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Pedometer Goals
Sep. 12th, 2007 08:54 pmI have decided on some walking goals. By goals, I mean things I will try to do, by actually changing my behavior rather than, say, by looking longingly at the pedometer hoping that the number will get big somehow.
Someone came up with a somewhat arbitrary goal of 10,000 steps per day, and everyone and their dog has repeated this. Since this is more than I normally do, but not crazy more, it seems like a good starting point. That's equivalent to about five miles or about 100 minutes. And less than two hours out of twenty-four doesn't seem all that unreasonable.
I've also read, in one place only, that one should walk 10,000 steps a day to maintain health but 15,000 steps if you want to lose weight, which I do. That goal is so much more than I currently do that I am going to ignore it for now.
I have found that it's generally much easier for me to get a reasonable amount of walking done on a work day than on another day. Just walking to and from the bus gets me almost to 5,000 steps, and I have many little opportunities to add several hundred or a thousand more here and there, namely by getting off at an earlier bus stop or walking during part or all my lunch hour.
On the weekend, I can happily get by on only 100 steps. I enjoy sitting at my computer, watching movies, reading, and other no-walk activities, and laundry and dishes don't require a lot of steps.
In response to these observations, I have settled on these goals:
1) Walk a minimum of 10,000 steps each workday.
2) Walk a minimum of 5,000 steps each other day.
3) Average at least 10,000 steps a day (i.e., walk at least 70,000 steps per week).
4) I can substitute any of this with any other exercise, even if it doesn't translate well into steps (such as bicycling or swimming).
And I'm also considering this one:
5) Doing at least 20 minutes in a row of aerobic activity counts the same as 10,000 steps (even though it's really more like 4,000 steps, calorie-wise).
Someone came up with a somewhat arbitrary goal of 10,000 steps per day, and everyone and their dog has repeated this. Since this is more than I normally do, but not crazy more, it seems like a good starting point. That's equivalent to about five miles or about 100 minutes. And less than two hours out of twenty-four doesn't seem all that unreasonable.
I've also read, in one place only, that one should walk 10,000 steps a day to maintain health but 15,000 steps if you want to lose weight, which I do. That goal is so much more than I currently do that I am going to ignore it for now.
I have found that it's generally much easier for me to get a reasonable amount of walking done on a work day than on another day. Just walking to and from the bus gets me almost to 5,000 steps, and I have many little opportunities to add several hundred or a thousand more here and there, namely by getting off at an earlier bus stop or walking during part or all my lunch hour.
On the weekend, I can happily get by on only 100 steps. I enjoy sitting at my computer, watching movies, reading, and other no-walk activities, and laundry and dishes don't require a lot of steps.
In response to these observations, I have settled on these goals:
1) Walk a minimum of 10,000 steps each workday.
2) Walk a minimum of 5,000 steps each other day.
3) Average at least 10,000 steps a day (i.e., walk at least 70,000 steps per week).
4) I can substitute any of this with any other exercise, even if it doesn't translate well into steps (such as bicycling or swimming).
And I'm also considering this one:
5) Doing at least 20 minutes in a row of aerobic activity counts the same as 10,000 steps (even though it's really more like 4,000 steps, calorie-wise).