7 Ways I Get in More Steps Every Day

My mother-in-law gave me an Apple Watch in the fall, & I am fully obsessed with it. It's not something I would've thought to buy for myself, but now that I have one, I never want to be without. It helps me track my daily step counts, calories burned, my workouts, & more - & it makes it all so easy to do it.

Until I started wearing it, I didn't realize exactly how little I move every day. Of course, I knew I worked from home & didn't walk a lot & wasn't, at the time, working out - but once I started wearing the watch, I realized just how sedentary I'd been. And frankly, I was horrified.

Since I started wearing my Apple Watch, I've stepped up (pun fully intended) my efforts to move more. Here are a few of the ways I try to hit 10k steps per day.

1. Picking up special deliveries from my cat

This is one of the key ways I get in some morning steps, & it's kind of a funny one: My cat, Dora, loves delivering sock balls to our bedroom door. She delivers five to 20 pairs every night! Each morning, I get up & put away her sock deliveries... one by one. I walk back & forth from our bedroom to our guest room, where we store clean socks in a basket (because Dora cries if we store them in a closed drawer). Would you believe that I can sometimes get in nearly 1k steps this way?!

2. Putting away clean laundry

This is another one that can net me 1k steps: After I've folded a load of clean laundry, I put away each item, one by one, again waling back & forth between rooms to do it. Yes, it's tedious to walk baaaack & forth putting away every single shirt or pair of underwear, but it also helps add some steps & movement into a must-do at-home task.

3. Taking the long way

Both at home & when I'm out & about, I try to take the long way when I do things: If I need something out of the kitchen, I'll walk around the whole room to get there. If I need something from that aisle, I'll walk down this aisle first. If I'm running out for coffee at the place next door, I'll walk around the block to get there, or at least

4. Parking further away

In a city where cars are practically a necessity, it can be all too easy to park right at the front door of the places I visit, & then pull into my driveway when I get home - necessitating all of, like, 20 steps, total. When I'm not in a hurry (& when the Cleveland weather isn't terrible), I try to park a bit further away, just to add a couple extra steps to my route.

5. Offering to help

The other day, my husband needed to return a library book, so I walked to the library & returned it for him. My mom needed a paper towel, so I got up & grabbed her one. Little favors here & there don't net me a ton of extra steps, but every little but counts.

6. Picking up the apartment

Similarly to the sock-and-laundry thing, I have begun to pick up & organize the apartment every night or afternoon, whenever I feel a need to get in a few extra steps. Not to call out my husband, but he's a liiiittle bit messy, so there's always plenty to put away!  Again, I put things about one by one, which keeps me moving.

7. Going for walks, duh

Saving the most basic for last: When I don't have enough steps in for the day - when the apartment is clean & there's no more laundry to put away - I just buckle down, bundle up, & walk around the neighborhood. Luckily, my neighborhood is adorable & walkable, & it feels like there's always something new to see or discover. Plus, I... still play Pokemon Go. Hey, it gets me out there!

Do you track your steps? What's your daily step goal, & what do you do to hit it?