Monthly Challenge: 350k Steps for Breast cancer Awareness

First order of business, let’s check in about Self-Care September! My goals for last month were to read 1 book (Into Thin Air: Jon Krakauer, check!), attend 2 yoga classes (2 vinyasas at Sky Yoga in Syracuse, check!), and set aside some time for girl friends (Thanks Allyson and Paula <3 ). And I’m happy to report success! I can’t even express how much better I felt after some designated one on one girl time. I know it’s so important but for whatever reason, it’s easy to get pushed to the side. And of course I felt like a super zen bad-ass after 2 yoga classes in 4 weeks. There’s just something different about attending a class with other yoga-ing humans rather that plopping your mat on the kitchen floor to solo flow. And that book… my goodness where’s my inhaler?! Left me feeling short of breath and wondering if I, too, need to climb Mt Everest. Maybe next year. All in all, I’m so glad I purposefully made time to take care of myself last month. Let’s keep it going this month…

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and always a month with many mixed emotions for me. My own Mama is a survivor two times over, and is such an inspiration for how I live my life. She’s the reason I veered into the world of nutrition in the first place. To make my Mom even more impressive, she runs half marathons and has a daily step count most athletes would kill for.

So this month I’m hitting the road, too. I’ve set a reasonable (?) goal of achieving 350,000 steps in the month of October for the purpose of raising awareness about Breast Cancer. If you’re not familiar, the American Heart Association reports that cardiovascular disease risk falls the more active a person is, which has been translated in recent trends thanks to FitBit and the Apple Watch to amount to about 10k steps per day. Along with reducing the risk of poor cardiovascular health, we drastically reduce our risk of obesity when we move our bodies daily. Breast Cancer is the second most common cancer in the world, and obesity can increase our risk of developing cancer by up to 20%. We give our bodies the best shot at health when we eat well and keep moving in ways that are enjoyable.

Here’s the plan. I’m going to have to get creative to get all these steps in. That means a walk on my lunch break at work, skipping the elevator, a walk with the pup daily, and hitting a trail with Baby when I pick him up from school every day. I won’t be mad if I’m able to squeeze in some long runs as well. Did I mention I’m a tired mother of a 1-year-old? This should go well. But really I’ll be glad for the fresh air and opportunity to enjoy the fall colors!

So just remember, everyone needs reminders to keep moving, to keep taking care of ourselves. Let’s do our part to impress my Mom, I mean to lower our risk of developing cancer by hitting the road and getting moving. Make sure to schedule your annual appointment with your Gynecologist and check yourself our monthly in between. Who’s joining me?! Please. Join. Me. Follow along on Instagram!

Here’s the science:

Diet, nutrition, and cancer risk: what do we know and what is the way forward? - PubMed (nih.gov)

Is 10,000 steps really a magic number for health? | American Heart Association