Walking 10,000 steps

WinoGelato

OP I have two small kids, 3 and 6, and I have a desk job. I got a FitBit Flex about 18 months ago and was surprised just how many steps I get in day to day life without concentrated exercise. Getting up and getting my two kids off to school in the morning, I usually have 3,000 steps by the time I get to my office. Add in another 3,000 in the evening with picking them up, getting dinner ready, evening activities, etc. So that's 6,000 without any real concentrated effort - I call those my "sedentary" days.

To those who have desk jobs - I find ways to fit in walking at work. Even if it is something as simple as walking over to talk to people instead of sending emails or calling people on the phone. I walk the long way to the restroom, I walk back to the cafeteria to refill my water instead of going to the water cooler right by my office, I walk on my lunch break outside when the days are nice (just hit my 10,000 steps and it is only 1:30 here), and when the days aren't nice, I do zig zag laps throughout the building.

If I can't walk at work, didn't have time to exercise, and am short of my step goal (mine is set to 10K but I aim for 12-14K daily) I often will just do laps around my house in the evening until I feel the thing buzz. I think I have failed to hit 10K steps twice since getting this FitBit, once when I was deathly ill and once when I was on an extremely long road trip.

pinkraynedropjacki

Get up early go for a walk, walk everywhere. I get 30,000 a day 4 times a week & 40,000 3 times a week. Then once a month 100,000 in a day. I get up at 4am if I have to in order to get my goal before I start work at 7am.


By the way.... buy a Fitbit or a Garmin Forerunner 15. Count your steps easier than a phone.

pinkraynedropjacki

SexyKatherine73 wrote: »

they don't count steps ... eg fitbit is on your arm so it's counting your arm movement, and not your feet.

Fitbit One & Zip are on your hip not your arm.

KarenE86

I have a desk job so I get my 10,000 steps in by walking for 30 minutes on my lunch break and taking a short walk around the building every hour

Darthlance714

On the days I work I usually walk 25,000 to 30,000 and my off days barely 1,000 sometimes I think it's not accurate but I really just use as a motivational tool

Liftng4Lis

My jawbone buzzes if I sit too long. I don't usually have a problem hitting 10k, unless its couch day, in which I hit about 8k.

ashlygraves

I've managed to break 5!!! I'm so excited about the progress. Still learning but I'm doing better than a week ago!! Thanks for all suggestions, encouragement and info!!

SandyCoils

When I first started here and shortly afterwards got a FitBit, it was a reality check. I knew I wasn't getting many steps in, but it was crazy to see how little I was walking. I started a thread just like this one to get advice from people here on MFP as to how I could get to 10K steps.

I've started walking around the building when I take a bathroom break, and this helps a lot. There are mornings that I get to work early and when I do, I go walk before starting at 8:00. I have now started walking 2 miles either on my lunch break or after work on Monday, Wednesday & Friday. On those days I get my 10K steps, and if I walk my 2 miles (in the evening after work) and have not reached 10k steps, I don't stop walking until I do! It was motivating for me to see "CHAMP" all over my FitBit dashboard from hitting my goals and it made me want to continue - especially after seeing all of the extra calories I earned from my hard work.

TeaBea

TheOwlhouseDesigns wrote: »

i do the treadmill
But a fun way to do it is trough Youtube. Some Leslie Sansone video's do the trick easily too
15 minutes for a mile of 3 miles or 2
I do the treadmill most days and next to it i do a couple times a week 30 minutes of dancing or walking video's
Great with some weights and fun.

This is my go to! I use Just Walk DVDs (I like the newer music). You don't need equipment. It doesn't matter if it's raining, or dark outside. Just pop in a DVD and go.

streamgirl

I have a fitbit and love it. I started out closer to 4000 steps a day and now hit 8000-10000 pretty easily, depending on weather. I park at the far side of the next parking lot over, walk to farther drinking fountains and restrooms, etc. I'll go for a quick walk around my office--just through the wings of the building when I need a quick break. I'll take 15 minute walks after dinner or at lunch. I find that it just makes me get up and move more, which is the point! Keep working on it and you'll get it! I also have it synced to MFP and I eat back my calories, so if I hit my 10K steps I get about 300 extra calories to eat. That's an incentive for me, too!

snaxandpop

If you have a DVD player you can get a walk video. Leslie Samcone and Prevention have these. You will get your stepping up in no time!

gobonas99

I got a Garmin 920XT for Christmas. It tracks steps, and tells me to move if I've been inactive for more than an hour.

