Welcome to Debate Club! Please be aware that this is a space for respectful debate, and that your ideas will be challenged here. Please remember to critique the argument, not the author.
Why is tracking steps a thing?
DevilsFan1
Posts: 342 Member
in Debate Club
I honestly don't get it. Why are people tracking how much they walk around during the day doing normal activities? I suppose if you're always sitting that it could be a motivator to get up and move, but when I see people complain that their Fitbit isn't recording the steps they're taking when grocery shopping I am legitimately puzzled.
To add to that, it seems that many people who track steps think that gives them the license to eat back whatever calories their tracker says they are burning. Walking around doing things you normally do isn't really exercise that is worth tracking.
Then again, maybe I'm the crazy one.
To add to that, it seems that many people who track steps think that gives them the license to eat back whatever calories their tracker says they are burning. Walking around doing things you normally do isn't really exercise that is worth tracking.
Then again, maybe I'm the crazy one.
10
Replies
-
Tracking our step count can be a great way to determine how active we are. And stimulate us to be more active.
Instead of guessing at my activity level, my step tracker gives me calories when I'm more active than sedentary. I do eat those calories, I don't see why I shouldn't, since months of using my tracker has shown me the calorie count is pretty accurate for me.22 -
I am not a stickler for X number of steps each day, but it is interesting to see how active, or not, I have been... and it is motivation to get my butt moving in the evenings if it’s obvious I have been fairly sedentary. I can also look back and track potential fibro flares based on step count (or lack there of) - they normally follow a high activity day and duration is a crap shoot (maybe a day or two, could stretch for a couple weeks, who knows!). Overall I dont stress over it, but I know my mom focuses pretty hard on her 10k steps a day and gets irked if an activity didn’t register. To each their own!
I did find it funny that hubby and I walked holding hands the other night - just shy of two miles and my watch said 53 calories
I guess the wonky arm movement threw it all off. Not sure what my step count was before we left to know steps counted compared to usual.
ETA: I have my watch more for specific activity tracing - running, biking, walking, hiking, etc. so the step count is just an added feature for me.6 -
It gives you a baseline of steps so you can increase your step count, lose weight and get fit. With later models of fitbits, you can also track calories burnt from activities like cycling and swimming, and you can track resting heart rate. Just more ways to track your progress and be a better you!7
-
Fair enough. And if over time your tracker has shown to be accurate in terms of calorie burn then it makes sense to eat back what you want if calculated correctly.
I will admit that my experiences with friends who use step trackers have shown that they didn't benefit them at all from a fitness perspective. I have many overweight friends who use the steps they normally take during the day as evidence that they exercised when in fact they have simply done the same amount of activity they always do. Maybe I just need new friends. 10 -
DevilsFan1 wrote: »I honestly don't get it. Why are people tracking how much they walk around during the day doing normal activities? I suppose if you're always sitting that it could be a motivator to get up and move, but when I see people complain that their Fitbit isn't recording the steps they're taking when grocery shopping I am legitimately puzzled.
To add to that, it seems that many people who track steps think that gives them the license to eat back whatever calories their tracker says they are burning. Walking around doing things you normally do isn't really exercise that is worth tracking.
Then again, maybe I'm the crazy one.
One of the preconceptions that hold many back, as it once did me, is dismissing certain activity as unimportant. There is the thought that unless it is formal, sweaty, and heart rate in certain zone exercise or at least strenuous work activity it doesn't count for much. However this is incorrect. Every twitch of a muscle requires energy and thus it adds to your total calorie burn for the day. I increased my total daily expenditure by 350 calories BEFORE I added exercise just by getting out of my chair more.
Steps are well studied and the translation to calories is fairly reliable if most of your activity is leg based.
If you allow it, increasing step count gets into your thinking. I don't stand at the pump when I get gas, I walk around. I don't sit in the waiting room waiting for a doctor (if I can help it), I pace the floor. It adds up. My 7 day average of steps is almost always over 20k.22 -
My body doesn't know the difference between the steps I take grocery shopping versus the steps I take taking a walk with my husband versus the steps I take cleaning my house versus the steps I take on a treadmill doing deliberate "exercise." They all contribute to my energy needs so why WOULDN'T I have the "license" to take them into account when deciding how much to eat?
