Where you are, compared to other participants depends upon where your walking fitness training starts, and like other things in life, it has a tendency to repeat or cycle back at a different level i.e. spiral.
The number of pedometer steps to target for you is dependent upon several factors. This is why Pedals & Pedometer Steps generally recommends you wear a pedometer for several days prior to entering a fitness program. Doing this ensures you know what is the real starting point. Average pedometer steps are often taken to be 3000 steps in 30 minutes as a recommended walk. A taller, fitter person, walking on a pathway will probably number more steps in the same time. By noting your pedometer steps results each night over 3-5 consecutive days, totalling them and them finding the average, you will have your personal ‘level’.
For someone who has not exercised in some time this starting point may be disappointing. Pedometer steps increase rapidly though. Just watch and enjoy as the numbers keep on going up. Finding your level, starting at your level, is not failure in advance. It sets you up to rocket up the results chart. Success breeds confidence a major factor in exercise and weight loss.
Just in case you’re wondering-doesn’t confidence breed disrespect i.e. now I’m so wonderful I don’t need good health or to lose weight?
Confidence helps you to reach your goals. It enables you to stretch your efforts beyond what you would have done. This can be called over-confidence but unless you have made a ridiculous commitment, it is not, it is finding your limits. Again this allows you to position yourself in such a way as to make the changes necessary to achieve and again make rapid progress, towards your unchanged goal.
Over my lifetime I had a tendency to see any ‘failure’ when trying for bigger and better results, as a sentence: The end. When I attempted smaller and better though, I found the results were like rungs of a ladder. Easy to climb to the top!
Hi to all of the Pedals & Pedometer Steps readers who are signing up for The New! Walker, the first issue is ready to go. I want it to be good so apologies for the delays but the button will be pushed soon.
I am returning to an ongoing topic of interest-what to do if you are injury prone or just want to get the best out of counting pedometer steps.
Normal bodily wear and tear is no reason for alarm. If you are someone who has been a couch potato for some time e.g. regularly looking for ways to avoid walking or hurting something by turning over in bed, then pretend that discomfort is your friend, and is really pointing to the need for preliminary checks before taking your vehicle on a long drive over many days.
Yep, zero to 100 mph is not likely for your “vehicle” which I’m sure you realize is meant to symbolize the equivalent type of ‘tune up’ required for your body.
More seriously, using pedometer steps is so good because it enables you to gradually increase your exertion so your body adjusts to these changed expectations in a comfortable manner. Muscles, tendons and joints can acclimatize to unusual (for them) extensions and contractions, given the correct encouragement.
Sudden movements, sudden load increases, sudden climate change-all ’shock’ the system. This can have a ‘wake up’ effect, and certainly the effort required by the body to cope means many calories burned, but it is ultimately not for the best.
Your body’s muscles have rested for a long time (if this is the case) and need preparation, and that preparing enables you to build up the muscle strength. Once released, with the strength to do it, the result is phenomenal.
Use a pedometer and count pedometer steps for the best results.
On the other hand it may be that over time you have allowed small encroachments into your well being without attending to them. They have just not seemed to be worth doing anything about. ‘It comes with age’ is a favorite excuse. Maybe there are technological or medical answers but you haven’t looked or persevered with the options. Do what you can, seek answers, and know that feeling good about your body helps a lot. High expectations for short term results is a pressure cooker environment to which most of us do not respond well.
If twenty years of putting on weight, something wrong with your feet, wonky ankles, etc., have stopped you exercising then be prepared for the long haul of working through these issues. While you do that, finding alternate ways of feeling good about the changes you’re making will help. In other words, find a way of enjoying the new way whether or not your weight changes. There is less tension involved and less need to give it all up if you don’t lose weight in the short term.
What do I mean?
Learn to love aspects of the new diet, or food, or paths you are walking. Find advantages in what you are doing even if initially it seems like failure. The old adage that success is on the other end of failure is always true. Oprah wasn’t Oprah from day one. You only have to look at old tapes to see that.
