Global Step Challenge Reflections

Our 100 day Global Step Challenge at work ended on September 1, and I honestly will say that the 100 days flew by.  I think the 100 days went by so quickly because I really enjoyed the walking. 

For the week before the Challenge, I wore my Fit Bit to see just how much I walked during the day.  For the week I was around 2500 or more steps.  So when the time came for the Challenge to begin, I made a big goal of doubling my average daily steps to 5000.  It only took a few days for me to start beating the 5000 step by by 1500-2000 steps.  So at the 25 day mark when we started phase 2, I bumped my goal up to 7000 steps.  Once again, I easily met that.  At the halfway point, I bumped up my goal to 7500 steps, and once again, I easily met and exceeded that.  During the third phase, I even had some 10,000 step days.  When the fourth phase came I didn't want to jinx myself so I set my goal at 8000 steps.  Once again, I met the goal. 

I'm not going to lie - there were some nights when I was walking up and down the driveway at 10:00 at night to meet my goal, but I did it.  And there were many evenings when I would go to Wal-Mart and walk around the inside of the store for a half an hour to meet my goal.  But I did it.

I'm proud of myself for sticking with it for the 100 days.  I gained confidence and pride in knowing I stuck with something I started.  I also gained some endurance.  I can walk for a half hour continuously now with no problem at all.  I could probably go an hour if I had the time.  But I also lost something during the Challenge. I lost 30 pounds in the last 100 days, just by walking more every day.  I didn't change much about my diet except cutting back on fast food for breakfast and lunch.  I first noticed a difference when I was able to get up into the truck easier, without having to use a stool to climb up into it.  And this summer I noticed a big difference in my shorts and pants.  They were baggy, and that made me very happy.

So now that the Challenge is over, I'm not stopping.  I'm keeping my daily goal of 8000 steps, and I'm going to continue walking on my morning and afternoon breaks at work instead of staying in my office.  I'm going to continue to park the car farther away when I go somewhere so I will get in more steps. 

I remember how scared I was at the start of the Challenge.  I was afraid I wouldn't make my goals and I would let my teammates down.  But I had a great team full of encouragers, and I think Team 17 for their support.  We ended in 10th place out of 21 teams, so that's not too shabby at all.