It's not like my body is like "Ah, grocery shopping, we'll do these steps without using any energy!"
24 -
DevilsFan1 wrote: »I honestly don't get it. Why are people tracking how much they walk around during the day doing normal activities? I suppose if you're always sitting that it could be a motivator to get up and move, but when I see people complain that their Fitbit isn't recording the steps they're taking when grocery shopping I am legitimately puzzled.
To add to that, it seems that many people who track steps think that gives them the license to eat back whatever calories their tracker says they are burning. Walking around doing things you normally do isn't really exercise that is worth tracking.
Then again, maybe I'm the crazy one.
One of the preconceptions that hold many back, as it once did me, is dismissing certain activity as unimportant. There is the thought that unless it is formal, sweaty, and heart rate in certain zone exercise or at least strenuous work activity it doesn't count for much. However this is incorrect. Every twitch of a muscle requires energy and thus it adds to your total calorie burn for the day. I increased my total daily expenditure by 350 calories BEFORE I added exercise just by getting out of my chair more.
Steps are well studied and the translation to calories is fairly reliable if most of your activity is leg based.
If you allow it, increasing step count gets into your thinking. I don't stand at the pump when I get gas, I walk around. I don't sit in the waiting room waiting for a doctor (if I can help it), I pace the floor. It adds up. My 7 day average of steps is almost always over 20k.
Yes, @AnnPT77 (and some others) have written quite well on this subject, but the truth is that embracing an "all day" concept of using energy can make a meaningful difference for many of us. My routine intentional exercise might be 2-400 calories most days . . . and I find that I can easily double it by focusing on more movement throughout my day. That's a big deal, especially since I'm a short woman who otherwise doesn't need many calories to maintain.
My average steps are 15,000+ and a big chunk of those are from walking a bit more during during errands and just staying on my feet a bit more when I'm in my apartment.10 -
Thank you all for your perspective. It's clear that step tracking makes a difference for you. I probably am one of the "if you're not sweating, you're not trying" people that NovusDies refers to. I guess the moral is to do what works best for you.10
-
DevilsFan1 wrote: »Thank you all for your perspective. It's clear that step tracking makes a difference for you. I probably am one of the "if you're not sweating, you're not trying" people that NovusDies refers to. I guess the moral is to do what works best for you.
LOL I think the moral is that unless you're dead or in a coma, if you're moving, you're expending energy which translates into calories.
(I have a fitbit one that goes wonky every once in a while and a garmin vivofit 4 with after midnight resetting problems and don't really care about how many steps I take. Just the calories I can eat to maintain my weight or gain a little.)6 -
Personally, I'm not interested in step tracking, because I don't take enough steps to make much difference. Walking as exercise is iffy for me (bad knees): Not undoable, but not a good thing to rely on as a routine calorie burner. I save my step abilities for doing other fun stuff (parks, festivals, museums, . . . .).
But daily life activity, for most average people (even a goodly number who exercise), is the 2nd biggest calorie expenditure in their day, second to RMR. For many people, that daily life activity is largely step-measurable.
The intense/frequent exercisers may get more calories from exercise than from daily life activity . . . *maybe* (because I'd theorize that people who exercise may move more in daily life, too, because it may be easier and more fun for them than for less fit people). People with busy lives struggle sometimes to add exercise to their schedule, but many of us can increase our daily life movement with minimal to no extra time expenditure. That's potentially as close to weight loss magic as we're likely ever to get.
That's a whole separate question, though, from whether to "*track* your steps".DevilsFan1 wrote: »Fair enough. And if over time your tracker has shown to be accurate in terms of calorie burn then it makes sense to eat back what you want if calculated correctly.
I will admit that my experiences with friends who use step trackers have shown that they didn't benefit them at all from a fitness perspective. I have many overweight friends who use the steps they normally take during the day as evidence that they exercised when in fact they have simply done the same amount of activity they always do. Maybe I just need new friends.
That's been my experience in real life, too, pretty much - though with my usual waffling ways I would've thrown a "usually" in there somewhere. But some people in my life do all kinds of things in the name of health or fitness or weight loss that make me silently and internally eye-roll.
