In Brief

This is another new edition to the blog and each month, here, I will be reporting on news stories people who are walking to raise money for charity or fundraising event or anything else that may be of interest.

Today’s post is about Cancer Research.

In March Cancer Research is running Walk All Over Cancer step challenge (the link for the challenge page is here).  This is the same challenge that I took part in during September 2016.  The challenge is simple, all you need to do is take 10,000 steps each day, a grand total of 31000 steps for the whole month, and get sponsored for it!  If you don’t reach target on any given day you can aim to incorporate the loss into the next day’s steps, or if you have “over stepped” in the days before, you can use the excess steps to make up your target.

There are lots of ways to get to 10000 steps each day, last year I made most of them up after work while walking Roxy for a few miles each night.  An easier way to get to 10000 steps would be to break down your target into smaller goals, for example 2500 steps by 11am, 5000 by 2pm, 7500 by 4pm then all the rest can be made up before bed time!

I am still thinking about whether to sign up this time, or whether to sign up singly or try and get a walking group together to do this challenge.

Will you be taking part?

Week In Review – Week 2 -8/1/17-14/1/17

This week I have taken a grand total of 33249 steps, less than last weeks step total.  I am still struggling with the darkness of the evenings and getting out and about while being safe.  I also managed to hurt my shoulder which hasn’t helped much – especially with walking Roxy, as I have been worried about doing it any more damage, so have been taking it easy.  I have also been struggling with my energy levels and tiredness, I had blood tests just before Christmas and am awaiting a meeting with my Doctor to discuss my thyroid function.  I have been medicated in the past as I have an under-active thyroid and think I may need to take medication again.  I can’t wait for the meeting with my doctor to find out as at the moment the lack of energy and tiredness that I’m experiencing is getting really frustrating.  Fingers crossed that it will all be solved soon and I will be back to my active self!

We have had some cold weather here and on Friday we finally got the snow that had been threatened!  It started snowing on Thursday after a lot of sleety rain so I wasn’t entirely convinced that anything would stick at all.  What we did have was a fairly light covering which had, mostly, disappeared by the afternoon.  It was worse in work than at home as it was icy under foot and the gritters had not been out there.  I’m quite glad that it didn’t come to much as it can stop you doing so much.

I am not making too many plans regarding my activity levels this week apart from try to do more steps than last week as I think this is a better, and more achievable goal than aiming for 10000 steps each day and failing.  Lets see what happens!

What are your plans this week?

Walking Routes

I did start this series back last year but it was a bit hit and miss with the frequency I posted and the routes I shared.  This year (as I may have mentioned in previous posts), I have had a bit of a shuffle around and created a timetable of posting certain items to this blog.  When I was doing the Cancer Research Walk All Over Cancer (10000 Steps A Day in September) I attempted to post a new walking route each week if I could, this was pretty difficult to do as there are only so many places that can be walked in that short a time-frame.  I am now going to be posting around once a month (around the 3rd Monday of the month to be more precise!), this schedule will give me time to research a new route, walk it a few times in (hopefully!) different weather conditions, take some photos, research any interesting facts or history about the walk and then talk about it here!

So, the first walking route that I will be planning and photographing will be up for you to read on 13th Feb 2017!  I am hoping to go down to the local park and take you on one of my favorite walking routes that I used to go on when I was in school and college!  And, I’m hoping to be able to capture some lovely images for you to see too…we are forecast snow toward the end of the week, the park looks amazing in the snow!  So keep your fingers crossed and check back then!!!

You can also follow me on Instagram now!  Just search @tenthousandsteps2016 to see my daily stats and sneak peeks of things that will be coming up on the blog!

Week in Review – Week 1 – 1/1/17-7/1/17

This week has been really slow step wise, Monday was a bank holiday and I really didn’t do much, for me it was a day of reading and relaxing.  Tuesday I was back in work and had plans to start getting out at lunch times again but with one thing and another I didn’t manage that this week.  My best days, step wise were Friday and Saturday this week, Friday was because I went shopping and did some housework and Saturday for similar reasons.  None of my days took me up to 10000 steps though, however once I introduce my afternoon walks back into my routine I should be getting close to my targets!  This week I hit a grand total of 37908 steps, just over half way to my weekly target of 70000 steps.

