this info with others who might be interested in shedding a few extra pounds. 73 de KD0BIK
4 Responses to “10,000 Steps for Health”
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Great work, Jerry, keep it up. I’ve been logging into the Presidents Challenge at https://www.presidentschallenge.org/account/logout.php and after 9 years made the platinum level, though getting to the first (bronze) is pretty easy in a few months or less.
your story reminds me of my wife. Eight years ago she weighed 360 pounds, now she’s at 190 (I went from 235 to 185 too). We both began to exercise regularly, cut out a lot of bread, stopped eating late at night, GOT ENOUGH SLEEP, and just made time and a commitment to get healthier. Now we do half marathons and triathlons, but we began with simple 5k runs and just slowly worked up from there. Now she has a good trainer to help, but even without that there is so much one can do to get healthier. And once you cut out most red meat and start more fish and chicken, fruits and vegetables too, you feel better. Pretty soon junk food tastes like…well, junk.
Again, best wishes on your fitness journey and thanks for sharing.
hi jerry,
i took a different approach, read “the china study” claims there are much lower heart, diabetes and cancer rates for vegans. much more Internet surfing found many other same claims. i had another problem ” obama care” socialized medicine. having lived near Canada for 50 years, there were many stories of people dying while on waiting list, that is headed for the US. it takes about 3 months to make the meat go away, then a few more to eliminate the cheese and milk and eggs. about 6 months in my doctor was able to take me off of blood pressure and cholesterol medication that i was on for 30 years. diabetic medication was eliminated next. the weight is stable, i do a small amount of exercise, do not watch calories (veggies have very little) and do not watch portion size. we still do wild caught fish. b12 has to be supplemented into the diet because it is only found in meat.
73 dick these sound card programs can sure keep a ham busy!!
Jerry,
Fine business!
We just adopted a new beagle pup, so that means a 45 minute walk in the morning before work, and another each evening. By adopting this pup, I think two lives are benefiting, his and mine! I need to drop some lbs, too!
73 de Larry W2LJ
Hi,
I read the China study as well. Fascinating material, I couldn’t put it down. The practical guide that helped me incorporate that style of eating is Dr. Fuhrman’s book “Eat to Live.” His “Nutritarian” style of eating emphasizes eating foods with the highest nutritional content and the least amount of calories. When following his plan to the letter I dropped 10lbs/month for 6 months straight like clockwork. When my body reached it’s ideal weight the weight loss suddenly stopped. It took some work make the changes but it was worth it.
Here’s an interesting article on the Atkins diet:
http://www.drfuhrman.com/library/article2.aspx
73, de Steve WI2W