Steps

Besides leaving for the day, there used to be two times a day I left my desk at work. I got up once to get my lunch and once to go to the bathroom. That is it. I counted the steps to the bathroom (40) and the steps to the lunchroom/kitchen (60). That means during my work day I only took about 100 steps. It was shocking to see how sedentary I truly was. Whenever I try to live healthier I end up drinking more water, which means more bathroom breaks and having to make frequent trips to the kitchen since I am eating a few times a day and am always refilling my water bottle. This week I have kept track of how often I get up. I am going to the bathroom every hour and to the kitchen every couple hours. Without even thinking about it I increased my daily office steps to between 600 and 800 steps! I know that is still not a lot. We are supposed to be getting around 10,000 steps a day. I do not have a pedometer but I am certain I do not come near that amount. That is why exercise is so important to me; I barely get any while working. However small, an increase in movement is great and it made me smile.

An unexpected side benefit is I am getting to know my co-workers better and some of them are pretty awesome. People used to say I stayed in my cave (office) and was rarely seen. (It was a running joke.) Now I am coming in contact with all sorts of people as I run around the office. I have been with my company 7 years yet some people didn’t even know I existed because I was not social at all. (I am a very social person but at work I totally had tunnel vision.) I am not only getting healthy but making new office friends too. Nice!