Ten Thousand Steps and Change Theory

Ten Thousand Steps Starts with One

Recently, I started keeping track of my daily steps. I was in need of motivation for increasing my exercise time. I'd tried mechanical pedometers that didn't work that well. I tried a Fitbit briefly, but took it back because it track what I had expected. And it required constant wearing with my phone nearby. I didn't want to need to carry my phone all the time.

I have grown more attached to my phone.

While vacationing in Mexico, I realized my phone had been keeping track of my steps whether I wanted it to or not. It wasn't accurate because often I leave my phone on the charger while I do physical tasks. I didn't always carry my phone with me when out walking either. And I didn't put it in my pocket while I played ping pong for hours.

But it was a start. I already had it and it would give me a baseline. Also I needed to know about how many steps I take from different favorite walks.

Artists and writers can be rather sedentary. Most of our work is done with our brains. Keyboards and good brushes are our tools.

So for me, I might get 1000-2000 steps in a normal day. I thought a good goal would be to get in 3000-4000 steps.

My doctor reminded me that most people are trying to get 10,000 steps a day. Yikes.

However, I am familiar with change theory. Behavior change has been studied by psychologists for years with good evidence for what works best. I know, for instance, that it is better to start with small achievable goals. When you reach your goal, it is an immediate reward. If you set your goal too high, it will more likely lead to a discouraging fail. And you are more likely to quit, before much successful change occurs.

So I know that it is best to start with small, achievable goals. Once that is old news, I can set a new slightly higher goal that I know that I can achieve. Once that is reached, another goal can be set. And so on. And that is how I will get to the higher goal.

In Change Theory, as set out by Proschaska and Diclemente, there are stages of change. First, we think about change. We have to decide that we actually have reasons to do the hard work to make the change. For me, I thought raising my metabolism would be a possible result worth doing. In the second stage, we make a plan for how we will accomplish that change. We think about hurdles and how to solve issues. I have a torn meniscus, so i use trekking poles to relieve stress on my knee. I find I can go farther and faster with the two poles. I broke one. Solved it with my downhill ski poles, collecting dust in my crawl space. The third stage is where we make baby steps. Finally, we reach a point where the change is normalized and a part of our life.

Then we have days where we backslide. It might be head aches, pulled muscles, company, travel. This is a normal stage in the cycle of change. Realizing that this is normal, I can just pick up where I was at the next opportunity and keep going at my own pace.

It requires a little bit of being gentle with myself. We are often more forgiving of others. So I can try to be as nice to myself as I would to a friend I don't know so well.

I quickly learned that my normal walk around the block wasn't that many steps, so I chose a new route and new places to walk that are nearby. I have exceeded my goal many times. My best day was 7,000 steps, although my goal now is to get above 4,000 every day.

I am already thinking about other places to walk nearby that will be interesting and help me achieve that goal.

It's working after only two weeks. My average steps have doubled. I'm feeling stronger and have more energy.

Anyway, I'm getting there. It's a process.