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I grew up with the three R’s: reading, writing, and ‘rithmetic. Yup, days gone by. Those R’s continue to be a part of my daily life. Well, maybe not ‘rithmetic so much, but it comes in handy. I have a different pair of R’s that consume me these days: Routines and Rewards. They keep me on track.
I get up early to dive into my emails and writing, but before going to my computer I do a series of exercises and stretches (Routine). Once that’s done, I can have my morning coffee (Reward). I’ve been doing this over ten years, and as I grow older it becomes more important. I wake up stiff, and the exercises loosen my aching joints.
After an hour or two at my computer, I head out for a morning walk with neighbors (Routine). My friend Thelma started this ritual about 20 years ago after her husband Wes died. I love connecting with friends as we mark time through the seasons, braving winter ice, spring muck, summer bugs, and fall—well, fall walking is nearly perfect, except maybe for the wind. My husband Jerry calls it The Forced March, but he, too, enjoys the time with friends, our Reward for getting out.
A few years ago, I was piling on extra pounds, so I decided to double my distance by walking the two miles to meet everyone. Jerry drives down to meet us at nine, does the Forced March, then drives me home. I get 8000 steps for those miles—another Reward, thanks to my el-cheapo fitness tracker watch ($22 from Amazon). It’s not only a watch, but it measures steps, heart rate, blood pressure, oxygen level, temperature, and pulse. It even tells me how many calories I’ve burned.
I love my tracker, and when it vibrates at 10,000 steps, my heart soars (Reward). Well, that might be an exaggeration, but it makes me happy. I’ve used a tracker for the past five years, and it motivates me to exercise, even when my friend Annie’s out of town. She’s the one who got me exercising regularly; we swim, walk, hike, bike, and ski together. When she’s gone, my tracker holds me accountable.
I read in the latest AARP newsletter that “walking 9800 steps a day reduces our risk of cognitive impairment by as much as 50 percent.” Now that’s a Reward. Researchers in Australia and Denmark monitored the steps of 78,000 adults between 40 and 79 for seven years to get this data. As my brain teases me by withholding the occasional noun, I’m reassured that my steps are holding dementia at bay. If 10,000 steps overwhelms you, 3,800 steps a day reduces the chance of dementia by 25%. That’s significant, too. My father walked and biked every day until he went into hospice at 90, and his mind was sharp to the end. I hope to do the same.
So—let’s hear it for Routines and Rewards! Hear! Hear!
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