My plans for the coming week are to get out at lunch times and maybe mixing up my walking route with Roxy and going for longer walks with her.

Look Back to 2016

December’s stats were probably some of the worst that I have recorded since I started monitoring my steps per day.  I took a total of 186688 steps, this works out at an average of 6022 steps per day.  I hit 10,000 steps or over on 2 days this month, one of the days I totaled 14429 steps and the other 11877.  A lot of factors contributed to not achieving 10000 steps a day, or at least averaging that, the weather was one –  it was cold and wet, raining the majority of lunch times which meant I skipped a lot of my lunch time walks, then it was dark when I got home from work which impacted on Roxy and my evening stroll and our regular walking routes (the street and path lighting isn’t that good on our regular routes), couple all of that with not fully shaking off the cold I had in November and it’s not surprising that my stats slipped so low.  Christmas and time off from work also played a part in my average steps, over the Christmas break I was off work, we had family coming round and staying, or we were visiting family, and not really being as active as normal as sitting and spending time with family is more important.

I have enjoyed the past few months of being more aware of my steps and activity levels but I have also learned that it is ok to let them slip a bit for more important things (like spending time with friends and family) and I don’t think that in the darker months of the year that you should risk your health and safety to hit your target steps.  However I am keen to get back into walking at lunch times now I am back in work just to get the numbers back up a bit, after all, any activity is better than none (and I have a couple of pounds to loose from the Christmas festivities!).

It can be hard to get back to a walking routine, there are so many excuses your mind can make to your body about not going out, staying in, and if you let it, your body will listen and co-operate with your mind.  One of the ways I am going to get back into a walking plan is to factor in set periods of time to get out and about, half an hour at lunch is a great way to start, this first week back has been hectic (and Im sure most people will find it the same!) so I have set a date to start my lunch-time walks and I will be sticking to it.  I find once you have set a date, it is easier to overcome the minds excuses!  Once I get into a routine again, I will then start setting myself goals in terms of distance, such as  – how far can I walk in half an hour, monitor it and try to better it the following day.  Hopefully I can ease myself back into 10000 steps a day and will be back hitting target soon!

I am proud to have taken part in Cancer Research’s Walk All Over Cancer back in September and achieving an average of over 10000 steps a day.  Before this challenge I was unsure whether I would be able to do it and questioned myself about taking part, but I set myself a personal goal and I achieved what I set out to do.  I am hoping to take part in this again in the future and will be looking for people to join me on the way if and when I do!  I have also realized 10000 steps can be a lot easier to achieve if it is broken down into chunks during the day rather than attempting the majority in one go.  I am hoping to hit 10000 steps more often this year!

I haven’t made any resolutions this year but have set myself a goal of taking more steps this year than last year and I am aiming for at least 10000 steps a day for 80% of the year!  What walking goals or resolutions have you set yourself?

I am no longer going to be sharing my daily stats to this blog, I have set up an Instagram specifically for my daily stats (you can follow me @tenthousandsteps2016 ) but I will be posting how I have done weekly and share my highs and lows with you each Sunday!  If you would like to see how I have done this first week then come back to read my Week in Review on 8^th January!

Quick and Easy Tuna Pasta

I made this the other week for tea after walking Roxy.  I wanted something quick and easy but filling and on the healthy side.

What you will need

1-2 small peppers

1 tin tomatoes (chopped)

1 tin kidney beans

1 tin tuna

12-16 mushrooms

1 small onion

1-2 cloves of garlic

Pasta

How to

Prepare all veg (onion, peppers and mushrooms) by chopping into small pieces, prepare the garlic by crushing and chopping  and add all of this to a pan.

Place pasta into another pan and set to boil.

Add a small amount of water (2 desert spoons) to the veg pan and place over heat, stir occasionally.  The water will be absorbed by the mushrooms as they start to cook but it will be expelled from them soon (don’t worry!).

Once the veg has softened and the onion has gone translucent add the tin of chopped tomatoes and stir.  Drain and rinse the kidney beans and add to the pan.  Bring the lot to the boil.

Drain the tuna and add to the pan.

By now the pasta should be cooked, drain and place back into the pan.  Pour over the tomato/tuna sauce and mix well.

Serve and enjoy!

Variations I have used include adding peas or sweet corn, courgette and broccoli (cut up really small) but this will work with a whole variety of other ingredients.

