10000 steps

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crabcruncher
crabcruncher Posts: 15 Member
in Getting Started
What's everyone's opinion on this? Low impact and not bad if I'm listening to podcast...but, running etc seems to have the added adrenalin and more fuller sense of achievement. Not knocking as I place to start and I've been doing it my self, but is the calaries burnt measure in this app accurate; seems crazy to burn so much just walking?? Also, please add me as a friend as checking other peoples' progress is good motivation for me.

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  • NorthCascades
    NorthCascades Posts: 10,968 Member
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    Bunch of random thoughts:

    (1) You don't need to exercise to lose weight. You should, but you don't have to. Weight loss comes from eating fewer calories than you burn. Exercise means you can eat more and still lose weight; no exercise means you eat less to lose weight.

    (2) As far as I can tell, there's nothing magic about the number 10,000; it's a target to motivate couch potatoes to move around a bit.

    (3) MFP gives out too many calories for exercise, it's wildly inaccurate. In my experience with cycling it's about 2x. Many people only eat back half their exercise calories because of this.

    (4) You're right that walking isn't intensive exercise. Some people can tolerate higher stress like running and lifting weights, but not everybody can. Walking, mostly people can do.

    Personally, I walk because I enjoy it. I don't pay attention to how many steps I get because I don't consider it "real" exercise. I also ride a bike about 100 miles in a typical week, run occasionally, and hike on the weekends.
  • RoxieDawn
    RoxieDawn Posts: 15,488 Member
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    Walking with a "serious purpose" can burn some calories, but walking as if you are loitering in the park, not so much.

    I walked this morning only, and burned about 60 calories for each .94 lap I did.. But when I run those laps, I can burn 100 to 115.

    I do not use MFP exercise estimations. 10000 steps for me is not something I strive for daily. I want to do steady state cardio that is included in those steps, so I get about a day 10000 for exercise and 2000 to 4000 for daily walking around the house, office, to the mail box, etc...

    If you want to burn calories, you need to apply effort in order to get your heart rate up.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
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    10,000 is just a target to make sure you move around a decent amount in daily life. It works for me -- I try to get that without exercise, and then exercise in addition (of course, when I run I don't know for sure what the steps from other movement was, but I can estimate -- it's mainly important for me on rest days, and then I just try not to reduce non exercise activities on other days). I don't try to estimate calories burnt that closely, but average out my activity over the week, since I tend to be reasonably consistent week to week (days vary a lot).
  • xmichaelyx
    xmichaelyx Posts: 883 Member
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    NorthCascades wrote: »
    (3) MFP gives out too many calories for exercise, it's wildly inaccurate. In my experience with cycling it's about 2x. Many people only eat back half their exercise calories because of this.

    This is why I don't eat back my workout calories. Everything we do here is inexact. Eating back calories just adds one more layer of uncertainty.

    Lose weight by eating to lose weight; be healthy by exercising to be healthy and eating a varied diet.

  • NorthCascades
    NorthCascades Posts: 10,968 Member
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    Do you put gasoline back in your car after you drive it?
  • crabcruncher
    crabcruncher Posts: 15 Member
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    Aside from the steps I do find the predicted weight thing a pain when you complete the days diary. If I'm half eating calaries back for dodgy forecast on the app it tells me I'm living dangerously and won't give me a figure. Not serious I know and there are always scales, yet the needing motivation part of me likes the best case scenario figure!
  • Bob314159
    Bob314159 Posts: 1,178 Member
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    Walking is very good for general health - anything over 5K a day - Don't count on it for weight loss - calories are usually overestimated. I've done 4,897,437 steps in 3 years.

    My trainer says running is bad for most people - especially if overweight- wrecks the knees - and lots of people run in the wrong way - makes it worse
  • Pam_1965
    Pam_1965 Posts: 137 Member
    edited May 2016
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    My Fitbit and Runkeeper both give me the same calories burned (between 500 & 600) for my 5.5 mile walks that I do almost daily. I walk about 4 mph, 5 mph when I run part of it. Seems pretty accurate to me.
  • mhealea
    mhealea Posts: 56 Member
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    Crabcruncher,
    Walking is good for someone that is starting out or has knee problems or something like that. I'm a runner and love the feeling afterwards plus the benefit of having ability to up my daily calorie goal. If you truly want to know what you are burning per exercise I would invest in a heart monitor and link it to MFP. But just remember not to eat back your calories. The true and only way that you will lose and keep it off is to exercise, eat cleanly and stick to a meal plan that you can live with because it's a life style change and not a diet that works and last. Feel free to add me to your friend list.
  • srecupid
    srecupid Posts: 660 Member
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    I live in a small town with no car and a job where i'm on my feet all day. Some days I don't get to 10k steps. I don't know how anyone with a desk job that didn't intentionally walk alot would get to 10k.
  • maisiedaisie579
    maisiedaisie579 Posts: 4 Member
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    I walked 7 miles just while on a shift at work and it doesn't help my weight loss. I have no car or access to public transport and walk at least 10 miles a day. I never eat my calories back. It would be pointless burning them off if I did.
  • NorthCascades
    NorthCascades Posts: 10,968 Member
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    It sounds like the point of those 10 miles you walked was transportation. So even if you ate back the calories you burned from them, they wouldn't be pointless as they'd still have served your purpose of getting around without a car or publish transit.
  • Bob314159
    Bob314159 Posts: 1,178 Member
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    srecupid wrote: »
    I live in a small town with no car and a job where i'm on my feet all day. Some days I don't get to 10k steps. I don't know how anyone with a desk job that didn't intentionally walk alot would get to 10k.

