Ever since Oprah slapped on a pedometer, people have been talking about the goal of taking 10,000 steps in a day, which is the approximate equivalent of 5 miles.Walking is great for your body and your heart ~ no doubt. It's not going to burn tons of fat, unless you are raising your heart rate with a brisk walk, for instance, but walking 10,000 steps a day is still good for your body any way you slice it.
Walking is easy ~ we do it all the time ~ we've been doing it since we were toddlers! But how much are you walking? Unless you have a pedometer, you don't really know ~ so, my first suggestion is to get a pedometer to wear around. I've found that wearing one is a great motivational tool to move!
Here are some tips to get started with wearing one:
- when you first get a pedometer, just put it on and go about your normal activities for the day
- at the end of the day, read the steps and see how many you typically take
- do this for 2 or 3 days and get an average
- when you get that number, see how many steps you have to take to reach 10,000
- do the extra stuff to reach 10,000
Oh, and if you want to involve your kids too, get them a regular pedometer OR you can go to www.geopalz.com and order them a geopal where their steps can earn them prizes!
So, get some pedometers
and get walking!