My experience on MFP is a little different. Here, I see people fairly often who are using their step counts to help them set a more accurate starting activity level in guided setup (which they still ought to re-evaluate when they get a few weeks of more personalized experiential loss data, of course). I see people using their step counts, and setting goals to increase them, and improving calorie burn by doing so. Those are potentially helpful strategies . . . when done with more commitment and focus than I see in some real-life friends. A tracker, and actually tracking, can help.
It's kind of easy as someone with an OK-ish and well established workout strategy to be dismissive of people who are at a different point in developing healthier habits, either across the board or with respect to movement specifically. I'm not innocent of this, inside my own head (and maybe in print, if I slip). I sometimes see my brain reading something and thinking "ohMyGosh, I thought everyone could do X" when I see someone who's set a goal to do X, worked really hard for a long time to get to X, and is finally able to do it. It's not my best self thinking that. My better angel celebrates people improving from wherever they are, in whatever way helps them. (As an aside, It's fun to me to try to understand what works for others, and why, which is sort of eccentric, maybe. I think it's related to the reasons why I've long enjoyed reading autobiographies of people very, very different from me.)
You bet I'll dive in on a thread if I think they're sabotaging themselves (for example, using steps to establish an activity level above sedentary, then separately logging and eating back those very same steps . . . but I'd do the same if they counted their daily HIIT sessions and 5-mile runs in their activity level and added/ate them back, too).
For sure, if someone validates their activity tracker (steps plus whatever) as reasonably accurate for them, then synchs the device and eats based on adjustments, I think that's great. Simple, effective!
I kind of wish that worked for me, in fact. But my good brand/model tracker, one that's accurate for others, *underestimates* my calorie needs by 25-30%ish. I can't synch that, because it would add confusion. And I don't worry about step counts much, because it's not my thing. (Just looked: Apparently I've been busy lately. Device says I've averaged 6172 steps for the last 7 days, well up from my more usual 3-4000 in the time of pandemic. 🤣 Did I eat them? I must've, mostly, based on my weight trend results. 😉)
P.S. I love my tracker anyway, because it gives me stats and cute charts of things like heart rate, speed/pace, estimated strokes per minute, and other good stuff, for workout-guiding purposes.
10 -
We are still pretty locked down where I live and I am working from home. I have a lot of meetings and I pace during those meetings. So far today I've logged just shy of 30,000 steps. That's a pretty significant amount of activity.8
-
I use my steps tracker to evaluate how much activity I've done. It helps me set my activity level correctly in the guided setup, or gives me a good baseline to figure out if I'm adding back an appropriate number of activity calories.
Note that MFP's system is designed for you to add back your exercise calories because it uses the NEAT method, NOT the TDEE method. NEAT methodology is your calories burned just staying alive + daily activity expenditure. TDEE is NEAT + purposeful exercise.
Since MFP uses the NEAT method, it is not using a purposeful exercise factor in its equations. The only activity setting it accounts for is the day to day activity setting you choose. It's hard to get this right sometimes because the descriptors given are not exactly accurate, and many people will choose sedentary when they are actually lightly active, or will choose active when they aren't. There's been a good baseline given for converting daily living step count into MFP activity levels:
Sedentary = less than 5000
Low activity = 5000-7499
Somewhat active = 7500-9999
Active = more than 10000
Highly active = more than 12500
from https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10727064/steps-activity-level#latest
I have a desk job and therefore spend most days a week sitting. My step counter will show that without purposeful exercise, I get around 2,000-3,000 steps a day. So I set my MFP activity level to sedentary when I use the guided setup. right now I'm shooting for 1.5 lbs/wk loss rate. Then when I do get my purposeful walks or high intensive activities in like push mowing my grass, I use the MFP entry for that activity and count around 75% of the time spent to get a calorie addition to my daily totals.
This is how MFP is designed to work. I like this because I don't steadily get the same activity every day; some days, I don't get anything added to my activity for the day; other days, I'm super busy and can get 18,000 steps. I prefer to use my baseline level and add back my activity calories as MFP is designed to do. This is also why MFP's deficit goal will be lower than other deficits calculated by other websites - it depends on which method that website is using - you'll find that many use the TDEE method.
