Chris WiegmanFor the first time since January, 2023 I walked at least 10,000 steps every day last month (January, 2024). I feel pretty good about that. I’m nowhere near my 432 day streak which I accidentally broke on 4 February last year but I’ll get there again.
Walking might not sound like much but, combined with some light weights it’s the exercise that works for me and I feel far better when I do it than when I don’t. I lost my rhythm entirely after my mom passed last April and I really missed it.
Walking wasn’t the only streak I kept up for January. I also quit drinking on 1 Jan and have had no problem keeping that going.
Though I had a few beers in Portugal last year (we always agreed that a few beers when traveling was fine and were never going for total abstinence) 2.5 years of sobriety came to an end when my mom passed and the bad habits of my 30s came back. By December we were drinking once or twice a week and it was simply more than I wanted.
This time I tried some NA (non-alcoholic) beers and have found a few I really like which comes in handy when hanging out with friends. I feel like that makes for the best of both worlds as now I have a reason to be social, the only reason I ever drank in the first place, at some of our local joints. That has been quite nice.
This month I travel again and given where I’m going to I’ll probably have a real beer or two, we’ll see. I just know that it will be easy to go back to not drinking at all when I get home and that I’m happy about. As for the steps, I’m just hoping that streak isn’t broken with travel. Wish me luck!