Is step tracking beneficial?

x_oh_x_oh
x_oh_x_oh Posts: 7 Member
edited December 21 in Health and Weight Loss
Do you think that tracking your steps has helped with any weight loss?
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Replies

  • texasredreb
    texasredreb Posts: 541 Member
    I find it fun to play with, but I don't know how useful it has been for me. I guess it does help me some. I found my baseline number of steps a day and now I have to make a plan to go up from there.

    I have a friend who is an ultra-marathon runner and she thinks step trackers are hilarious! She runs for six hours/day several days a week.
  • NovusDies
    NovusDies Posts: 8,940 Member
    edited May 2019
    kimny72 wrote: »
    I thought I was pretty active until I got my first Fitbit and found I was barely getting 4k steps per day. Over time I've worked up to 8k+ and hope to get to 10k fairly regularly eventually and those extra steps have increased my NEAT. I find it motivating, that's pretty much how it's beneficial to me :smile: I know it doesn't work like that for everyone though!

    Nice.

    I have recently joined the ranks of wearable technology wearers. I am gradually increasing my step goal in hopes of pushing my own NEAT higher. I do notice that I can be "stepping" while in a chair but I must be fidgeting enough to get it counted and that works for me too. I don't believe any of it is enough yet to change anything calorie-wise but progress is progress.

  • kmshover
    kmshover Posts: 41 Member
    I think it varies. My husband doesn't stop moving unless sleeping or sick. I am not that way. I need motivation. It keeps me moving, so for me, yes.
  • lindamtuck2018
    lindamtuck2018 Posts: 9,836 Member
    For me I think it has helped. I have a lot of weight to lose. By being aware of my step goals it encourages me to move more. This in turn gives me exercise calories, which allow me to indulge aliitle more while keeping my weight loss at around 2 pounds a week.
  • emmamcgarity
    emmamcgarity Posts: 1,594 Member
    It has motivated me to move more. So it’s definitely worth it for me. I find the social aspect of Fitbit challenges me to move more than my friends and relatives. So that’s fun. I recently got a new device with the heart rate monitor and find the data for cardio fitness and the sleep data fun to dig around in too.
  • Cahgetsfit
    Cahgetsfit Posts: 1,912 Member
    kimny72 wrote: »
    I thought I was pretty active until I got my first Fitbit and found I was barely getting 4k steps per day. Over time I've worked up to 8k+ and hope to get to 10k fairly regularly eventually and those extra steps have increased my NEAT. I find it motivating, that's pretty much how it's beneficial to me :smile: I know it doesn't work like that for everyone though!

    this! me too!
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  • trjjoy
    trjjoy Posts: 666 Member
    https://www.nutritiousmovement.com/podcast-transcript-ep-21-is-exercise-junk-food/
  • tinkerbellang83
    tinkerbellang83 Posts: 9,140 Member
    edited May 2019
    In my opinion it can be helpful particularly if you're not sure of your activity level. We see it on the forums all the time here that people are hungry because they've set themselves to Sedentary and the highest rate of loss, but when digging deeper they'll say they are doing 8000 steps per day, which even if they are in an office job is far from sedentary.

    Also if your day-to-day non-exercise activity varies greatly then it can be useful to ensure you're fueling that activity correctly over time.

    If however you're doing the same activity pretty much day-in/day-out then I don't think it's really that beneficial unless you're a number geek like me, who just likes seeing the data.

  • LivingtheLeanDream
    LivingtheLeanDream Posts: 13,342 Member
    edited May 2019
    I used a Fitbit for 4 years, went through 3 of them in that time and then when the last one gave up I ditched it. Turns out I don't need a gadget to keep me active, it comes naturally to me even with a desk job. The last time I tracked my steps via mobile for a week I was still averaging 11k in normal day to day activity. Its a personal thing, if it motivates someone to move more then its a good idea.
    (I've been in maintenance almost 6 years)
  • jlbtnc
    jlbtnc Posts: 725 Member
    I am not sure if it helps with my progress of losing weight, but I use it as a way of getting up and getting active. I generally exercise 5-7 days depending on weather and hubby's work schedule. So if I don't exercise, I try to get steps in but not always the case. On a good day get over 10,000 steps on a bad day only over 2,00-3,000. So if id doesn't help with weight loss it motivates me to be more active.
  • 4legsRbetterthan2
    4legsRbetterthan2 Posts: 19,590 MFP Moderator
    That depends, are you the type of person who is going to challenge yourself to beat yesterdays count or reach your goal? Then it could be. If not, then no.
  • Panini911
    Panini911 Posts: 2,325 Member
    edited May 2019
    not for weight loss. I have had mine thru the weight gain too ;) then the loss.

    10,000 thing was also around back when people had good old school pedometers. it's just a random goal to get people moving, really the point is to move MORE than what you previously did.
  • angela1980r
    angela1980r Posts: 8 Member

    I have a desk job and step tracking does encourage me to take a lunchtime walk or print on another floor.

    Anything that encourages more NEAT activity is incredibly useful, but personally, I would never rely on my steps as my sole form of exercise.

    :)
  • Gamliela
    Gamliela Posts: 2,468 Member
    I wear a pedometer, as in, thats all it does, counts my steps. Inexpensive and easy to wear, simple to implement.

    I wear one because I can have anywhere from 5 or 6,000 steps to 27 or 28,000 steps a day. I have to fuel myself well, so on days my steps are high that means a lot more calories! Over a week, if its a high step week, I could be severely depleting myself, or I could make myself fat if I were to eat to fuel 28,000 a day and only actually be walking 5,000.

    I use a pedometer because I don't seem to notice the difference between 5,000 and 20,000 steps a day, time goes by anyway. I log steps every night in a notebook and average the totals every 10 days or so so I can eat accordingly.

    I agree, not every one needs to be so attentive to their step count, it could become unhealthily obsessive!
  • TravisJHunt
    TravisJHunt Posts: 533 Member
    Yep although I don't think it was specifically the tool, more the information it provided. I never realized how very little I was actually active during the day. Seeing it now pushes me to be more active.
  • vim_n_vigor
    vim_n_vigor Posts: 4,089 Member
    I work in an office where it is very easy to get too busy to get up to get a drink, go to the bathroom, or even eat lunch. Watching my steps is more a way to make sure that I am getting up and doing something during the day. I don't have a magic number I go for. When I first started, it did help as I was really beyond sedentary and working my step count up was beneficial. I was not at a point where I was going to be able to do any exercise for any amount of time that was going to really help get me into shape. Now that I am able to exercise longer periods of time, I am not focusing much on the steps anymore.
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