Another missed walk. I missed my Tai Chi practice this morning. The day was beautiful, sunny, cool, perfect for Tai Chi in the park and a long walk. But my body vetoed both since I slept until 8:30 am - unusual. I guess this was to be expected. I haven't slept well for several days this week. And there was no time left after getting mom breakfast to fit either in as other tasks were waiting.
On my 45 minute trip into the city to get Milo I had some time to ponder the question of sitting vs walking. It occurred to me - I sit alot. I sit in the car - driving dogs to their destinations, driving mom or my husband to the store or the doctors or the pharmacy or church, and sometimes driving myself to fun stuff. I sit for my hobbies: knitting, spinning, reading, movies, blogging, iPad games, TV - every single activity I sit. So getting steps into my day is tough. Missing my walk - the step count is embarrassing.
Now that I wear a pedometer all day, I can see how sedentary I am at times. The pedometer used correctly is an objective measure of how much movement I do each day. You can't really cheat the pedometer, unless you take it off and shake it, but then you are really just cheating yourself!
I looked at the step equivalents for various activities on About.com. They had a huge list of activities and the step equivalents. You know, activities like swimming, biking, dancing, kick boxing, Tai Chi, and such. These activities raise your heart rate, count as exercise, but do not accurately reflect on a pedometer. One activity listed was sitting. Yes, I said "sitting". For every minute you sit, you can count 30 steps. uhh ... Really?? Can you look in the mirror at yourself and honestly say that 30 steps worth of effort was expended by sitting for a minute??
The car trip to Milo's house was uneventful.
Here is a picture of the sweet little guy who waiting for me to open his crate at my daughter's house - I am sure he was thinking ... "uh ... Grandma, what is wrong with this picture - I am in the crate, you aren't, and I shouldn't be here either now, grandma. Let's get the door open please." And then I did after about 3 pictures - you know I had to get settings and focus and lighting just right ;-)
Anyway, I let him ride on the front seat on the way home - he has grown and matured and is not such a crazy boy anymore. Here is photographic evidence of that. (And no, I wasn't driving when I took this picture ... well, not much.)
And the traffic was busy on the interstate, but moving at least (I had to wrestle the camera away from Milo - he loves to take pictures.)
And as we were driving down a street in our neighborhood and onto our home street, he was just snapping pictures left and right! He is such a photo-bug!
"Finally at Grandma's. It was a photo-fun trip." said Milo
After lunch, I went to get Meaty and Grimmy. They will be spending the weekend with me while their papa goes to his campsite in southern Maryland. And after dinner, Milo's mama will be coming to spend the night. A full day of family and pets - some days you can't squeeze in a walk no matter what your plans. But sitting? ... Sitting always find a way to be part of my day.
Need to find a creative way to change that balance!
As of 2:45 pm - step count is 3274! Pathetic!
As of 8:10 pm - step count is 5545! Still pathetic!
And the "sitting step count"? - well I put 115 miles on my car today. The traffic was terrible and slow so I probably average about 40 miles per hour. That is about 3 hours of driving or 180 minutes sitting ... times 30 steps per minute = 5400 steps for just sitting in the car.
Nope, I still can't do it.
2 comments:
I love reading your blog! Great pictures too. I am still thinking about the friendship post from the day before. I always thought that was one of the things that made my mom young at heart - she always was making new friends.
In the crate: What a sweet picture! Awwww.
Glad to know that steps are happening while I sit. That means calories are being burnt, and muscle is being strengthened...while I sit. Whoda thunk it. Who are they trying to kid? Are they trying to make us feel better?
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