The TDEE method is designed to give you one number to strive for every day and not to very like hte NEAT will, so with the TDEE method, you account for EVERY activity you do during your waking hours and pick an activity level from that to get your deficit. Then you strive to be at that activity level every day or most days out of a week, but you don't add anything back because you've already accounted for it when you picked your activity level.
You can mimic the TDEE method in MFP if you prefer to use it by just setting your activity level to reflect your entire day's activity.
I know that MFP has somewhere around 250-350 calorie separate for my goals and stats between each of the categories. By using my step counter and the estimation above, I can figure if I'm eating back enough exercise calories or too many. By MFP standards, I should be eating around 2000 calories for an active range of 10,000 - 13,000 calories, which is around 600 calories over my sedentary deficit. So on days where I get over 10,000 steps, I check to see that the amount of exercise calories I add back is in the neighborhood of 600 calories. My step is a very helpful tool in establishing my activity for the day.
Step counters and counting steps is a useful tool and strategy in the tool box of things people can try to help them successfully lose weight and keep it of, just like various diet types, intermittent fasting, etc. Some people benefit from some tools better than others, and for some people some of the tools don't work while others will. Its best to have a variety of tools to choose from to be able to custom fit the best strategy to your personal lifestyle.
And just because one particular tool doesn't work for one person, doesn't mean that tool is useless or people who use it are being silly; it just means it doesn't work for that one person who needs to try a different tool to find what will work for them.9 -
bmeadows380 wrote: »I use my steps tracker to evaluate how much activity I've done. It helps me set my activity level correctly in the guided setup, or gives me a good baseline to figure out if I'm adding back an appropriate number of activity calories.
Note that MFP's system is designed for you to add back your exercise calories because it uses the NEAT method, NOT the TDEE method. NEAT methodology is your calories burned just staying alive + daily activity expenditure. TDEE is NEAT + purposeful exercise.
Since MFP uses the NEAT method, it is not using a purposeful exercise factor in its equations. The only activity setting it accounts for is the day to day activity setting you choose. It's hard to get this right sometimes because the descriptors given are not exactly accurate, and many people will choose sedentary when they are actually lightly active, or will choose active when they aren't. There's been a good baseline given for converting daily living step count into MFP activity levels:
Sedentary = less than 5000
Low activity = 5000-7499
Somewhat active = 7500-9999
Active = more than 10000
Highly active = more than 12500
from https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10727064/steps-activity-level#latest
I have a desk job and therefore spend most days a week sitting. My step counter will show that without purposeful exercise, I get around 2,000-3,000 steps a day. So I set my MFP activity level to sedentary when I use the guided setup. right now I'm shooting for 1.5 lbs/wk loss rate. Then when I do get my purposeful walks or high intensive activities in like push mowing my grass, I use the MFP entry for that activity and count around 75% of the time spent to get a calorie addition to my daily totals.
This is how MFP is designed to work. I like this because I don't steadily get the same activity every day; some days, I don't get anything added to my activity for the day; other days, I'm super busy and can get 18,000 steps. I prefer to use my baseline level and add back my activity calories as MFP is designed to do. This is also why MFP's deficit goal will be lower than other deficits calculated by other websites - it depends on which method that website is using - you'll find that many use the TDEE method.
The TDEE method is designed to give you one number to strive for every day and not to very like hte NEAT will, so with the TDEE method, you account for EVERY activity you do during your waking hours and pick an activity level from that to get your deficit. Then you strive to be at that activity level every day or most days out of a week, but you don't add anything back because you've already accounted for it when you picked your activity level.
You can mimic the TDEE method in MFP if you prefer to use it by just setting your activity level to reflect your entire day's activity.
I know that MFP has somewhere around 250-350 calorie separate for my goals and stats between each of the categories. By using my step counter and the estimation above, I can figure if I'm eating back enough exercise calories or too many. By MFP standards, I should be eating around 2000 calories for an active range of 10,000 - 13,000 calories, which is around 600 calories over my sedentary deficit. So on days where I get over 10,000 steps, I check to see that the amount of exercise calories I add back is in the neighborhood of 600 calories. My step is a very helpful tool in establishing my activity for the day.