But even with that, I struggle to get more than 4-5K steps in a day on non-running days. I don't have the option to NOT drive to work, I don't have the option to park farther away from the office (we have assigned parking spots, and if you like your car, you park in the parking lot), our office is quite small and one floor (one lap around the office is 250 steps...maybe - I do a lap every time I use the one bathroom in the office...but there's no way I could take a full 5 minute break every hour to do laps), leaving the office and going for a walk is NOT safe (and is impossible in the winter due to snowbanks and companies that don't clear their sidewalks), I work through my lunch 90% of the time (I eat at my desk, like I am now). As someone else mentioned, I set my baseline as sedentary for a reason.

But, the picture my lack of steps DOESN'T show is that I do intentional exercise 6-7 days a week, on average 75 minutes a day. I am a triathlete, so I swim, I bike, I run (and at least once a week put 2 or more of those 3 together for a brick workout)...I lift weights, and I do yoga. The only exercise that actually counts toward my steps is running. So although I do make an effort to increase my steps when I can, I don't really worry about it because I know I am active in other ways.

Abby2205

pinkraynedropjacki wrote: »

Get up early go for a walk, walk everywhere. I get 30,000 a day 4 times a week & 40,000 3 times a week. Then once a month 100,000 in a day. I get up at 4am if I have to in order to get my goal before I start work at 7am..

What's your walking pace? It would take me more than 13 hours to get 100,000 steps (which you could be doing if you have the time, I'm just wondering).

Shanairah1991

I work in a daycare so I easily get in 10,000 steps. On days I workout I achieve 10,000 steps before noon. (split shifts: go to work, gym, back to work.) I imagine if I had a more sedentary job at a desk it would be much more difficult.

tracie_minus100

I work a desk job, so I have to make a real effort to walk as much as I can, and also do some exercise on my lunch break. So that's what I do, everyday. I am rarely under 10,000, and am usually around 12,000-15,000. Sometimes as high as 20,000.
I have a Fitbit as well, and several friends have one. So we have challenges every week which really helps with motivation!

Tubbs216

Abby2205 wrote: »

pinkraynedropjacki wrote: »

Get up early go for a walk, walk everywhere. I get 30,000 a day 4 times a week & 40,000 3 times a week. Then once a month 100,000 in a day. I get up at 4am if I have to in order to get my goal before I start work at 7am..

What's your walking pace? It would take me more than 13 hours to get 100,000 steps (which you could be doing if you have the time, I'm just wondering).

Yes, interesting. Math doesn't work out for me either.
It takes me about 10 mins to walk a thousand steps (that's on the treadmill at about 2.8 mph - yes, I'm slow!), so about an hour for 6,000 steps. Therefore it would take me nearly 17 hours to walk 100,000 steps, assuming I could keep up the same pace.

azulvioleta6

Good job! Keep stepping!

healthybodyhealthylife

I too get 2-3k steps a day if I don't make an effort to move. I live in a tiny apartment with 15 steps between the two furthest sides. I have to consciously make the effort to get A LOT of steps in to reach 10k, which I do at least 3 out of 7 days a week, last week I got 10k 5/7 days ☺️ either I go on a long walk for an hour and a half or I dance at home

healthybodyhealthylife

Myfitnesspal deleted half of my comment! I was saying whenever I have errands to run outside I make sure I walk and if possible go to the furthest place possible to get it done. For eg if I need to go food shopping, I have plenty of shops on my road less than 200 steps away, but I go to the market 30 minutes away to get in some extra steps (and because the food is cheaper.. Bonus). I get 7k steps from my walks to the market. Also, dancing at home adds some SERIOUS steps! I usually put loud music on when I'm at home and I just can't help but start dancing! A solid hour of dancing gets me a good 8-10k steps. Hopefully this will help!

7lenny7

rhaiin wrote: »

I use the Pacer app to track steps. It works fairly well, but sometimes it crashes and I gotta restart my phone for it to work again. On average, I usually walk 3000-5000 steps a day. Its not too bad for a semi-desk job, but I need to work on getting more steps in.

I tried Google Fit for a while and found that it just killed my battery life. I really hated to spend the cash for a Fitbit, as I think they're way overpriced, but I gave in and got one almost 2 weeks ago and it's already making a huge difference.

I bought mine at Costco with the idea that if I didn't think it was working for me, I could return it within 90 days. After a few days I knew I'd be keeping it.