HealthMiles Blog

Get Moving 10 Minutes at a Time

You know you need to get moving and you're working to hit at least 7,000 steps a day, but are you having a hard time getting starting?  Try breaking up your activity throughout the day. 

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention says:

10 minutes at a time is fine

We know 150 minutes each week sounds like a lot of time, but you don't have to do it all at once. Not only is it best to spread your activity out during the week, but you can break it up into smaller chunks of time during the day. As long as you're doing your activity at a moderate or vigorous effort for at least 10 minutes at a time.

Try to take some time throughout the day to get all your steps in. Instead of spending your lunch hour at your desk, use that time to walk a few laps.  You'll see the effort start to add up on your GoZone and reach that next level in no time!

Member spotlight: Walter C

When I joined HealthMiles about a year and a half ago, I was coming up on the big "4-0" and had recently started taking medication to battle my high cholesterol of 240. After joining the program, I thought I’d give running a try. I started with a daily one-mile run, which at the time took everything I had.

Since I didn’t have any experience running, I quickly injured myself. I was able to switch over to cycling and developed a strength training program through the HealthMiles program to help make my body stronger. Once the injury healed, I was torn between staying with cycling or go back to running. Then the light bulb went off: why not do both and try a duathlon?

I used some HealthCash to get a Polar heart rate monitor to help train for the race. I completed two duathlons, and on my second race got third place in my age division. This really fueled my fire to keep it up.

But a new inspiration came unexpectedly last fall as I looked ahead to another anniversary in October – the one-year anniversary of the death of my father to myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), a type of blood disease. It turned out the Portland Marathon was scheduled on this very same day. So I decided to run the marathon and dedicate it to my late father, and use the event to raise money to fight MDS.

So just a year after the point where I could barely run one mile, I finished my first marathon. And the cholesterol? It dropped down from 240 to 118, and for the first time in my life my “good cholesterol” has outpaced the “bad cholesterol.” And as a bonus, my doctor is scaling back my medication. If things keep going the way they are, I may be able to get off the medication all together.

Now in 2010, I have stocked up on my HealthCash to help out with the purchase of a triathlon bicycle, something that would have taken years to do saving change from the couch. I have raced the bike on my first of three planned duathlons this year, and will close the summer out with a half-marathon. Thanks HealthMiles for the inspiration and support – I’ll see you at the finish line!

Post a comment for Walter | Share your story: stories@virginhealthmiles.com

Happy Halloween!

Janelle B: "This photo was taken at Lake Rudolph in Santa Claus, IN. They have a tent & RV campground and during the fall they have a special Halloween camping theme. The campers will decorate their sites for the Halloween festivities, such as carnival & trick or treating. It's a great time for the family & great exercise! So this is me & my GoZone at our spooky site."

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William H: "Me inside the Haunted House called Fear Fair on Sept. 25th 2009 which was opening night. For the past five years I have worked as an actor at night and an engineering tech during the day. So haunting the people of Indiana is where my GoZone goes."

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Jody A: "This is me at SeaWorld San Antonio before Howl-O-Scream. Lots of werewolves hanging around. I took a picture with one. He tried to eat my pedometer. But I would not let him. I am literally joined at the hip with it."

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Remember your GoZone as you're out trick-or-treating this weekend. And add an extra 500 steps to your daily target for each piece of candy you enjoy!

Member spotlight: Mona E

At the end of December 2008, our company gave us a goal to measure our activity with a pedometer. The reward would be that if we got to Level 3, we would get a discount on our insurance. Of course I wanted that. This would affect the money I would take home on my paycheck. Then I thought, if I was going to lose weight, I needed the support of my friends at work. This is what I needed to help me lose weight and lower my cholesterol.

My goal was to get 12,000 steps on most days. I did some exercise everyday to get my steps in. I started cutting back – not eating late at night, staying away from sugar, and eating more vegetables and fruit as well as drinking more water.

The first week I lost 3 lbs. I was surprised. The next week I lost 4 lbs. Someone at work complimented me on my weight loss. I didn’t think anyone would have noticed since it was only 7 lbs. I was very encouraged. Then we went to Disney World. I thought if I could maintain my weight loss I would be happy. Well, I moved more in Disney World, made healthier choices, and lost another 2 ½ lbs. I walked over 20,000 steps a day on vacation. I thought to myself: this isn’t bad at all. I still get to enjoy what I’m eating and lose weight. Wow!