Step counters and counting steps is a useful tool and strategy in the tool box of things people can try to help them successfully lose weight and keep it of, just like various diet types, intermittent fasting, etc. Some people benefit from some tools better than others, and for some people some of the tools don't work while others will. Its best to have a variety of tools to choose from to be able to custom fit the best strategy to your personal lifestyle.
And just because one particular tool doesn't work for one person, doesn't mean that tool is useless or people who use it are being silly; it just means it doesn't work for that one person who needs to try a different tool to find what will work for them.
^^^ Pretty much all this for me too. Setting MFP on "sedentary" and using my pedometer to calculate calories burned in excess of the sedentary setting, those are exactly the two tools I used to lose 47 pounds. Easy peasy. Now that I'm running a lot, instead of just walking, I'm having to figure out how to calculate my energy expenditure a little more precisely. But for a long time MFP+pedometer was the ticket for me.3 -
Sounds like you have friends using the tool incorrectly or not best too. Maybe. Or you misunderstand the way the system works.
Even though many times the closest tool can be used as a hammer - it doesn't always work best.
Some of the comments of your friends sounds like ones that will log everything they do during the day in their workout diary because it happens to be in the database on MFP.
Not realizing some level of activity is expected even in sedentary - not much, but some.
Sadly seeing my steps doesn't motivate me to do squat to improve it, but it does fascinate me just how far below sedentary I frequently go.
And how many times a 600-700 calorie burn run will lose 150-200 calories for the day as a whole due to my daily activity being so bad.
But there again - tool being used correctly - I am informed of that fact on MFP.
Garmin by itself, Fitbit too - would merely give an eating level based on the burning level.
If the steps causes them to burn more, they get to eat more. And that's the life lesson regarding weight management.
And as I'm reminded so often - also get to eat less when I do less.7 -
I only recently started looking at the step counter in my phone. It’s an eye opener. There were many weeks that I averaged only about 5-6000 steps per day before. I also noticed it was declining for some reason. The data was in my phone but I just never paid attention!
I’m trying to add more activity without an extra “workout”. I was considering doing multiple workouts per day but my normal workout takes a good amount of recovery. So, I’m trying to increase my average total daily steps above 10000 for the small extra calorie burn and mental health.
I don’t think my body cares if I got the steps from mowing the lawn or from walking the trails in a local park. Also, I don’t think it matters if i get 15000 steps one day and 5000 the next- I’m just using it as a way to check non workout activity.
The philosophy: any movement=good movement.5 -
There was a study reported in The New Scientist back in May or June, I think. The article referred to the distance waked by Glaswegian Postal Delivery workers who on average walk 18000 steps in a delivery round. Anthropologist referred to in this article considered this to be in the range of steps equating to the distance on average our distant ancestors would walk in their daily round of gathering and hunting.1
-
Onedaywriter wrote: »I only recently started looking at the step counter in my phone. It’s an eye opener. There were many weeks that I averaged only about 5-6000 steps per day before. I also noticed it was declining for some reason. The data was in my phone but I just never paid attention!
I’m trying to add more activity without an extra “workout”. I was considering doing multiple workouts per day but my normal workout takes a good amount of recovery. So, I’m trying to increase my average total daily steps above 10000 for the small extra calorie burn and mental health.
I don’t think my body cares if I got the steps from mowing the lawn or from walking the trails in a local park. Also, I don’t think it matters if i get 15000 steps one day and 5000 the next- I’m just using it as a way to check non workout activity.
The philosophy: any movement=good movement.
I am sure my body knows the difference but I do not think it pushes the average calorie that far, at least for me. To mow my entire yard is about 15,200 steps. I seldom push mow the entire thing though because I have a rider and the times I have done it felt like I was overdoing it the next day. I always push mow the front at around 5,500 steps and the portion I do of the backyard before I get the big mower out is about the same. The backyard is harder work because I am dealing with an incline. However, both account for a small percent of my weekly steps. Combined they would be about 7 percent of my week so only 3.5 percent would be the much harder work in the backyard. That was based on the last 7 days which totaled 150k steps which has been normal for me for the last several months.5 -
Why do people go to gyms. Why do they they lift heavy things. Why do they ride bikes or swim.
