A Little Healthy Competition

So a few weeks ago my husband mentioned to me that he had downloaded an app for his iPhone that would record his steps each day. Honestly, I didn’t think much of it.

I mean, I’ve been asking my husband to take walks with me for years. He rarely joined me.

Now, over the years I have had a on again/ off again relationship with walking. I’m kind of a fair-weather walker.

Which means that I like walking in the spring and fall or maybe early in the morning {or late in the evening} during summer.

Sometimes we’ll take a walk or hike in the cold, but then I consider those special occasions – adventures – not for everyday.

Anyway, so my husband stays busy and so when he’s not busy he’s tired and the last thing he usually wants to do is go for a walk.

Well, not anymore.

A Little Healthy Competition

So at first he wasn’t really putting effort into getting more steps. He was just, you know, looking at his numbers at the end of the day. But then one day he woke up and decided he had a new goal of 10,000 steps per day.

At the time I was really sick with a terrible cough and cold. That cold lasted for about two weeks. I didn’t feel like walking.

Suddenly, my husband was walking non-stop. He was walking late at night {before midnight} if he didn’t have his 10,000 steps in. He even got up at 2:30 am one morning when he couldn’t sleep and went for a walk.

Every night he would come in and “brag” about how many steps he had gotten. And honestly, I was so proud of him! He’s determined to lose weight and I’m thankful because I’ve been worried about his weight affecting his health.

My 18 year old daughter, Emily, decided that she would download the app onto her iPhone too. And she started trying to beat her dad. It got to the point that at night they were both going out to walk up and down the driveway after repeatedly comparing each others “scores” throughout the day to try and “best” each other.

And then I started feeling better. And I couldn’t let them beat me at the game. It took me a couple of weeks of getting used to always carrying my phone on my person – so often I would just set it down and forget about it so my steps weren’t being counted. I love to wear my yoga pants around the house but they don’t have pockets! So I kept forgetting about my phone.

But then my husband gave me a belt clip to keep my phone in and as nerdy as it looks, I’ve been clipping it to my waist everyday for the last few days. On Sunday I had over 15,000 steps! So far, that’s the only day I’ve “won” the competition. On Monday, my husband decided that he had to have over 15,000 steps and he ended up with over 16,000. I only got 11,433 that day.

You can see I haven’t mastered reaching my goal everyday, yet, but I’m getting there and it’s exciting! In the photo below, 3/17 is today so I haven’t had time to get all of my steps in, but I plan to go for a walk and more before the day is over!

Not only that, but now I look for ways to get in extra steps. Like, “Oh, I can take out the trash!” or “Let me run and get that laundry put away!” or “Hey, I can raise my floors by running up the stairs!” {The app keeps track of how many floors I climb.}

On Sunday I was so closet to 15,000 steps that I walked up and down the driveway {we have a long driveaway} a few times to get my steps in at 9:00 at night, but then I ended up getting 15,419 before I went to bed. My husband was proud of me! {For my stride, 15,000 steps is about 5 miles.}

Anyway, my younger girls have download a similar app onto their iPods and we’re all keeping score, seeing how many steps we can get everyday.

It’s not an mean spirited kind of competition – it’s all in good fun! And we’re getting healthier and fitter in the process!

If you don’t want to be tied to your phone, you could purchase a Fitbit Flex Wireless Activity + Sleep Wristband – my step-son wears one everyday. Or you could use a pedometer. But the Stepz App is free with ads or only $0.99 if you want to remove the occasional ad. I like that fact that we could all use devices we already use everyday anyway.

Note: I am in no way affiliate or being paid to promote this app – I just really love it! You can download the Stepz App here.