How many steps a day should I walk or how many minutes?

coconutlove93

I haven't posted on the forums before but I have a question and I'm hoping someone could help answer it!
I've been working on eating healthy for about 5 weeks now and everything diet wise seems to be working and it seems good. I'm also seeing a doctor for medical supervision due to my large size. It's kind of a two part question.
1. Should I be walking based on time per day like minute wise or how many steps?
2. How many steps should i do per day if I'm doing it that way? I've been told that I could also walk about 30 minutes minimum per day but I just cant remember what my doctor said about the steps. I'm thinking he said 10,000. But that sounds like a lot for some reason.

DavPul

10,000 steps is the recommending number per day, not per walk. so your pedometer or whatever device you're using will be tracking every step you make from the couch to the window and from the desk to the fridge, not just your planned walks. the idea behind 10,000 steps per day is to keep you more active ALL day, not just for the duration of a 90 min walk.

that said, track your walks by whichever method is convenient for you. i would just track time and try to keep increasing the time, but if your device makes it easy to track by steps, feel free to do so. ultimately it will be one and the same.

coconutlove93

Thank you for your response and I will probably try it both ways and see how it goes

dopeysmelly

I set a target time generally, but I also use MapMyWalk so I can see the distance. I injured my knee so I'm back to very slow walking (after a 3-4 week break of doing nothing which was excruciating), but I feel good that I'm still doing my 60 mins a day regardless of distance.