10,000 steps.

It hit me today that I'm nearly 7 months into my sugar free* year.

If I had learned ten ago that dessert isn't a necessity in my life, I'd probably be 40 pounds lighter. Speaking of which, since quitting sugar, I don't think I've lost any inches of fat and I certainly haven't lost any weight.

It concerns me. But not because I can't figure out why. I'm concerned because I know perfectly well why I'm in no better shape now than I was when I always ate sugar (i.e. I exercise inconsistently, if I'm still awake after eleven at night there's usually food involved, I just plain eat too much, etc.) and yet, I don't do a thing about it.

Until now. And exercise is first on that list.

As some of you know, one of my summer classes is on eating disorders and obesity. In a recent session, the professor mentioned that if you're taking less than 10,000 steps per day, you're probably not promoting weight loss. And according to this web site, she's right.

Ten thousand steps is approximately equal to 5 miles, the site says, and people who do that each day burn an extra 2000 to 3500 calories per day, which promotes results of all kinds (including weight loss and a longer lifespan!).

And I so bet I don't walk anywhere near that far. (I'm a pro-writer, so I sit at a desk all day! I'm a student, which means more desks. I also live far from almost everywhere I go, and as a result, I spend about 8-12 hours a week behind the wheel of a car.)

So tonight, I bought a pedometer. For my first few days as its owner, I'll live life like I have been. Monday, I'll find out how many steps I take on an average day off. Tuesday, I'll learn how far I walk when I'm at work all day and at school in the evening. And on Wednesday, we'll see what it's like on the days when after a day's work, I just head home. If I exercise at all, I won't wear the pedometer (otherwise, my results will be skewed).

Here's hopin' I'm not too far from 10,000 steps per day (but it's probably safe to say that's wishful thinking!).

*In case anybody needs to be caught up: from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 2010, I'm not eating anything if it has added sugar, with the exception of bread.** The purpose? To stick it to the man (the one who says I need things like donuts and ho-ho's in my life) and to find out what might change in my body and mind when I'm not consuming an excess in sugar.

**Kinda bet weight loss would be a result if I'd also eliminated bread that has added sugar!