Bi-Weekly Evaluation: Can't quite seem to get 10,000 steps a day...

Goal #1 Evaluation: Eat 4-5 servings of fruits & veggies every day

I've done a decent job with this goal. Reaching for fruits and veggies when I'm hungry is definitely more of a habit than it used to be. My first impulse is still carbs or sugar, but I've been much better about ignoring those cravings and grabbing an apple or an orange. Well, except for when I've grabbed the leftover Halloween candy...ugh, the holidays are such a hard time to lose weight!

Each day I make sure to have at least one fruit or vegetable with each meal or snack. I slice a banana into my morning cereal and drink 100% juice with my lunch. I snack on an apple every day and serve a fruit and a vegetable with dinner. The trick for me is to have the fruits and veggies readily available and easy to prepare. One thing I love for busy evenings is steam-in-the-bag vegetables. I pop them in the microwave for five minutes and voila--steamed veggies, ready to eat!

Perfect for pulling out of freezer and popping into microwave!

The end of the week, when fresh produce is gone, has been little more difficult for me. I need to either go shopping mid-week, or stock up on dried, canned, or frozen produce.

Goal #2 Evaluation: Wear a pedometer & take 10,000 steps Mon.-Sat. 

I am really, really struggling with this one for some reason. I usually fall into bed each night, exhausted, with only about 7,500 steps. I am so busy. I have four children, ages 8 to 18 and I am a full-time student. It's hard to fit everything I need to do into my schedule. I mentioned this to my doctor once. He told me that I will be more efficient at homework and everything else if I make time to exercise each day.

I read somewhere that if exercise were a pill, it would be the most widely prescribed medicine of all time because of all the wonderful benefits.

I want the benefits!

I want to feel better!

I want to have more energy!

I want to sleep better!

I want to fit in my old jeans!

I guess what it boils down to is priorities. I will never have time to exercise; I need to make time.

In order to meet my 10,000 steps, I have been doing little things like parking farther away, taking the stairs instead of the elevator, etc., but I need to step up my program if I'm going to meet my goal.

Some of the tips for getting 10,000 steps a day on  The Walking Site are:

• Take a walk with your spouse, child, or friend
• Walk the dog
• Use the stairs instead of the elevator
• Park farther from the store
• Better yet, walk to the store
• Get up to change the channel
• Window shop
• Plan a walking meeting
• Walk over to visit a neighbor
• Get outside to walk around the garden or do a little weeding

I would like to eventually get to the point where I am exercising 45 minutes to an hour each day, but I'm not quite ready for that yet. A more reasonable goal for me is to walk for ten minutes, two to three times a day.

My goals for the next two weeks:

Goal #1: Take 10,000 steps Mon.-Sat.: Walk 10 minutes, 2-3 times/day

Goal #2: No eating after 9:00 p.m.