Benefits of a pedometer

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   healinghands1668posted 10 years ago

   I started using a pedometer a few months ago, and frankly, I love it. It's been the best way for me to make sure I stay active on any given day. I have not gotten less than 10000 steps a day since the first of the year
   
   Has anyone else here tried using a pedometer to track daily activity? How is it working for you?

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      Dave36posted 10 years agoin reply to this

      I haven't used a pedometer mate, but i think it's a great idea....If your getting fit you have to have fun while your doing it, just make sure that you beat the amount of steps every day....The way to get fitter is to do a little bit more every day, & walking is just about the best thing a person can do....We're actually "hunter gatherers", & we're designed to walk a lot....The next step is running every day, but just chip away, & beat yer steps by at least 100/200, ever day. :-)

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2. 93

   FatFreddysCatposted 10 years ago

   My employer passed out pedometers to all employees last year as part of their "Wellness Initiative." Of course, being a lazy slug, I said "Ehh, I don't need this silly thing," and threw it in a drawer.
   
   Since the new year however I've noticed that it's become harder to squeeze into my jeans (i.e. I've become quite the fat-ass over the winter) so I dug that pedometer out and began taking regular lunchtime walks around our building with it. Depending on which route I take, two laps around the property adds up to 2000-2500 steps.
   
   It's not much, but it's a start. When the weather gets nicer I hope that I can get back outside and do some more walking on the weekends as well.

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      healinghands1668posted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Nice job! When I first started wearing my pedometer, I was shocked by how little I seemed to move in a day, especially on the days when I work my office job rather than my massage job. When I'm working my massage job, I'm at least back and forth to the bathroom to wash my hands before and after as well as greeting and checking out clients. But my office job involves me in a tiny little office making phone calls and working on the computer the whole time I'm there.
      
      According to the guidelines I've read:
      
      <5000/day = sedentary
      5001-7500 = low active
      7501-9999 = somewhat active
      10000-12000 = active
      >12001 = highly active
      
      Hitting that 10000 does take conscious effort. When I'm working my office job, I pace back and forth on the phone, and I walk in place while I am filing. Whenever I am doing a task that mostly requires standing in one place--washing dishes, for example--I walk in place.

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   FatFreddysCatposted 10 years ago

   I have a desk job so aside from my newly established lunch time power-walks, I don't have much opportunity to "get moving" during the day... though I am also making a conscious effort to use the stairs more and the elevator less (unless I have a cup of coffee in my hand, haha).

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   Beth37posted 10 years ago

   They had a good interview about this on NPR.
   I tried to find it, but instead I just found like a dozen articles. All good.
   http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2013/05 … -your-duff
   
   http://www.npr.org/templates/story/stor … Id=4653088

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5. 93

   FatFreddysCatposted 10 years ago

   Just came back from my lunchtime stroll - two laps around the building = 2,435 steps.
   
   Tell ya though, if the weather doesn't start improving soon I'm gonna figure out how to do that many laps indoors until Spring. It was freakin' cold out thar today. Brrrrr!

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      healinghands1668posted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Cold here, too. I try to get to the gym to use the treadmill sometimes. Otherwise, I walk laps around the island in the kitchen.

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         FatFreddysCatposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         I'd have to lose weight before I could even get on a treadmill. Haha

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   FatFreddysCatposted 10 years ago

   Two more lunch time laps today (I think that's the limit I'll be able to squeak in during the short amount of break time I'm given) - Pedometer sez I did about 2400 steps. Phew!

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   FatFreddysCatposted 10 years ago

   It's been too cold and snowy the past few days to do any lunch time walking. With my luck I'd slip on some ice around the back of the building where nobody could see me, knock myself out,  and I'd turn into a popsicle.
   
   I'm holding off till some nicer weather comes in later this week before starting again... I'd rather be fat than frost bitten.

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      Beth37posted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Two years ago I walked nightly, no matter the weather. Snowing, raining, 3 am... didn't matter. I took a spill on the ice a couple of times. It hurt like heck, but I couldn't help but laugh. I was like Bambi trying to stand back up on the ice.

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         FatFreddysCatposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         A few years back I slipped on ice while I was walking my dog, and went flat on my back. I didn't really hurt myself but the shock of landing on my back like that knocked me stupid for a second.... the whole time I lay there trying to get my sh*t together enough to get back up, the dog thought I was playing and was jumping all around me like a spazz and licking my face. I was like "Get off of me, dumbass! I'm hurt! ... Lassie would've gone for help y'know!"

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            Beth37posted 10 years agoin reply to this

            hahahaha... that's funny. I mean... I'm sorry. lol

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               FatFreddysCatposted 10 years agoin reply to this

               Don't get me wrong, I love my dog, but he's a dumb-ass.

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                  Beth37posted 10 years agoin reply to this

                  lol!

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   LynnLewisposted 10 years ago

   I once wrote an article on how the best money I'd ever spent on weight loss tools was for my pedometer. Very motivational.

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   FatFreddysCatposted 10 years ago

   Bump for update...I'm still doing my lunch time walks and now that the weather's finally gotten nicer, I actually enjoy them and look forward to them!!
   
   The old cheapie pedometer I'd been using to track my walking has been kicked to the curb, though. I never had much faith in its accuracy - I would walk the same route every day, yet sometimes it would tell me I'd taken as many as 2500 steps, other times it would say 1700 or 1800. Besides, I was never sure how to translate the # of "steps" into actual distance (i.e. feet/miles)
   
   A co-worker who also does lunch time power walks introduced me to a app for the Android phone called "RunKeeper" which has been a Godsend. It uses the GPS in my phone to "track" me as I walk, it keeps a record of how long I walk, the distance covered, how many calories I've burnt, etc. It'll even show a little Google Maps graph of the path I walked. Pretty cool!
   
   I've learned that two and a half laps around our building is just a smidge over 1.5 miles, and as I write this I'm averaging a mile's walk in around 15 minutes.
   
   Make no mistake, I'm still a fat b##tard and my legs hate me at the end of the day (haha) but I feel good that I'm doing something and I'm able to track my progress and see that I'm improving, ever so slowly.

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