I quite often make a variation of this as it is filling, cheap and quick.  I tend to make more than just one serving, typically this recipe will make 3-4 meals, as I can take some to work with me the following day as a cold lunch option.  The left overs would also make a really good meal to take in a bag when you go walking.

What kind of things do you cook when you want something quick and easy?

Here’s yesterdays stats for you….

I’m pretty pleased with these stats as I’m still struggling with this cold that is niggling at me,  without the lunchtime walk which got me away from the office for a bit and into fresh air, I think I would have done at least half the amount of steps that I did.

Walking, Weight Loss and Fitness

Weight loss seems to be written about everywhere right now along with people sharing the latest fad diets which can get a little boring to see and read, personally I am becoming super numbed to the whole diet and weight loss obsession which is probably not a good thing.  I believe that weight loss is not just linked to diet but to fitness levels too.

More and more people are leading lives that involve little to no exercise and more and more people are getting diagnosed as being obese or with Type 2 Diabetes (that is linked to diet and lifestyle) and I believe we can help to combat this epidemic by looking at our movement and fitness levels, not just what we eat.  To me it’s like movement, weight loss and fitness are all interlinked and one benefits the other.

There are lots of different exercise regimes out there, and lots of different types of exercise from resistance training, running, swimming and all manner of classes and gym activities you can take part in.  As you may know I started off with running which worked for me for a while until I developed knee problems which I think was down to the impact of my feet hitting the path and sending shock waves up my leg.  Running is not for everyone, I also didn’t consider my fitness levels which probably didn’t help.  Walking for me turned into the perfect substitute.

Walking is a low impact activity, and despite your fitness levels, nearly anyone can take part in walking.  And you can walk as fast or slow as you want, swing your arms to burn more calories and cover as much or as little ground as you want.  The main thing with walking for fitness and weight loss is to move more and burn more calories than you eat, or as the famous saying goes “move more, eat less”.  One really good way of making sure you move more and eat less is to log all that you consume*, from the moment you get up to the second you get to bed, log your food intake, use a pretty note pad, an app or any other means, but keep a tally.  At the same time log all of your activities*, including walking (aim for at least half an hour of brisk walking per day if you can), in the day and the timescale that they took, use this website to determine the calories burned and total them up.  Compare the two totals, is the figure for calories you have consumed higher than those burned? if so then you need to go for a longer walk, or take a further walk at a different time of the day.  If the figure for calories consumed is lower than calories burned you are on your way to starting to loose weight, now all you need to do is expand the difference between the numbers either by eating less and getting out more or doing both and try and maintain this as much as possible!  (*if you have a Fitbit or Jawbone or any of the new trackers you can log all of this through the tracker and the app for your phone).

And now for yesterdays stats, how did I do?

I didn’t hit 10,000 steps like I normally would on a monday, I had a hair appointment in the evening which meant I didn’t get out and about on my evening walks like I normally would have.

Things to Look for on Your Walks

This is another series I am hoping to make a regular feature on my blog.  In this series I will be letting you know of things to keep an eye out for when you are out and about!

I’m sure you will have seen my photos of mushrooms that I have found on my walks and Im pleased to say that the mushroom season seems to be continuing.  I have lost count

ount of different types of mushroom or fungi that I have seen on my walks but its a lot!  I think that the mushroom season is continuing thanks to the warm, damp weather we have been experiencing and from the weather forecasts, though the temperature is starting to drop, in terms of temperature, its still warm for mushrooms to thrive.  The appearance of mist in the mornings has also helped by keeping the ground moist and damp, perfect for a mushroom to form.

The leaves on the trees are continuously changing color and falling at this time of the year, and they are all different shapes, sizes and tones.  Why not keep an eye out for both the biggest and smallest leaves?

Other things to look out for are seeds and nuts falling from trees, from hazelnuts and beech seeds to conkers and helicopter seeds (from the maple tree family!)  I have already found a sizeable collection of conkers and have placed them around my home – apparently they keep spiders away!

Here are some photos I took of things I have found this month on my walks!

And now for yesterdays stats…how did I do?

I didn’t do too bad for a Saturday!

