I’m on a cardiovascular health journey. As the New Moon has just come and gone, I think this is a great time to set a new goal and kick a new routine into higher gear.

Background and current stats

I have been stuck at 178 pounds for almost three years, and now have high cholesterol and Level 1 High Blood Pressure. This puts me at an increased risk of cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and some cancers.

My overall goal is to lose weight, lower my cholesterol and blood pressure, and improve overall health. Now that my son is sleeping better, I need to be able to sleep better as well.

Clearly regular exercise is the answer, but I have no time and no money for a gym membership. Also, completing reps on a machine is mental torture for me. So, I’ve been setting some time aside a few times each week to go walking in a nearby neighborhood. The outer loop is about 1.25 miles and takes me about 30 minutes to complete at my normal walking pace. I also walk my son to his daycare as often as possible (2/3 mile round trip). Since I’ve begun being intentional about my walking, my mood has improved, I’ve been more motivated, and I sleep much better at night.

I use an Apple Watch Series 7 for overall daily measurements, and I use the RunKeeper app to record my walks. I looked at July for a baseline, and started being intentional and setting goals for August.

July’s stats: Total of 154,395 steps, or 63.46 miles. 4.1 of those miles were measured walks to and from son’s daycare. I averaged 4,980 steps each day, or 2.05 miles.

August’s stats: Total of 168,676 steps, or 69.93 miles. 13.1 of those miles were measured walks to and from son’s daycare and neighborhood walks. I averaged 5,441 steps each day, or 2.26 miles. My goal was to walk 5,000 steps each day, and I met that goal 17 out of 31 days!

The Future

My main goal is to increase my monthly step goal by 1,000 steps/day each month until I’m walking at least 10,000 steps/day. I’ve been prone to shin splints since my track days in high school, so I’m easing into higher step counts to help prevent injury.

Goals for September

1. Walk 6,000 steps each day.
2. Complete neighborhood walk 4 times/week. Family walk on Sundays, and solo walks during lunch on Mon/Wed/Fri if possible.
3. Resistance training on non-walking days. Resistance workouts help build bone mass, which helps prevent injury. I utilize resistance bands, yoga, and light dumbbells.
4. Complete 35 miles in walking workouts. I also joined a few challenges in RunKeeper. The Consistency Challenge keeps me on track weekly, while the 30K and 50K challenges give me longer-term goals for the month.

To fuel all these steps, I’m prioritizing getting my recommended protein intake of 65g each day. Once I get my protein intake habitual, I’ll work on the other macros. I get my recommended intakes from the USDA DRI calculator. You can get your own intake recommendations using this calculator.

I’ll post weekly progress updates and updated goals for the upcoming month. Let’s see how I do!