Activity #26: Count your steps

Your 26th weekly challenge is to invest in a step-counting device 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 and escape your screentime for a little while each day.

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 our Mom and Baby movie date, 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.

The fun part of a connected fitness band is when there is a memory function that lets you look at the past 7 days worth of data. They typically all track both your total daily steps and your aerobic steps, or those that were part of a 10 minute or more walk. We have amped up the geekery by having the Fitbit activity monitor and Misfit Shine monitor (both also track sleep!), and years ago, I wore the Nintendo DS pedometer nugget. Many of the monitors cost about $99 and track calories burned, steps taken, and distance traveled in addition to sleep quality. But there are certainly a few in the $30 range, with less features. Our friend Marina recommends this one.

This Nokia Health tracker looks like an elegant watch but displays how close you are to your goals.

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