No, I don’t have a Fitbit, but I recently discovered that I can see how many steps I take by going to an app on my phone. The first day, I felt really hopeless when only 250 steps showed up on the app. The fact that I didn’t carry my phone with me wherever I went might have had something to do with it. So, I decided to keep it in my pocket throughout the day. I was amazed when I reached 2000 steps. I thought maybe it had to do with the fact that my legs are short, and I need to take more steps to accomodate for that. Feeling a bit cocky, I told someone about my achievement, and they were eager to share the fact that they were up to 50,000 . To an old lady like me, them’s fighting words. I guess you could say I have a competitive spirit, even though I don’t demonstrate it often.

I’ve been doing the step counting for about a month now and I feel good about it. I’m more aware of getting the exercise I need, even it requires me to tap my feet more often, or dance while holding on to the countertop, or running in place for a minute or so. My trips to the mailbox also help, along with taking out the trash and getting from the house into the car, etc. I really rack up the steps on grocery shopping day. So, what if I’m hanging onto a grocery cart? My feet are moving. I walk into the store unassisted. I grab a cart and proceed through the aisles at a rapid pace, because this is definitely not my favorite thing to do anymore. I pack my own groceries. I wheel them to the car and place them in the trunk and unload them when I get home. On those days I’m doing over 5000 steps. I’m not very consistent, but I am moving and at almost 80 years old, that ain’t bad.

Aging robs us of many things, but if we put our mind to it, we can accomplish the seemingly impossible. A mind is a terrible thing to waste. If this helps you to be conscious of staying healthy, it’s a good thing. We might even slow down the process some.