The past two years have been hard on step counts

Published 1:30 am Sunday, April 3, 2022

Before 2020 changed everything, I used to begin my mornings with a brisk walk. “Come on, Mom,” my fifth grader used to say. “Hurry, or I’ll be late.” Together with our poodle Merlin, we’d walk up the hill to school.

I don’t know how many steps Merlin got on these morning trots, but I’d clock in 3,000 steps by the time I reached home. Add another 3,000 steps to pick my daughter up from school and that made 6,000 steps before my trip to the gym.

Other activities added to my step count too. Cruising the aisles of Fred Meyer with a mammoth grocery cart upped my step count. Volunteering at school added steps on certain days. Even something as simple as physically attending church on Sunday morning boosted my physical activity level. I parked the car and walked into the sanctuary. I stood while chatting during coffee hour.

Now, all those steps are gone. Part of that change has nothing to do with the pandemic. My daughter is in middle school now and takes the bus. I’m not longer asked to volunteer at recess. But most of my declining step count is a direct result of new ways of living in a post 2019 world.

Take grocery shopping for example. I now order groceries online from Fred Meyer and choose the free pickup option. Instead of me meandering around the store for an hour, hunting from my shopping list, I zip into a parking spot, call a number and poof! A friendly employee loads my purchases directly into my trunk without me lifting a finger. That saves me time and reduces germ exposure, but it costs me on my step count.

Church service now happens online over Facebook. What is this strange new world we live in? I don’t know, but it seems here to stay. Even government meetings are now online.

Since I work from home, I can go all day without leaving the house. My step count is so minuscule that it’s embarrassing. I make a concerted effort to stand from my desk and walk around the house every hour; I ride the Peloton and attend my exercise class, but that’s not enough to replace the activity level I’ve lost.

I don’t feel like I’m missing anything by not wandering around the grocery store, but I don’t want to become a couch potato. The first step on my journey to rebuild my step count is to acknowledge what has happened and to reflect without judgement. It’s not my fault I stopped walking my daughter to school. That wasn’t a choice that was mine to make. The second step is to layer back activity in a meaningful way.

“Do you want to go for a walk with me?” I ask my daughter when she gets home from school.

“Yeah,” she says. “That sounds like fun.”

Merlin might be too arthritic to join us, but I’ve still got some oomph left in me.

Jennifer Bardsley publishes books under her own name and the pseudonym Louise Cypress. Find her online on Instagram @jenniferbardsleyauthor, on Twitter @jennbardsley or on Facebook as Jennifer Bardsley Author. Email her at teachingmybabytoread@gmail.com.