Day 5 - The Inevitable

I woke up this morning after a restless night. My soft palate hurt and my nose was stuffed. Well, that explains why I was feeling so crappy yesterday. I'm not sure why, but usually within a week of starting an exercise routine, I come down with something. I have a theory on why this happens. Exercise stresses your body and lowers your ability to fight infection. Plus, any additional stress you already have in your life is going to be taking a toll as well. I'm sure there's actual scientific documentation to back this up, but I'll leave that to you guys to look up. Either way, I am 5 days into this and I am catching a cold.

This brought me to an interesting crossroad this morning. Do I call the 30 day experiment on account of catching a cold and spend the day laying on the couch or do I walk to work like I normally would and just push through it? I opted for somewhere in the middle.

I am just dealing with the start of a cold, so it reallyis not bad enough for me to stay home from work. And if I am well enough to go to work, I am probably well enough to do some walking. Walking a mile and a half in 44 degree weather with a wind chill just did not sound appealing though. So I drove to work. With some easy math though, I figured out I can still get 10,000 steps today, I just need to do it gently.

500 steps is not bad. It's a short walk. It takes five minutes. It gets your blood moving. It's not long enough for me to get out of breath, but I feel like I've done something. I figure that if I do 500 steps 20 times today I am good. That's like a little 5 minute walk every half an hour. That's doable and easy and I still have plenty of time to work and drink my Gypsy Cold Remedy tea with honey, take Emergen-C and cover myself in Thieves Oil. I am totally going to fight this cold!

I also found this article from WebMD. It's about the benefits of walking on your immune system and also, exercising when you have a cold - because I did do a little bit of research.

http://www.webmd.com/cold-and-flu/cold-guide/exercise-when-you-have-cold#1

And, since I am continuing the experiment, that means I still get to tally up my stats!

Stats:

Distance: Just 5 miles yesterday, but I have now gone a total of 24 miles.

Mood: Optimistic. I have cold, but I am working through it. I would like to think that all this walking is boosting my immune system so the cold won't be as bad as it could be.

Sleep: Restless last night, but a Mountain Dew Kickstart this morning help with that.

Today's Motivation:

It sounds silly, but I am grateful to have 10,000 steps to walk today. It gives me something to do other than to sit and feel sorry for myself because I am catching a cold. That's a vicious cycle when it gets started. I feel sorry for myself and don't do anything and then I start beating myself up because I am not doing anything and then I feel more sorry for myself. Not a good place. Hippocrates was right. "Walking is man's best medicine."

Day 4 - Ugh

I am feeling a bit like death today. I woke up with a headache. My eyes feel dry and swollen. My nose is stuffed and I am just sore. I can't tell if this is a side effect of trying to get healthy or if I am just catching a cold. Since I can't tell, I'm going to keep walking till I figure it out. :)

That's actually pretty much how this morning went. I seriously debated just taking the car to work, but I couldn't figure out how I was going to get the 10,000 steps in today without a lot of extra work. Walking to work was much easier, plus I got a little bit of time to myself which was lovely. I am actually looking forward to walking home for the same reason.

Stats so far:
Distance: I went 6 miles yesterday taking my total to 19 miles. I think I might have gotten out of Freeport by now and I am on my way to Winnebago.

Mood: Crabby. My energy level is low. I am up a couple pounds and I am NOT having a good hair day. Most of this is probably completely unrelated to walking, but it's not helping.

Sleep: According to my Fitbit, I was restless like 16 times and slept for like 7 1/2 hours. I had some crap dreams last night too. You know the kind. An endless series of stressful situations. This my also be more related to my currently work/social life than walking, but also not helping.

Huh, so far, this is not saying much about this experiment, but I also need to remember that I have only been doing this for 3 days. Today is day 4 and I am only halfway through it. It may also be that walking is actually helping me cope better with life than if I wasn't. If that's the case, then I should walk on!

Based on the data. I can't tell if 10,000 steps a day is good or bad yet, so I'm going to keep walking till I figure it out!

Today's Motivation:

I am going to keep walking because I love having a little time to myself.

Day 3 - Still going!

It is really hard to hit 10,000 steps when you spend at least 9 hours of your day traveling in the car. It's probably a good thing that I spent 3 hours walking at the City Museum, because that was the most walking I got. I did hit 10,000 steps, but I really had to work for it. When we stopped for food our gas, I did a lap around the building. I walked up and down the aisles at the gas station. And then I got my last 700 steps by walking in place while my husband played a video game.

Total distance yesterday 5.08 miles. I am 13 miles closer to Disney now and a lot less sore than I thought I would be. I did a lot of climbing yesterday and I really thought I would have sore muscles. I definitely slept well last night though! I was even able to get out of bed this morning without hitting the snooze alarm, so that's a plus.

I even had the energy and desire to walk to work this morning. Note to self. Check weather forecast before leaving. The last few days, I have been able to comfortably walk without a jacket. This morning it was raining, which is fine because I love to walk in the rain. I didn't even think to check the temperature. Apparently it was about 38 degrees F this morning with a real feel of 24. Good thing I have a sweater at work I can wear home.

Today's Motivation:

So technically it's a two day streak now, but that in itself is motivating. I have made it through 2 of 30 days. I can't stop now! Only 1263 miles till Disney!!

Day 2

There are a lot of benefits I am hoping to see from walking 10,000 steps a day. So far though I just feel tired and sore. I should't complain.

It's only day 2 though and yesterday I walked 16,444 steps for a total of 8 miles. Disney, here I come!!

Today, I hit 7000 steps in 2 1/2 hours while climbing all over the City Museum in St. Louis. Maybe that's why I am tired?

Today's Motivation:

Following a seven year old around the City Museum.

It was exhausting, but totally worth it! I am completely motivated to keep walking now. I would like it to be less exhausting the next time I go.

Starting Fresh: Day 1

I am starting a month long experiment today. I have been out of the habit of walking. I have actually just been out of the habit of even hitting 10,000 steps, let alone doing my epic walks and I have been struggle to even find the motivation to get started again. I feel different. I don't feel as good as I used to when I was walking. I am having a harder time controlling how I eat. I have less energy. I don't sleep well! Did walking really make that much difference?

Now is the time to find out!!

Today, I am starting 30 days of walking. I want to hit at least 10,000 steps everyday for 1 month and see what difference it makes. No drastic changes in my eating habits. I am not going to count calories. If I see a powdered donut and I feel like eating a powdered donut, I shall eat that donut. If I see it and don't feel like it though, I am not going to eat. Will walking change my tastes? I know yesterday, when I only went about 4500 steps, I happily devoured a bag of Doritos, some sour candy, a bowl of Ramen, and 2 Zebra cakes. So, I do have a baseline to do this study!

I am also curious how far I can actually walk in a month. Google maps told me today that it is 1276 miles from downtown Freeport (my favorite place to walk!) to Disney Caribbean Beach Resort in Florida. How close can I get in a month? I do like a good challenge. :)

Today's motivation:

Me. Because I am worth walking for! Here's to 10,000 steps!

It's cheesy, but it's true. I started walking like crazy because of my friend, Sarah, but now I love it! I love the way I feel. I love the things I see. I love getting out no matter the weather.