The Gift of Getting Fit: Tocci Buys FitBits for Staff

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Woman wearing jeans and sneakers during sunset

I have never been one for sports or exercise

Amy Thompson West: I am abysmal at sports… growing up, always the last person chosen for any team. Playing behind the right fielder was invented for me. I broke my finger trying to catch a soccer ball. Regular exercise has always eluded me. Gyms I’ve joined only see me on sign-up day. My stack of dance and cardio videos go unwatched. This is my story of getting fit.

Three years ago, Tocci offered to share the cost of a FitBit for employee interested in step tracking. At age 61, with gravity bearing down hard from elbow to stern, I thought “hey, how hard can walking 10,000 steps a day be? And so, it was done. A FitBit came in the mail.

The first day I wore my FitBit, I was stunned at how inaccurate it was. What a scam! My daily routine was netting less than 3000 steps? Outrageous. Yup, The truth is, I was sedentary. So, I tried for 5000 steps a day. Then 8000. By the end of week two I was doing the “10.” I have hardly skipped a day since then. One or two when I had to work late. My average over the past three years is 10,871 steps per day. My best day was June 12, 2016 when I logged 28,279 steps. I walked to my hairdressers 4 miles away and then back home the long way around. Everyone should do that at least once in their life. Only once though. Your newly cut and styled hair will look like training grounds for a Nor’easter by the time you get home!

I have walked 11,903,745 steps in three years. Rutland, MA is littered with my footprints. I have left a few in Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Connecticut, California, Florida, Georgia, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Texas, too. I have walked about 5,700 miles.

As the crow flies, I could have walked well past Cairo, Egypt; N’Djamena, Chad; or Montevideo, Uruguay. On the other hand, I still have 40,388,355 steps to go before I can claim to have walked the same distance as our earth’s circumference. I’m going to go for it though. Maybe for real. Around the equator. What a trip that would be! Want to come?

Thank you Tocci for my first FitBit. One of the best gifts ever – the gift of getting fit.