I also invested in a Polar Heart Rate Monitor as well. (The Polar HRM measures intensity and exertion, and was a great way to make sure I was working at the pace that's right for me.) So I started getting my heart rate up for 30 minutes a day, and getting my steps in. My goal now is to do this everyday, and so far I have met my goal.

I had a doctor’s appointment at the end of March 2009, and I had worked really hard for three months. I was curious as to what my numbers would be. I wanted all of my numbers to go down, which they had! I'd cut my cholesterol lower that I'd ever imagined, so I didn’t have to go on any medication. The doctor was so proud of me.

I feel much stronger and have lots of energy. So far I have lost 40 lbs. I have 14 more to lose to get into my ideal weight range. I feel that I can do this with the help of eating right, exercise, and being accountable. I’m so glad my employer signed us up for Virgin HealthMiles. It has made a huge difference on my quality of life. I feel great and much healthier.

Leave a comment for Mona
Send us your story: stories@virginhealthmiles.com
What's a Polar HRM?

The winning "Where Does Your GoZone Go?" submission!

It's a wrap. We've got a winner of 1,000 HealthMiles... Our favorite photo submission came from HealthMiles member Dionne T, who's showing us how she keeps herself and her family active. This shot captures the HealthMiles spirit so well! (Click on the photo to get a closer view of this great line-up.)

 

Dionne T: "My GoZone is with me when I stay busy with my 4 young daughters. We race around the neighborhood and play tag, during the cooler evenings here in Florida."

Congrats Dionne!

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It was a tough competition with almost 1,500 photos to choose from. Here are some runner up submissions that we don't want to let go unnoticed...

Lori S and David S - both HealthMiles members - made their GoZones a part of their wedding day in Kauai, Hawaii! 

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Kaycee B: "My favorite fun activity is running barrels on my horse Winsom." (Her GoZone is along for the ride!)

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Alex G: "My 1 year old daughter Eliza and I went for a snowy hike in Montana this past weekend.  We are in Emigrant, MT just north of Yellowstone National Park. (Full disclosure: the moose is actually a bronze statue!)"

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Turella W and Larry W taking their pedometers to to the Prosser Washington Hot Air Balloon Rally. 

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Thanks again to all of you who submitted pictures. It was a ton of fun to see everyone in action! We'll keep posting more over the coming weeks.

And if you missed the submission deadline or have an active vacation coming up, hold on to your snapshots for a future photo contest!

Where Does Your GoZone Go? ... Disney World!

Dana W: "[My] GoZone went to Disney World, Orlando, FL on Oct 8, 2009. Had an awesome time and put in LOTS of steps!!"

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John M: "WDW is magical for steps!"

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Sheri C: "My GoZone goes to Disney World. In 8 days I walked a total of 174,080 steps. I'm in the teal shirt between Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse."

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Lacresha P: "I took my GoZone to the GREATEST place on earth, DISNEY WORLD!!!" 

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Susanne L: "My GoZone went to Epcot's Food and Wine Show... It also went along as we trick-or-treated at the Magic Kingdom during the Not So Scary Halloween Party. As always, Disney World exceeded all our expectations."

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Stay tuned for the announcement of our Fall 2009 Where Does Your GoZone Go? Photo Contest Winner!

Where Does Your GoZone Go? ... overseas

Lisa S: "I’m so glad this picture came out – and that you can see my pedometer on my right hip!
I was in Europe this summer. I visited Dublin, Ireland; Nice, France; Vernazza, Italy; and Geneva Switzerland. The attached is a picture of me as I set out on a two hour trek from Vernazza to Corniglia, Italy (two of the 5 villages which make up Cinque Terre on the Italian Riviera). That body of water pictured is the Ligurean Sea. I am overlooking the village of Vernazza in this photo which is where I spent four amazing nights. It was part of a two week vacation I was on – with no way to upload my steps – and believe me; I took a LOT of steps … 168,656 to be exact! I was worried I had lost my steps when they stopped registering at some point while I was in Switzerland. Fortunately, they were still counting – just not displaying!"

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Mike F: "My pedometer and I went to the Great Wall of China at Badaling, 43 miles northwest of Beijing, China.  The walk was incredible, steep and packed with people celebrating the 60th anniversary of the birth of the People's Republic of China.  It was a 'Wow!' day."

