How Healthcare Works, LLC

One of my favorite things to say is that "Doing something is always better than doing nothing." That is exactly what I was thinking about today, as I set out to walk my 8,800 steps. To be honest, I really didn't want to walk outside today. I had contemplated staying inside and doing my short video on the importance of stretching and how it's important to warm up your muscles before any exercise. I also was going to talk about yoga. I have done yoga for years, and I really feel like it assists with my posture, opens up my body, and allows me to focus on my core. If someone tells you that you have to be thin to do yoga, it's not true. That's another great thing about yoga, you can do it at any weight or fitness level. Another day out on the trail.  Anyway, I decided to walk outside today even though it was pretty cold. It was about 34 degrees when I started walking and by the end of my walk it was 30 degrees. Nevertheless, I was able to increase my he

My initial plan today was to take a walk outside. I even went outside and took the video and decided it was warm enough. After my little video filming, which is below, I chose to walk inside. There has definitely been some wintery mix of weather in my area recently. I wanted to stay warm and listen to some music while I walked inside. So, I put on my bunny slippers and started my laps around the living room and upstairs hallway. Actual photo of me wearing my bunny slippers.  This week I am at 7,700 steps. We are told a lot that 10,000 steps a day is the magic number for walking. That's actually not the case according to research published in JAMA Internal Medicine , at least not for older adult women. According to the researchers, longevity benefits of walking plateaued at 7,500 steps. So, where did the 10,000 steps idea come from? It came from a marketing campaign in Japan. The marketers thought that 10,000 steps a day would be easier to remember. And, in fact, it is

In case you haven't noticed I am on a mission. I have decided that I am going to keep walking during the Billion Steps Challenge through snow, wind, cold, and hopefully, sunshine soon.  And, today, it was cold. I am sitting here right now drinking a cup of tea. I'm about a hot bath and a warm blanket away from a good night's sleep. Before today's walk, I thought about the cold weather and how we tend to hibernate during the winter months. In fact, that's exactly what I would be doing right now if it wasn't for the Billion Steps Challenge. I most likely would be sitting in my living room, in front of the fireplace, reading a book, and definitely not worrying about getting my 6,600 steps in today. In order to get my 6,600 steps in today, I walked on the trail like I usually do. It was cold. I had my winter coat, gloves, long socks, thermal henley on. You can see some of it here in this picture. Yes, that's really me getting ready to walk in 37 degrees weat

I really like having a schedule...a lot. One of my favorite assistants used to put my weekly schedule on my desk every Monday morning. I would arrive at work around 9:00 a.m. Before I even had my coffee at my desk, she had my schedule there ready to go. I never had to wonder or worry what was going on. And, if I changed my schedule during the week, she would put the updated schedule on my desk and take the old one away. That way, I wouldn't confuse the old schedule with the new schedule. I like schedules, structures, and routine a lot. It really helps me keep my life organized and planned. I often say that I like planning so much that I have a degree in planning. I am not a fan of pantsers or the pantser lifestyle. I think that it is simply unstructured behavior that others try to mask as spontaneity. It isn't spontaneity. It is disorganization. I really don't like waking up every day and someone telling me they don't know what their schedule is or not having any

I had these great plans laid out for Day 1 of the Billion Steps Challenge. I was going to walk to the park, take my dogs with me, record a video (which would be amazing, of course), get all of my steps done, then go home for a relaxing evening of reading and whatever else I decided to do. Okay, some of that happened, but not exactly in that order. First of all, I did take my dogs to the park. It looked really nice outside, because it was 50-some degrees here in Missouri. I was excited. The weather looked beautiful. When I went out to lunch, the wind picked up dramatically. I decided that was okay. It wasn't that big of a deal. I could still swing this. I could still walk with the dogs at the park. I had my smart watch all charged up and ready to go. I actually was ready to go to the park, dressed and with my shoes on at the time that I said I was going to go to the park. I had my dogs all ready to go to the park, too. Their leashes were on. I was set. They were set. I drove

As a young girl, I played softball for several years, tennis, volleyball, and I was in track. I tried out for the basketball team, but I quit after learning that in 6 on 6 style play for girls I wasn't allowed to run and dribble with the ball. I couldn't wrap my head around the idea that I could only take two steps and then had to pass the ball. In high school, I was a cheerleader. I only played intramural sports in college, until my senior year. That year, I tried out for the women's varsity soccer team and made the team as a walk-on. I thought that my whole experience trying out for the soccer team was a great example of believing in myself, knowing I deserved to succeed and setting up a plan for success. I should predecess this whole discussion by letting you know that I never played soccer before I tried out for the varsity team, other than in P.E. class in junior high and high school and pick-up games in the schoolyard. I grew up in the Midwest in the 1980s, and soc

Last summer, I read Rachel Hollis' book, "Girl, Stop Apologizing." I believe I have written about this book before, because I really liked the book. One of the chapters that caught me off guard and was rather surprising to me was "Girl, Clean Your House." The reason that surprised me was because the book was about empowering women and teaching them to be leaders. At first, I wondered what cleaning your house had to do with leadership. Rachel Hollis did a fairly decent job describing why having a clean house helps you become a leader. Recently, I went to visit a family member, and they told me, "My house isn't as clean as your mom's house." Well, I am here to tell you, not that many people's houses are clean as my mom's house was when I was growing up -- except maybe my sister-in-law's. But, I will talk more about that later. My own house isn't even as clean as my mom's house. It is what I call "company-ready-in-an-