All Is Grace

i’ve learned something about myself in the last two days.

i may work in my house, and i may have said in the past that getting 10,000 steps a day in my house on a regular basis is impossible. but throw a little friendly competition in my face, and all of a sudden…i can hit 14,000 by 7pm.

no problem.

now, of course, it helps that i haven’t had to stand at the kitchen counter all week like i often do. but the baby has been sick, so he’s not as active. i haven’t left the house since Sunday evening, so no groceries or trips to Hobby Lobby or doctor’s appointments. i’ve even half-watched 3 episodes of Person of Interest and half of a Mysteries of Laura in the midst of all of it (fully watching would imply that i actually see and hear every part of them. between the kids talking to me, the baby needing a book read to him, the dogs needing to go out, diaper changes, “Micah, take a bite,” conversations, pushing the pause button for 3 hours…yeah. you get the point).

but i have sore calves and a very tight lower back from jogging around my kitchen table, back and forth from the kitchen to the living room, and up and down the steps to get a few more flights in during the day. oh, and i no longer use the bathroom downstairs. it’s about 120 steps round trip to go upstairs instead. and i drink a lot of water.

there might be something wrong with me. and i’m not talking about my water intake.

interestingly, this isn’t the first FitBit Workweek Hustle step challenge in which i’ve participated (i love my Charge HR). i’ve done so many in which i absolutely proved my initial theory…”oh, you all work in office buildings and schools, so of course you get 12,000 steps every day. or 18,000 (which just blows my mind).” i’ve even made the excuse that my morning workout isn’t necessarily cardio, so that counts for steps too.

no.

i can’t say that i’m living an active lifestyle if i’m getting 4,000 steps on a normal day, even if i’m doing an intense workout (because often, those steps are counted in that workout). there’s a reason 10,000 steps is the default goal before you set your own. duh. it’s a baseline. “get this number of steps and you’re doing a reasonable amount of moving around in a given day.” why am i not losing weight? hmm. you can eat 1200-1499 calories on the nutrition plan for Hammer and Chisel, do the workout, and if you sit on your butt the rest of the day…guess what?? throw a slow metabolism in there, and…gee. go figure.

i’m a really dumb semi-smart person. all that research. so much practical knowledge gained. so little practical application.

might not be my magic pill. but it might be a light bulb moment. my math geek, addicted-to-numbers self may have just had a breakthrough.

i’m going to win this challenge.

tomorrow i need to wear better shoes.