Pedometer steps counting is truly a feature of the modern age. Walking itself as a leisure activity or necessary means of transport has been with us forever.
As with technology of other sorts the pedometer is a means of increasing our satisfaction with the ongoing process of walking for health (weight loss in particular) or fitness (training). Logging pedometer steps whether online or in a journal is part of the self interest movement of the last 20 years. We are more engaged with a process when it not only relates to, but includes, us. On the one hand it acknowledges that “we” make a difference, at least to our own results. On the other hand it streamlines the process to fit like a glove.
The weight loss dream has far too many components for easy assessment. We all know the nightmare of the scales and its lackluster performance as a guide. For some twenty years have gone by without the right combination of the stars and good fortune. Well the time is now. Never have we lived in such a choice- full, abundant society where many more suffer the diseases of excess than lack. Over whelm when it comes to finding the ‘right’ weight loss program is more likely to be the difficulty. Copying someone else’s successful process can have limited success for weight loss in the short term but for longer lifestyle choices then the changes must be one’s you choose.
The New Walker will be my new walking for weight loss e-letter. It is a combination of news and anecdote, thoughts, questions and answers and philosophy of life. Pedometer steps are my favorite way to get someone hooked on the new wonder ‘drug’ of exercise and activity as an anti-depressant, stress relief, mental and creative stimulant and mood enhancer. This is not to mention the other feel good benefits to the body and disposition.
One of my ‘new’ discoveries has been the benefits of walking after eating a meal. In the books of the 1800s and early 1900s, it was often mentioned that the family but particularly the head of the household would go for an evening walk after the meal. It aids digestion and generally makes me feel good by adding pedometer steps. If for some reason (!) you have eaten too much it also is one way of lessening any guilt and even reducing the effects of any excess calories.
The new walker does have most of the characteristics of the old except that the deliberate introduction of activity into a lifestyle previously devoid of much exercise from necessity, is different, because to exercise or not is now a choice.
Pedometer Steps and Walking to Lose Weight are my favorite blogs to write as the benefits of walking have helped me feel good every day. Am I claiming a happy ever after scenario? I am claiming the processes and tools to being happy every day in a healthy and loving work, home and family environment. The process requires implementing, adapting and using those tools with as much enthusiasm as possible. The New Walker is one way to get some input into your new lifestyle in a comfortable manner.
Please sign up for the FREE e-letter, The New Walker, in the column on the right if you’re open to making changes over time which will enhance your life, give you confidence and the desire to live your life lovingly,
Today I want to go over the importance of pedometer steps in my life. It could be important for you too.
This is what happens for me by using the 10,000+ pedometer steps a day exercise strategy:
1. First thing in the morning upon waking I see the pedometer on the bedside table and as soon as I am dressed I put it on. This ensures I am aware that during today I want to achieve at least 10,000 steps.
2. I quickly review my options for adding walking into the day’s program.
3.I know that if I keep an eye on my pedometer steps tally at regular intervals I can make decisions easily which are better than I might otherwise make.
4. I do have options during most days which I sometimes don’t see. I always do such and such at lunch or a friend likes to do X and I do it with her. Today though that friend might have an errand to run, say pick up the dry cleaning and I say I’ll meet her there, and I will walk.
5. Dead time becomes your friend- waiting drives most of us crazy but many times I can substitute waiting with walking time. Say I’m at the doctors and he’s running late-I tell the nurse that I’ll be outside walking (within earshot) and to give me a holler when it’s time.
Pedometer walking has some advantages over adding distinct walking periods say 30 minutes once a day. Doing 10,000 steps is probably about 5 miles walking on average. Your 30 minute walk is say 2.5 miles. What are you doing for the rest of the day? For many of us adding the 30 minutes initially is a great boost for weight loss and fitness but if you compensate by less activity at other times or, as is normal, your body adjusts to the exercise, then before long you’re not doing enough for weight loss or fitness.
Once your body adjusts to 10,000+ steps daily (on average) this activity level burns enough calories to balance normal eating and therefore maintain weight. Prior to this modified eating levels i.e. removing obvious high calorie foods or drinks and limiting calories consumed in a day, means less calories consumed (eaten) than expended (exercise) and weight is lost.