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Sarah B: "Attached is a picture of me wearing my pedometer in Paris, France in July 2009.  If you look in the background you can see the Eiffel Tower.  My boyfriend and I decided to walk there.  It looked much closer than it truly was!  I believe I put in over 25,000 steps that day!"

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Christine W along the Dingle Peninsula in Ireland.

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Linda Z and Alice B in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

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Stay tuned for the announcement of our Fall 2009 Where Does Your GoZone Go? Photo Contest Winner!

Where Does Your GoZone Go? ... around town

Jim S: "I work in downtown Louisville, Ky and often will walk along the riverfront during my lunch hour. Below is a picture of the Belle of Louisville riverboat that is always docked along the riverfront when I take my almost daily walks."

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Steve L: "This is a picture of me with the steps of the Philadelphia Art Museum behind me. This is just 1 of many of the walks my friend and I take. Our walks go everyday at lunch and take about 1 hour or more to complete. We have made at least 5 trips up the steps that Rocky ran up on Rocky I. Each time it does get easier. I am recovering from knee surgury. I have gained 50 lbs and plan to walk it all off."

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Katie S: "My GoZone pedometer and I traveled from our quiet mountains of Virginia to the big city of Boston, MA on a fun, 3-day adventure.  After posing with my husband in The Public Garden for this quick pic, [my] GoZone took me down the Freedom Trail and to the harbor, trekking over 20,000 steps!!!!"

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Nina M: "This photo was taken in front of the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir in New York's Central Park. I just moved here for graduate school, and I love to walk to the park for some exercise!"

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Paul L: "I took my GoZone to San Francisco to walk across the Golden Gate Bridge…3.5 miles across and back!  And that’s not counting the miles walked visiting the rest of the city!"

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Stay tuned for the announcement of our Fall 2009 Where Does Your GoZone Go? Photo Contest Winner!

Where Does Your GoZone Go? ... to the festivals

 

Beth W: "This shot was taken at the 38th Annual Walnut Valley Festival in Winfield, KS. I joined 10,000 of my closest friends for the festival and got lots of steps in while walking to the different stages around the festival."

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Kevin S enjoyed lots of Irish folk music with his pedometer at the Indy Irish Fest in September.

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Erica A: "I used my GoZone over the weekend at the Austin City Limits Music Festival in Austin, TX.  Walking over 20,000 steps a day through Zilker Park was even more difficult this year due to the rain and mud that covered the entire park. We still have a blast, and I made sure to get those steps on my GoZone pedometer!"

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Dennis N: "I live in Memphis & the Cooper Young Fest is one of the bigger (and I think the best) festivals in the area. I went with my family [in September] and took this picture after about two and a half miles of walking around. We were able to dodge the rain and as you can see in the background, there were lots of others there too."

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Have one you want to share? Email your photo and a short description - including your HealthMiles Member ID - to gozonephoto@virginhealthmiles.com. Make sure it's a new photo (no repeats from prior contests) and send it by October 15th, 2009.

Be sure we can see your GoZone pedometer! We'll give you 100 HealthMiles for your submission, and we'll award 1,000 HealthMiles for the most interesting, creative, original or otherwise outstanding snapshot. Good luck.

Where Does Your GoZone Go? ... to a good cause

Alison, Judy, Barb and Romona at the Central Indiana American Heart Association Start! Heart Walk: "Supporting the fight of heart disease and representing St. Joseph Hospital."

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TQ G.: "After walking away 50lbs of fat, my GoZone and I decided to participate in our first 5K walk to cure breast cancer! It was a great day and a great accomplishment for me!"

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Megumi H: "We were doing volunteer work at Habitat for Humanity."

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Melissa F: "In Sept 2009, my go zone went with me to Duluth, MN for my 9th inline skating marathon. I have been doing this skate to raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society in honor of my sister-in-law's memory."

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Have one you want to share? Email your photo and a short description - including your HealthMiles Member ID - to gozonephoto@virginhealthmiles.com. Make sure it's a new photo (no repeats from prior contests) and send it by October 15th, 2009.

Be sure we can see your GoZone pedometer! We'll give you 100 HealthMiles for your submission, and we'll award 1,000 HealthMiles for the most interesting, creative, original or otherwise outstanding snapshot. Good luck.