wellness shmellness

In an earlier post I alluded to a wellness challenge we have going on at work. I thought I'd revisit that for the sake of humiliating myself on the Internet (more than I already have with all the awesome pictures of myself I love to post?).

So the challenge is that everyone who wants to participate wears a pedometer all month and at the end of the month the people with the most steps get prizes.

This started in January and I was 6 months pregnant and on a modified bed-rest schedule. So I participated but not really. I wore my pedometer from the bathroom to the couch and back again on some of the days. Surprisingly I got last place for the month. On a side note - had I not gotten last place someone would be needing some serious medical attention at our office.

Last place wasn't actually so bad though. I won $15 at Baskin Robbins and guess what? Pregnant ladies love ice cream. Seriously. It was the best last place prize I've ever gotten.

So ever since Annie was born and my pregnant excuse went away I've been meaning to give it another shot. However the first day of the month comes and goes and I always forget to put on the pedometer.

September was different though. I dug down deep within myself and decided I was going to win 1st place (which was a $100 Costco gift card and a $75 VISA gift card). Second place was a $75 VISA gift card and I decided that wasn't good enough for me. I'd be taking first thank you.

I walked everyday.

Some days I'd walk with the kids in the stroller and then walk again on the treadmill when they went to bed. I was obsessed with getting as many steps in as I could. Last night I walked on the treadmill for over an hour...to the point that my legs were shaking when I got off. I know this doesn't make me sound cool, just out of shape. My point is that I was pushing myself.

We walked to the school playground by our house a few times with Matt recently and while he played with the kids I'd walk around the school parking lot by myself. I was that obsessed.

So September ended yesterday and we all turned in our steps. The official email hasn't gone out yet but our Administrative Manager unofficially informed me of the bad news early.

Not only did my 297,800 steps not win first or second place but I wasn't even in the top 5. As of 3:00 only 7 people had turned in their steps for the month and I ranked 6th among them. Oh and she's only expecting 1 more person to turn them in so at best I got 6th, but more likely I got 7th.

297,800 is almost 10,000 steps a day which is a freakin' lot! What are these other people doing that's allowing them to log more steps that me? Running maybe? Not watching Must See TV maybe? Attaching their pedometers to their dogs? I'm just brainstorming here...who knows what they're up to.

I've never been athletic but walking is something I thought I could do. Our Admin Manger told me to get a new hobby. I'm thinking she's right and I'm thinking its eating. That's something I know I can do and I already know I'm really good at it. Now if only I could convince the bosses to put up cash rewards I'd be able to justify the new hobby.

Oh and the last twist is that there were prizes for first, second and last. I did poorly but sadly, not poor enough for the last place prize this time around.

So my only prize is better health? No thanks. I'm trying again for October so stay tuned for another sad post, oh say, 31 days from now.