Have you considered combining two of the world’s most popular forms of stress relief- walking and meditation?
As you’re reading Pedals and Pedometer Steps your main interest in walking may be for fitness and weight loss. Also as you’ve developed your regular walking you may well have noticed yourself feeling better generally.
If you are having difficulty fitting everything into your life and you meditate you can have the best of both world’s with a walking meditation. The video below demonstrates the sort of attention one needs to pay to details.
A major part of my pedometer steps progress has come from combining the activities necessary to get the steps’ target and also to act as a release valve for stress and frustration.
Walking in itself is a wonderful way to divert the mind of frustration and release a feeling of well being. Each step enables us to concentrate on where we are physically, noticing details of our surroundings in positive ways.
The major difference between a Pedometer Steps’ Meditation and the Zen version above is that you will have your pedometer strapped on and be walking with intention to exercise your body at the same time as you rest your mind.
I like to keep my emphasis on exercise when discussing weight loss, and within that category, have chosen pedometer steps as a means of achieving healthy activity every day.
In itself this combination of mental commitment-keeping track of the pedometer steps-as well as physical doing of the exercise helps in two ways:
It normalizes activity.
It helps distract me from using eating as a hobby.
Depending on where someone starts i.e. their level of activity, it may take some time, but eventually using a pedometer all the time, becomes a way of structuring your day.
The major element in this weight loss approach is increased body movement throughout the day. The easiest way for most of us is to walk or do other similar activity.
Food becomes secondary-in both ways. Pedometer steps counting should be combined with a sensible calorie counting “diet”, gradual reduction of excesses such as full sugar sodas, and with a de-emphasis on eating in your day.
There are other methods of food reduction such as eating half the food on your plate and the Japanese recommendation to stop eating when 80% full, etc. Some more are mentioned here: Top 5 Healthiest Diets in America
When a goal of 10,000+ steps is actively pursued throughout the day by adding steps into your lifestyle whether at work or play, it means more time in activity and less time for thinking about or actually doing, eating.
In other words, an active person (which you are now) can only achieve the steps total required by walking (gardening, cleaning, dancing) most of the day. This is not dedicated walking which can achieve the target in a few hours but using the pedometer steps as a guideline of how to get more of the daily tasks done and get your body moving as well.
The gym or walking for exercise is also a great way to go. It can make the 10,000+ daily steps achievable in an otherwise sedentary lifestyle. It can rescue a day which has fallen behind on its steps total. It may be that it fits your lifestyle better- sometimes or all the time.
The key here is to control your diet during the times you have free for eating. The concentrated calorie burning can create more time for calorie consumption, and even a reward mentality. Spreading exercise over your total week offers its own rewards in increased achievement, more fun and a better fit with your lifestyle.
Just as counting pedometer steps is an effective way to achieve walking for weight loss daily steps targets, having a purpose for walking can create another motivator for achieving your goals.
Weight loss or good health and a long life are wonderful goals however it is a good practice to have additional reasons for counting pedometer steps which makes it an easy way for you to exercise effectively, and consequently lose weight. Your motivation is high when you have a goal. Two or three goals are even better!
If you have a life threatening or distressing reason for walking for weight loss, this can be enough, but build in safe guards with other motivating goals of a less serious nature, by mentally rewarding yourself. It is better is to have a goal which motivates you daily to use your pedometer. This can be a fun or personal interest goal.
Examples are:
Join a sport or interest which has a training program- football, dance, tennis etc. Every competitive activity benefits from Practice. Do the training sessions or something else every day.
Make an agreement with a group or friend to achieve a goal which includes walking- two English friends agreed to walk every street in Midland.
Take your dog for a run during its regular walk unless you are tramping for many miles. Daily walks of small or older dogs can be strolls so make sure you pick an activity which genuinely counts as exercise. Volunteer to walk dogs for elderly neighbours.
