How to log steps

Overheadfan

Hi there, I'm a new member ( 12 days!) getting into the swing of logging food and exercise.
I'm of the "dinosaur no technology "type group and have a pedometer which fits on my waist band of trousers.
Is there a way to log how many steps I've walked WITHOUT having to have a new device which is synched to MFP. ?
Not keen on wearing anything else on my wrist other than my old fashioned watch .

mtaratoot

There is no way to directly convert your step count to your exercise diary. There's an answer in the HELP database that has the same workaround I was going to suggest.

You can log "walking" in your exercise diary. You can either measure your actual strides and get a custom "steps per mile" estimate or just figure it's about 2000 steps per mile. You will have to make an assumption of your speed and then figure out how many minutes it would take, based on steps per mile and speed, to get it logged.

Do you have a smartphone? My iPhone actually has a pedometer built in that I used to link to MFP before I got a Garmin wrist device. That might make it easier, but dinosaurs don't use smartphones.

yirara

are you counting steps you purposefully walk or day to day activity, like work, caring for kids, cleaning? If the latter mostly then this should be part of your activity level you set in MFP. If you walk for exercise then you could try to figure out how long your average steps are and get a distance from that, then log. You can also simply log slow or brisk walking and anything inbetween by duration.

Overheadfan

My daughter recently bought me a smartphone...:) and she's going to check that out for me. I do have a tendency to not carry my phone with me but I'm have certainly found my " clip on hip" pedometer to be really useful.
Thankyou both for the info and suggestions. Now it makes sense.
I did set my activity level in MFP as lightly active ... housework, shopping etc. I have been doing a very brisk ( sometimes a very, VERY brisk) walking workout online with the " Get Fit With Rick". He includes a step count in all of his videos ..it's a great way to bust out extra steps quickly. ..and in the comfort of the airconditioning.
I'll be dining out this evening so I've added a brisk walk to my day as a counter measure.

mtaratoot

For your normal brisk walks, you can also just note the time you started and how long you went and log it directly as walking. The trick will be to figure the distance so you can be more accurate with speed. The clip-on pedometer is the perfect tool for this if you also know the time you're out AND your stride length (or just estimate 2000 steps per mile).

Another option that would be a pain would be to use something like Google Maps to get an estimate of the distance.

Overheadfan

Yes, it's time I started being a bit more committed to embracing technology. Further investigation has revealed the clip on pedometer to do exactly as you say...measure distance and therefore I can work out my speed.
Onwards......

mtaratoot

Yep.

I have a couple of the clip-on pedometers from when I was at work and they gave them out. I have worn one in combination with using other devices just to compare. I even changed the battery when it ran down.

I do think you may have to set your stride length for the best data in those pedometers, otherwise it just uses a default value. The default will be close. I'm sure I used that to log miles at some point too.

The default value is probably 2000 steps per mile. I measured mine by laying out a 100-foot course and counting steps. I estimated about 2112 steps per mile. It probably wasn't EXACTLY that, but close enough that I could use that number. It's not only a palindrome, it's a Rush album. I also estimated by laying out a yard stick (meter stick), standing right at the beginning, taking a few steps back, then walking so my foot hit at the front and then saw what the length was. For a while I was tracking my steps and actual mileage with the GPS feature on my wrist device. I separated times I was just walking in town on a sidewalk versus hiking. They are fairly different. I still just kept the 2112 steps per mile conversion for times when I just use steps and don't tell my wrist device I'm hiking or walking. If I initiate an activity, it tracks my real mileage by GPS, so it's quite accurate.

Overheadfan

Righto, that really explains everything very well. Thankyou. I'm going to measure my stride length.