Thanks to my lovely, local library I have turned into a reading fool since we relocated to the East side of Columbus. My husband or I make 2-3 trips a week usually. This bookoholic has saved so much money on books!
This week I read Pedometer Walking. I saw it on the shelf and decided to dust off my pedometer and see what this book had in store for me. It is really a very interesting book about how much we should be walking daily… or rather how many steps we should be taking. According to studies too many Americans walk about 5000 steps daily… this is sedentary. To be considered active we need to be taking 10,000 or more steps per day. By using a pedometer I was able to see that I am REALLY lacking in my steps most days. Today for instance, as I write this post… I have walked only 6,787 steps and it is 5:00 PM when I typically start to relax and vegetate. In my defense I did not take a walk today and I like to walk 1-3 miles several times a week but still… I need to walk more.
Wearing the pedometer all day REALLY helps kick your butt in this regard. After I finish this post I will likely do some laundry (up and down steps) and cleaning just because I cannot stand to have such low step numbers. It gives you a goal to work towards every day. Also helpful is a little chart in the book that converts other activities, like swimming and cycling, to steps. When I go to my water aerobics class on Friday and complete the full 60 minutes I can convert this to 6,600 steps, provided I keep my legs moving. My husband has a pedometer too and it helped him to see that he takes over 16,000 steps just at work. Yowsa!
Anyway it is a fun book for helping you to start a walking program. It outlines the numerous reasons you may want to and helps create a plan for any goal you have whether it be weight loss or training for a race/walk. My motivation is mainly to get of my duff more often since I work a very sedentary job (on a computer for hours each day). I also want to participate in some organized walks in my community that are coming up, and not be winded.
What I like most about this book and the idea of pedometer walking is that is involves one small habit… wearing a pedometer each day and being mindful of how much you walk… easy peasy! I do suggest getting a quality pedometer though. The ones you can buy for $5 at Wal-Mart are crap. Mine broke after 2 days. Now I have a nifty one that closes to prevent accidental resetting when you rub up against something.
Are you walking 10,000 or more steps per day?
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