Friday: 26,000 steps

After yesterday’s flop, I start the day determined. I get up early, keen to get a good chunk of steps done before I start work, and I manage 3,000. I’m able to keep plodding along in 30-minute chunks with only two meetings scheduled, and I pass 20,000 with ease by mid-afternoon. I stay on the treadmill for another hour post-work just to push myself before finally clocking off just before 7pm so I can flop on the sofa for a while. My legs are quite sore by this point.

Saturday: 19,000 steps

I’m out and about today, going to a deli for lunch and then a friend’s birthday drinks, so I know I’ll be able to hit 10,000 steps easily with all the public transport and walking from place to place. But to hit 20,000, I know I’ll need to put in some effort. So I get up early and knock out some time on the treadmill. At some point between this treadmill session and leaving the house (I think for my shower), I take off my Fitbit and have to rely on my phone to track my steps for the rest of the day.

As I pace the streets of central London, I feel like I must be getting closer to my goal. But I’m in my 30s now, so birthday drinks are less up and dancing, and more sitting around a table and playing cards. I spend a good few hours doing just this, with only occasional steps up and down the stairs to nip to the loos (and each time I forgot to bring my phone with me, so none of them even counted). When I get home and add up my Fitbit total to my phone total, I’m on 19,008 steps. I could jump on the treadmill or I could watch Bottoms and eat fish and chips. I think you can guess which option I went for.

Sunday: 2,000 steps

Do I at least get points for honesty? I gave up today. Completely and utterly. This was one of my ‘stay inside’ days where my only movement was a bit of tidying and cleaning. In my defence, I did have a lot of non-walking tasks to complete today. I needed to write some fiction, write a newsletter, do a whole load of laundry, do the online food shop for the week, plan out the next five days. I could have done some of these things on the treadmill. I didn’t. I also could have gone for a nice outdoor walk, which would have benefited my mental health as well as my physical wellbeing. I didn’t do that, either. Instead, I remained a slug drifting between the bed and the sofa all day. I blame some sort of inner rebellion – I knew I was supposed to get my steps in, so I refused to move much at all. I’m pretty sure a lot of the ‘steps’ counted by my Fitbit were just my hands moving around a phone or keyboard.

“I tried walking 20,000 steps a day and this is what I learned”