I have discovered one thing that’s making a big difference to me: move. Just move around some. That’s all.
I got myself a FitBit, and I actually really like having a little device yell at me and say it’s time to move, or counting all my steps each day. I get to show off to my wife and kiddo that I’m walking more than they are. My wife and I just finished a “NYC marathon” challenge, and I smoked her by finishing about 25,000 steps ahead of her. Now, that took the better part of a week, so I’m nowhere near ready for an actual marathon, but still, it’s fun to have that little comparison.
I haven’t been to the gym in several weeks. Instead, I’m just walking. I get in my 250 steps an hour while I’m at work; just get up from the desk and walk to my car and back, and that’s 250. At home, I usually spend the evening walking around my living room in a circle while I watch TV (it’s too dang hot to do the walking outside). Takes me between 30 minutes an an hour usually to get in all my steps for the day, and all I’m doing is being up and mobile instead of spending time sitting around in the chair. This translates, in the little FitBit app, to “active minutes”. Last week, I had 364 active minutes, just from my little living room jaunts.
As a result of just adding some small activity, the years of abuse and neglect are coming off. Not only do I now need a new belt because I’ve reached the last hole on mine, but I can yank my pants off without unbuckling the belt. Progress! And I’ve only been doing this since the end of April.