All movement counts. Sitting on the couch at the speed of zero is a poorly implemented lifestyle. Find exercise you actually enjoy and can do for the rest of your life. Do everything on your own terms.
I know that in this day where people leap from helicopters onto snowboards and carve their way down Mount Everest somehow a person who goes for a walk or takes a hike feels the need to put the word "just" in front of their accomplishment. As in; I "just" walked down the road for an hour and I wasn't even walking fast.
But let me tell you, if you got dressed and walked for an hour you've created momentum. You don't have to apologize for anything if you're counting your steps or walking. The number one reason people throw all of their hard earned money down a rathole for another unused gym membership is because they feel intimidated by it all.
Functional muscles for the WIN.9 -
Once upon a time when I had a much more functional body, I used a step tracker to help me intersperse movement throughout the day. Sitting for hours is not exactly the best thing, so getting up every hour or so to get 500 steps in helped. Sure, I could do this without a step tracker, but the tracker helped reinforce the habit.
Since my body has decided to fall apart, that step tracker is a daily finish line for me. 6000 steps a day may sound pretty measly, but without a goal, it's way too easy for me to just lie in bed all day and let my body deteriorate even further.
In both cases, it's been good data to help me gauge an appropriate calorie goal. I don't sync up and use that for exercise calories, but I do know that if I get in 6000 steps that's going to let me eat ~200 calories more than if I stay in bed. Like anything, it's a tool. Use it correctly and it will help you. Use it incorrectly and you won't get the results you want.10 -
After I was diagnosed with early stage coronary artery disease I came across a study that found sitting too much was a contributing factor, regardless of what other deliberate exercise was undertaken. So my daily AM workout and my 3 mile walk at lunch weren't enough to save me since I spend 7 hours a day parked on my butt at a desk.
I've used step trackers for years, currently on a Fitbit Charge 3. It buzzes me when I haven't taken 250 steps within the hour (daytime) and it's a good reminder to get up and take a stroll around the office. Moving around regularly is probably healthy for a whole lot of other reasons too.
But I hear you on the folks that seem to think "I took the dog for a half hour walk so I've earned this big dinner with the massive dessert". My brisk 3 mile walk burns about 200 calories, not even enough for two slices of bread. 6 -
I use the step tracker on my phone to gauge my activity level and I do see a direct correlation between the daily average per month and weight lost in that month. I don’t alter my eating based on steps - I’ve ranged from 2500 to 18 000 in august but shoot for an average of 10 000.
My step tracker really only tracks my outdoor walks though since I rarely carry my phone around indoors. Doesn’t matter to me as the margin of error is pretty constant and accounted for in my head.0 -
DevilsFan1 wrote: »Fair enough. And if over time your tracker has shown to be accurate in terms of calorie burn then it makes sense to eat back what you want if calculated correctly.
I will admit that my experiences with friends who use step trackers have shown that they didn't benefit them at all from a fitness perspective. I have many overweight friends who use the steps they normally take during the day as evidence that they exercised when in fact they have simply done the same amount of activity they always do. Maybe I just need new friends.
...you're not a very loyal friend are you?🤣🤣🤣3 -
DevilsFan1 wrote: »Fair enough. And if over time your tracker has shown to be accurate in terms of calorie burn then it makes sense to eat back what you want if calculated correctly.
I will admit that my experiences with friends who use step trackers have shown that they didn't benefit them at all from a fitness perspective. I have many overweight friends who use the steps they normally take during the day as evidence that they exercised when in fact they have simply done the same amount of activity they always do. Maybe I just need new friends.
...you're not a very loyal friend are you?🤣🤣🤣
Has your cat taken revenge yet for the indignity of being subjected to a watermelon helmet?5 -
lynn_glenmont wrote: »DevilsFan1 wrote: »Fair enough. And if over time your tracker has shown to be accurate in terms of calorie burn then it makes sense to eat back what you want if calculated correctly.
I will admit that my experiences with friends who use step trackers have shown that they didn't benefit them at all from a fitness perspective. I have many overweight friends who use the steps they normally take during the day as evidence that they exercised when in fact they have simply done the same amount of activity they always do. Maybe I just need new friends.
