Excuse me, who you calling a lazy old cow?

Exercise and I really don’t do all that well. I’m the kind of gal who will go to the gym regularly, but will find joy in parking and leaving without the need to walk through the door.

When I do get in there though, my point of exercise has generally been the treadmill. Where to be fair, the gym folk make it pretty easy for you really. You can eat, use the free Wi-Fi, watch bodies, watch bodies, watch bodies . . . and then . . .climb the stairs to the beasts. Honestly, after doing all that, there seems to be no reason why I can’t hit the start button instead of standing there, gloomily, willing the machine to fall apart, rendering me free from exercise. I mean, once on, I can plug in my iPod and listen to music, or utilise my headphones to watch and listen to live TV.

What’s the problem then? Well during my moderate walk on this hateful machine, I tend to swing my arms rather gently, and in doing so manage to wrap the earphone cable around my hands, which then rips them from my ears. It’s painful people, and a pretty good reason to not hit the start button after all. Between you and me, I have considered kicking it as I climb on, however there is fear that wearing steel-tipped boots might draw attention.

Nevertheless, taking note of my medical aid’s questionnaire to determine my state of fitness and exercise level, they tell me that sitting at a desk all day I am in fact a lazy old cow. Now I don’t know about you, but that seems pretty rude, and so I set about monitoring how lazy I really am.

To do this I got myself a little pedometer. Nifty little gadget it is, that once set up can be clipped to my belt, jacket, shoe, even my ear with no further worry about pressing buttons to ensure my lack of movement is being recorded. Yes, I peep at it every so often to see how many steps I’ve taken, and to see the little feet images are ready to flash with each step I take. Other than that it merrily counts away

It’s clipped on when I get up, and then off when I go to bed.

There be success, and I can happily say that on a daily basis of sitting all day, walking to the kitchen for food and drink breaks, as well as all other daily movement, including walking my dog and general chores of life – no visits to the gym’s parking area – I can achieve close to the 10000 steps per day my medical aid say I should be doing.

Huh! So not such a lazy cow after all, you medical aid questionnaire you!

I put this to them via Facebook a couple of weeks ago, and so far no response. One can only assume they are seeking funding to test my findings.

Happy stepping to you all ☺