Cut the grass, garden and walk the perimeter of your property- check on what needs doing and do it. Weeding, fencing, watering, digging.
Make a project of keeping the street clean of rubbish.
Make a goal of greeting fellow walkers- today talk to 1 other person. tomorrow go for 2. If you didn’t reach the goal it rolls over until the next day. Once you reach a limit say you only meet 5 other people during the walk, change the goal. See if you can get the other person to say ‘red’ or some other specific word.
If you like the idea of Purposeful Pedometer Steps but at this point have no goal- make that your goal: I want to find a pedometer steps project!
Pedometer steps is one solution which combines every important element for weight loss by the average person.
Pedometer steps counting as a way of life has many advantages for the normally inactive person deciding to under take a weight loss regimen of exercise and reduced eating. Most people reading this will have done similar weight loss activities before and wondered at their lack of success. For an average person without a professional interest in exercise or calorie counting the overall one solution idea is very appealing.
Why do I propose counting pedometer steps as the one to go for? I’m assuming that I don’t have to convince you that walking is a primary means of exercising for most people. That walking for weight loss fits into many lifestyles, and normally is effective. Within the variety of means to add walking for weight loss, following pedometer steps targets, is one which enhances many peoples lives, and is particularly effective for men, although also suiting women as well.
Intense focus has a laser like effect on activity and weight loss. The advantage of pedometer steps is that focus. For the average person increased walking accelerates weight loss from dieting and intense walking activity can induce weight loss with only moderate food control.
By continually and routinely increasing your pedometer steps done daily, weight loss is a natural result when the walker has been inactive.
Pedometer steps monitoring is easy to treat as normal- the pedometer fits neatly into daily life and is a ‘target’ keeper. I use it in a similar way to using my wrist watch- checking the time to mentally ascertain my progress and any problems in meeting my plan for the day. Using my watch this way is so automatic that I am not conscious of the time checking. Only the absence of the watch for some reason makes me realise that I normally look at it frequently. Once this method has been chosen it becomes automatic to chase your pedometer target. The challenge is important and then the achievement of the step goals and subsequent increase of pedometer steps target, follows along.
Always start from where you are. The point of this process is to use the pedometer to assess your normal daily walking and then increase the target number of steps sufficiently for ongoing weight loss.
The over enthusiastic weight loss “innocent” can over do the initial efforts and strain or overbalance the normal routines of his life. When this happens and other important areas of life are affected the conclusion can be to throw the baby out with the bathwater. So drastically reducing calories can lead to emotional issues such as anger or depression. Over doing exercise can result in tiredness and injury. A conclusion that weight loss ‘is not worth it’ may result and yet is unfounded. If getting up to full speed was instantaneous then no one would be over weight! A measured effort becomes most people.
How to get your pedometer steps up for the day! If it was on my normal route to work then I could learn to play a song. If I look for fun it often comes my way.
The advantages of making walking fun are enormous. I’ve followed this principle for a long time. Yes there are times when discipline and acceptance that you just have to do it are the motivating factors in getting those daily pedometer steps but most of the time I try to make it a game. I love walking as well but the pedometer adds that fun element.
I plan to live a long life. I plan to be active. I am excited about the life opportunities still to come for me.
Yet I’ve lived the weight loss yo-yo and lack of exercise roller coaster enough to know that somethings needed to change for my vision to come fully true.
Redoing my approach to life in incremental ways allows me to have fun, because I’m now building that in, and enjoy the walking for weight loss process at the same time. Pedometer walking and occasionally running, cycling which is new for me, gym classes and social walks make for a lifestyle which has become sustainable.
Having control over your weight is similar to managing your financial affairs: calories used minus calories eaten must leave an energy deficit which is to be “financed” from fat deposits. Pedometer steps are “money” in the bank, calories eaten are withdrawals. If you take a large withdrawal you need to replace the “money” i.e. calories expended.
Start Walking, Get Running, and Lose Weightis filled with common sense strategies for managing the food you eat and simple but very effective exercise plans that ease you into shape.
A Proven Walking or Running Plan For All Ages and Experience Levels...