...you're not a very loyal friend are you?🤣🤣🤣
Has your cat taken revenge yet for the indignity of being subjected to a watermelon helmet?
good point....I guess I have my own issues to deal with...5 -
lynn_glenmont wrote: »DevilsFan1 wrote: »Fair enough. And if over time your tracker has shown to be accurate in terms of calorie burn then it makes sense to eat back what you want if calculated correctly.
I will admit that my experiences with friends who use step trackers have shown that they didn't benefit them at all from a fitness perspective. I have many overweight friends who use the steps they normally take during the day as evidence that they exercised when in fact they have simply done the same amount of activity they always do. Maybe I just need new friends.
...you're not a very loyal friend are you?🤣🤣🤣
Has your cat taken revenge yet for the indignity of being subjected to a watermelon helmet?
good point....I guess I have my own issues to deal with...
Me, too. How could I have thought there was a cat large enough for a watermelon helmet?! Lime?0 -
Mouse_Potato wrote: »We are still pretty locked down where I live and I am working from home. I have a lot of meetings and I pace during those meetings. So far today I've logged just shy of 30,000 steps. That's a pretty significant amount of activity.
HOW can you get 30,000 steps while locked down at home? I struggle to reach that magical 10,000 that so many people talk about. I have two trackers, one set to 6,000 and the other at 7,000. Now I actively go for walks again I can actually reach get 6,000 easily in less than an hour, plus the remaining casual steps for the day.0 -
lynn_glenmont wrote: »lynn_glenmont wrote: »DevilsFan1 wrote: »Fair enough. And if over time your tracker has shown to be accurate in terms of calorie burn then it makes sense to eat back what you want if calculated correctly.
I will admit that my experiences with friends who use step trackers have shown that they didn't benefit them at all from a fitness perspective. I have many overweight friends who use the steps they normally take during the day as evidence that they exercised when in fact they have simply done the same amount of activity they always do. Maybe I just need new friends.
...you're not a very loyal friend are you?🤣🤣🤣
Has your cat taken revenge yet for the indignity of being subjected to a watermelon helmet?
good point....I guess I have my own issues to deal with...
Me, too. How could I have thought there was a cat large enough for a watermelon helmet?! Lime?
you are correct...kitty got limed...1 -
Mouse_Potato wrote: »We are still pretty locked down where I live and I am working from home. I have a lot of meetings and I pace during those meetings. So far today I've logged just shy of 30,000 steps. That's a pretty significant amount of activity.
HOW can you get 30,000 steps while locked down at home? I struggle to reach that magical 10,000 that so many people talk about. I have two trackers, one set to 6,000 and the other at 7,000. Now I actively go for walks again I can actually reach get 6,000 easily in less than an hour, plus the remaining casual steps for the day.
I pace. All of my meetings have been converted to conference calls and I walk in circles around my house while I'm on the phone. I get about 6000 steps per hour, so on a day with 4+ hours of meetings plus normal activity I can hit 30k and even higher.7 -
We all know that the ten thousand step target was originally marketing blurb from a Japanese pedometer manufacturer, right?
https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/10000-steps-a-day-or-fewer-20190711173051 -
SnifterPug wrote: »We all know that the ten thousand step target was originally marketing blurb from a Japanese pedometer manufacturer, right?
https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/10000-steps-a-day-or-fewer-2019071117305
While the specific goal is debunked, the benefits of walking and moving more in general are numerous and well established. Striving to walk more, whatever more means to the individual, is generally a useful and healthy goal.11
Categories
- All Categories
- 1.4M Health, Wellness and Goals
- 393.4K Introduce Yourself
- 43.8K Getting Started
- 260.2K Health and Weight Loss
- 175.9K Food and Nutrition
- 47.4K Recipes
- 232.5K Fitness and Exercise
- 424 Sleep, Mindfulness and Overall Wellness
- 6.5K Goal: Maintaining Weight
- 8.5K Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
- 153K Motivation and Support
- 8K Challenges
- 1.3K Debate Club
- 96.3K Chit-Chat
- 2.5K Fun and Games
- 3.7K MyFitnessPal Information
- 24 News and Announcements
- 1.1K Feature Suggestions and Ideas
- 2.6K MyFitnessPal Tech Support Questions