    It's very hard - three years ago - I worked at home with a desk job, and could get to 8K a day, sometimes 10K. Now my hours are more fixed and I have a hard time getting 5K - made harder that I now go to the gym three times a week.

  • srecupid
    srecupid Posts: 660 Member
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    maisiedaisie579 wrote: »
    I walked 7 miles just while on a shift at work and it doesn't help my weight loss. I have no car or access to public transport and walk at least 10 miles a day. I never eat my calories back. It would be pointless burning them off if I did.

    Not really. I the midnight shift at the grocery store alot. I often eat the last of my calories before i leave. It gives me incentive to work a little harder and earn a 100-150 calorie snack before bed. I have no interest in losing faster than mfp predicts. Of course if I'm not hungry i'll stockpile them but, it's hard to not be hungry when you walk past food all day
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    edited May 2016
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    srecupid wrote: »
    I live in a small town with no car and a job where i'm on my feet all day. Some days I don't get to 10k steps. I don't know how anyone with a desk job that didn't intentionally walk alot would get to 10k.

    I walk to the L in the morning, get in just a small amount at lunch and often have a meeting or something that I walk to (within downtown), and then walk home from the L, and that gets me almost there. If I detour for errands (like shopping) or get off a stop or two early (or on a stop or two late) or simply end up with a long wait that I deal with by pacing back and forth across the platform, that, plus my misc steps throughout the day, is 10,000+.

    Obviously it's easier if I go to the gym or walk to swimming or, best of all, run. The only times I have trouble are when I bike to work--I almost never get 10,000 then.
  • OhMsDiva
    OhMsDiva Posts: 1,074 Member
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    Interesting comments. A few a bit off the asked question, however I have a desk job and I make sure I walk at least 10000 steps per day. Although I do walk videos every morning for about an hour. I have a lot of weight to lose so the walking videos are good for me. It gets my heart beating faster and I am breathing harder. I do not eat back my exercise calories, but I know many do and they are consistently losing weight. Knowing the amount of steps I take motivates me to get up and move my butt if I think the number is to low for the day.
  • srecupid
    srecupid Posts: 660 Member
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    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    srecupid wrote: »
    I live in a small town with no car and a job where i'm on my feet all day. Some days I don't get to 10k steps. I don't know how anyone with a desk job that didn't intentionally walk alot would get to 10k.

    I walk to the L in the morning, get in just a small amount at lunch and often have a meeting or something that I walk to (within downtown), and then walk home from the L, and that gets me almost there. If I detour for errands (like shopping) or get off a stop or two early (or on a stop or two late) or simply end up with a long wait that I deal with by pacing back and forth across the platform, that, plus my misc steps throughout the day, is 10,000+.

    Obviously it's easier if I go to the gym or walk to swimming or, best of all, run. The only times I have trouble are when I bike to work--I almost never get 10,000 then.

    Yeah it's not hard if you are walking alot anyway. I bet you don't live right next door to the train station though. I definitely wouldn't want to live near one of those rickety old trains.It's not particularly hard if you are doing something else while getting the steps (errands, walking to the train stop etc) but, if you work a desk job and drive both ways to work like alot of people it's difficult. 10k steps is like 5 miles. I can walk 16-17 minute miles. So at the best it would take 80 minutes to get my steps in. You sleep 8 hours a day and if you work 8 hours a day squeezing in 80 minutes for a 5 mile walk isn't exactly efficient.
  • crabcruncher
    crabcruncher Posts: 15 Member
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    Really appreciate all the comments! I averaged 5000 steps before actually trying for 10000 this week, but like it has been pointed out I think work has a lot to say for that. I work in hospitals and am always walking back and forth, one side to the other. It is pretty easy for me to walk that extra 30mins or whatever it is to get the goal. If I had a job specific to one seat in a big building id need to set aside specific walking time and that time, calary burn wise, could be spent better running. Truth be told it's finally stopped raining and I'm loving the walks...I'm definitely getting older! You all have a good day.
  • bradmorris67
    bradmorris67 Posts: 17 Member
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    I'm a desk-jockey myself but fortunate to live about 5km/3miles from my house to my office, and its a nice walk. So my "commute" to work there & back on foot, as well as zipping around the office, pop into town for lunch can easy rack up 15,000 steps. Not only that, I'm in a great part of the UK, all flat, near the river. Looks like this...

    j50zagaq7n16.jpg
  • crabcruncher
    crabcruncher Posts: 15 Member
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    Definitely not a bad place to walk. Not sure about them clouds though!

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