Count your steps

Your 26th weekly challenge is to invest in a pedometer and aim for 10,000 steps each day. You’ll be surprised how many steps a mom can take just running around the house, but if you’re going to reach 10,000, you’ll need to take a walk outside for sure. This is good motivation to get some fresh air.

Both Whitney and I enjoy tracking things and counting steps has been an on and off obsession over the past years. One day, I called her and said something ridiculous like, “I hope you don’t want to do anything with me before Baby Brigade because I walked 17,000 steps today so I’ll be on the couch.” Being in the middle of my maternity leave, I thought this was a totally normal thing to say.

Whit recommends the Omron pedometer (pictured above, only about $17) because it has a memory function that lets you look at the past 7 days worth of data. Additionally, it tracks both your total daily steps and your aerobic steps, or those that were part of a 10 minute or more walk. I’ve also amped up the geekery with the Nintendo DS pedometer nugget. No DS? No problem. Advanced geekery and insight into your daily activity level with the fancy fitbit (for about $99, it tracks calories burned, steps taken, distance traveled and sleep quality). More fun with data!

Do you, would you, could you count your steps?! Let us know we’re not alone!