LaTonya M. Baldwin (Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan participant)

It’s December 26th, the day after Christmas and the day after the madness. Don’t get me wrong; I love the holidays but the season wreaks havoc on my routines and these days, routine helps keep me sane so while I loved spending time with family and friends, I’m ready to resume some daily rituals and habits.

High on my list is stepping.

I’m off work today and I’ve been looking forward to taking time to reflect what has worked for me in terms of walking. Today is about setting new goals and writing them down because committing goals to paper or screen works. I’ve got some stepping I want to achieve and I intend on succeeding. Before I get to my goals for 2012, let me take you back to where I’ve been.

I started tracking my steps on October 11th. Initially, I simply monitored what my normal walking habits would yield me. I’m an organic walker. I walk to the grocer two to three times a week. I walk to my part-time job, I walk to and from the bus stop during the week to get work downtown at Blue Cross Blue Shield in Detroit. I shop locally and typically that means walking to the cleaners or drugstore or picking up carryout. My pre-Walkingspree walks totaled 5-8k steps a day. Once I began wearing my pedometer, I added a daily thirty to forty minute workout walk before work and a twenty to thirty minute walk during lunch. The dedicated walks boosted my total to 10-12k. I am competitive so 12k just wasn’t going to satisfy me. Every week, I set goals either to increase my total number of steps or my total aerobic steps. I watched the leader board and asked top steppers what activities and routines they recommended I do to get the most steps out of my walks and workouts.

Then the holidays rolled in and my averages plummeted. Change in work schedule and demands on my time lead to fatigue and lack of focus. Sadly, I’ve dropped to 15k a day. But the holidays are over for me, and I’m ready for 2012 now. I’m not waiting for January 1. Today begins my own personal challenge to recapture and surpass my 26k average. 30K, here I come.

Post-Holiday Game Plan

Work Week
1) 30-40 minutes morning walk (4-5k)
2) Lunch walk 20-35 minutes (2.65-4k)
3) Workout walk/cycle/dance 35-50minutes (3.5-5.5k)

I don’t have the average for steps I rack up during my evening work shifts but with these dedicated walks, I previously averaged 18k-22k steps a day. I walk everywhere. I don’t drive. With added longer walks and extended workout sessions on the weekend, I should hit 26k at least three days a week. My goal is to hit 26k by January 21. I now have a journal to record total steps for individual walks. As I record my other walk totals, I’ll share how I’m reaching my goals.

The tool that really kept me focused and motivated is the online setting goals/activity tracker. Every day, I uploaded my numbers and I checked to see if I was hitting goal. Every week, I set new goals, increasing my totals by a couple of thousand steps or increasing my mile goals by a mile or two. I plan on doing this again faithfully. Call me weird but it’s a real boost to see the blue bar tipping over my goal line. Having a record of my activity has been one of the biggest factors in keeping me moving.

What about you, do you have goals and a plan for 2012?

Be well,