I started my 30 Day Challenge to walk 10000 steps a day from 1st May 2021. So how did the first 7 days of the challenge go? Let’s take a quick look.
With some prep work and based on the records by my Garmin Smartwatch, I was able to successfully clock 10000 steps a day since. However looking just at the steps doesn’t do justice to the effort that I took to ensure that I achieve them everyday.
Challenge 1: Not Enough Time
Prior to starting the challenge, I knew that I only clock 5000 to 7000 steps on average on a weekday, while on weekends, sometimes I clock less than 2000 steps if I’m not heading out anywhere. So from the start I knew I had to make the extra effort everyday to hit the 10k target. So far, on days that I don’t go for a jog, I spent anywhere between 15 – 60 mins more a day trying to hit my target.
Everyday, I have to find opportunities to walk as much as possible. Such as walking out for lunch, walking back home after work (or half way before I board a bus to continue my journey back) and evening runs. On weekends, I will have sometime for morning walks/jogs instead. The most challenging days are when I have appointments in the evening. I can only do my walks/jog only after my appointments after 10pm. It takes a little push to stay committed to my task on days like that.
Let’s dive deeper to look at some of the other information that I took down everyday. I recorded my weight first thing in the morning, calories burnt everyday, heavy meals if any or exercises.
Challenge 2: Not Watching How Much I Ate
I realised that on days that I have evening appointments, are the days that I always struggle to clock my 10k steps. And obviously since I walk less, I also burn the least calories as well of the 7 days. With an added heavy dinner, my weight will always bounce back up the very next day… ouch. As your can see, I actually gained 0.05 kg after 7 days into the challenge. (courtesy of day 6 heavy dinner I guess)
What’s Next for Day 8 – 14?
I feel pretty good about myself for achieving 10k steps everyday for the first seven days. Even though there were days I barely clocked it before midnight. However, I was disappointed with the weight gain whenever I go on a feast during my evening dinner appointments. (Got to do something about them)
On those days when I have dinner appointments, I might consider waking up earlier for a walk, or maybe walk a little further out for lunch to make up for the steps and calories burn. At the same time, I got to be more mindful of what I put into my mouth during my dinner appointments. (Don’t over eat for dinner)
In the meantime, burn some calories over after work as a Ninja, Zombie Hunter or Ghost Hunter here!