Summer Walks Throwback – Part 3 – Oxwich

This is the third installment of my Summer Walks Throwback series, it is also the last installment which I hope to start up again next year.  As you know from my previous installments, I went away for 3 weeks in the summer and to 3 different places in my campervan, this is the final week of that time away.

I came back to the Gower area of South Wales and stayed in a lovely campsite above Oxwich Bay called Greenways Of Gower.  I chose this site as it had really good reviews and, again, allowed dogs on site.  It is a bit of a trek uphill from Oxwich Bay but isn’t too difficult a walk, though if you have small children or mobility issues then I would advise you to drive up and down from the site.  Oxwich Bay is not too far from Port Eynon where we stayed for the first week of our holidays, it was a nice walk to and from our site so we walked there and back a few times and we also spent quite a bit of our time walking along the beach, when the tide is out you can walk to Three Cliffs Bay!  We also walked along the headland and explored the pathways along the way.

Here are some photos of our week away at Oxwich Bay.

If you go down to the Gower where do you stay?

And now for yesterdays stats…How did I do?

I didn’t hit 10,000 steps but I did do 100 mins of housework which equates to around 7,200 steps which doesn’t show on my Jawbone app.  If you want to convert other activities into steps this site http://www.purdue.edu/walktothemoon/activities.html is really useful 🙂

Week 7 Overview

I have been thinking about how I write this part of my blog and have decided on a change of format.  I will begin this section by giving my total weekly stats and a breakdown as to how I have achieved this then give a day to day total and what happened that day to cause me to either meet, or not, my target. So here goes!

Wednesday 12^th  10289 steps.  I went for a walk at lunch time  for 24 mins and covered 1.02 miles, taking 2515 steps and then in the evening I took Roxy around the block for a walk for 45mins and covered 0.57 miles, Roxy seemed to want to stop and sniff at everything so I only took 1496 steps.  The rest of my steps were taken up with moving around in work and at home.

Thursday 13^th 7159 steps.  I went out for a walk at lunch time for 29 mins and covered 1.13 miles taking 2751 steps.  In the evening I didn’t go out for a walk as I went to visit my parents and had tea with them.  The rest of my steps were made in work and at my parents when I was playing with the dogs!  I knew that I would be under target today as I am fairly sedentary when at my parents and am always under my target on visit days in general.

Friday 14th  7320 steps.  I went out at lunch time for a 39 minute walk and covered 0.98 miles and taking a total 2396 steps.  I then went home after work and did a load of housework (a normal thing on a Friday)  Most of my steps were taken in work and at home when cleaning and tidying up.  I didn’t take Roxy out for a walk as she got exercise playing in the garden while I was cleaning.  If I factor in the time I was cleaning and converted that time into steps I would have been over my target of 10,000 steps.

Saturday 15th 10849steps.  We went out for my Birthday trip to Westonbirt Arboretum and walked around for 201 minutes, covering 2.44 miles and taking a total 6457 steps.  The rest of my steps were made up by walking Roxy around the block.

Sunday 16th 8860 steps.  Today was my Birthday!  I made up my steps while out shopping and taking Roxy out for a 44 minute walk where I covered 1.68 miles and took 3929 steps.  Hitting my target today seemed to be really easy as I didn’t need to make a conscious effort to take any steps, the arboretum was a lovely place to go to walk and my attention was held elsewhere than my feet!

Monday 17th 5305 steps.  I had my flu jab on Friday and today I think I had a bit of a reaction to it, I felt tired, achy and a bit sick in general.  I didn’t manage to get out for my lunch time walk as I wasn’t really feeling up to it and when I got home all I seemed to have energy to do was sit on the sofa with Roxy and not do much.  I am pleased I managed to hit 5305 steps though as I was imagining it to be much lower!

Tuesday 18th 10404 steps.  Today I went out for a walk at lunch for 29 minutes covering 1.18 miles and a total 2859 steps then in the evening I went out for a walk with Roxy for 39 minutes covering 0.93 miles and taking 2553 steps.  The rest of my steps were made up by doing some housework and in work.

All in all I am happy with my stats for the week.  I have made a total of 60186 steps which has covered 23.6 miles (or 37.98 kms) and done 450 minutes of exercise which isn’t that bad considering I haven’t been feeling too well!

And now for yesterdays stats, did I hit my 10,000 step target?

 

I did!  🙂