Step By Step

Several years ago I began wearing a pedometer. This is a little gizmo that counts each step I take. This one simple thing changed my whole outlook when I realized that I was I was taking less than 5000 steps a day.

 According to an article at About Health less than 5000 steps is considered sedentary. I'd always thought of myself as fairly active so this was a wake up call. 

See the article "How Many Pedometer Steps Per Day is Enough?" for more details.

When I first started wearing a pedometer my goal was to increase my steps by 500 to 1000 steps a day. I slowly worked my way up to taking 10,000 of more each day and I've kept up that pace for the last 3 years. 

10,000 steps isn't a magic number but one many people aim for. For me 2100 steps is equal to 1 mile so I'm walking around 4 - 5 miles each day. Weekends usually find us walking the trails at a local state park or participating with our walking club and my steps can go up to 16,000 or more. 

A few tips pedometer tips:

1. Buy a good pedometer. I use one by Omron. You can buy pedometers that track miles, calories burned, heart rate, etc. but I like this that just keeps up with the steps. 
2. Don't use the freebies that are given away at health fairs. You can jiggle those in your hand and up your steps. That doesn't help you at all.
3. I put my pedometer on as soon as I get out of bed. It's surprising how many steps you can take just fixing breakfast. 
4. If your pedometer doesn't come with a good clasp rig up a way to hold it sucurely on your waistband. I found this out the hard way when my pedometer came off my pants while in the bathroom at Sears. It wasn't pretty...
5. Track your steps and aim to add steps each day until you reach a number that's right for you.
6. Have fun and enjoy the outdoors. Number of steps are important but shouldn't be your only goal.

I purchased this Omron pedometer at Walgreens for about $15. I've had it for 2 years and I've replaced the battery once. That's a good deal...

Do you wear a pedometer?