Walking With Pedometers

Yeah, OK, it's been awhile since I've logged on! In January, I ended up with an inner ear infection which put me out of commission for a few weeks. I have not recovered all of my hearing in my left ear, and I now have tinnitis, a constant ringing in my ear. I got "back in the saddle" when my husband decided to start losing weight again. I thought I'd join him. We both had our own treadmills, so great, right? Well, within 3 days, he broke his old treadmill and started using mine. Within 2 days, he broke mine! Eek!

So, we went out and bought an elliptical (a FORTUNE!) and it ends up, I didn't like it nearly as much as my treadmill. So, I got my treadmill fixed. He does the elliptical and I do the treadmill. He works out for 30 minutes, does a little less than 2 miles. I jog 3 miles or more on my treadmill at a 4.0 paces and a 4.0 incline. I work off at least 450 calories at a time. He works off a little over 200.

He has lost over 20 pounds and I have lost 5. Every day I get to listen to him boast of his success. At first, I was glad for him, but, now, I just want to strangle him!

I thought that maybe I could get encouragement here, since I'm not getting it at home.

So, ladies, encourage away! LOL

I'm so grateful that Barb and Peschuntz are still here!

bump

:flowerforyou: I have been on a trip for over a week and somewhat out of wifi range so I made a decision to take a vacation from logging food and exercise. I've been careful about my eating and have done some exercise but nothing like what I do at home. I managed to get 10,000 steps or more each day even if if meant walking up and down in my son's living room for 30 minutes at bedtime.:laugh:

:flowerforyou: the way I record steps is as a number of minutes at a walking speed (MFP has several different speeds to choose from) and use the calories it computes. It may not be entirely accurate but it's close enough

---

I try to not overestimate either my minutes or my speed.

:flowerforyou: Susy, glad to see you exercising again and back with us...sorry about your health challenges.......you've probably heard it before, but never compare your weight loss journey with a man......you are so right to come to us....we will encourage you......I put a little sticker on my calendar every day that I walk 10,000 steps, last summer when I was walking more I upped the goal to 14,000. Now that I am walking less and have been trying to encourage myself to do yoga and pilates, I give myself a sticker if I do those workouts.

:flowerforyou: The pedometer I had before my Omron,recorded the motion of my exercise bike as steps and recorded a lot more of the movements in line dance so my step count was a lot higher than it is now with the Omron. I mourned my old one for a long time but now I am used to the new one.

:flowerforyou: I'd love to see this thread revived with all of us checking in every day or so.

I've missed the group! I really enjoyed checking in with you ladies often, and need to start doing that again. Your encouragement means a lot to me, especially as my husband continues to drop the weight, and what he insists is only "an update" on his progress, feels more like a jab at "why can't YOU seem to lose any weight?" I know I shouldn't look at it that way, but, it's so easy to feel discouraged in the first place. Then, to have someone else losing it so much more easily, it just multiplies the discouragement.

So, thanks for the encouragement! Warm weather ought to help, too, as I LOVE getting outside in the sun and warmth! C'mon sun!

Here's to friendship and encouragement! Love you ladies! Let's get out there and walk walk walk!

I am going to try to join up. I need a different pedometer for everyday walking because i seriosly never sit down(except when the computer sucks me in). I use the nano pedometer for dog walks but its not really easy to wear all day etc. Does anyone have the Nintendo DS personal trainer? I think it has something you just put in your pocket and it tracks everything.

fewer than 6000 steps today, but a lot of my two hour line dance steps don't register on the pedometer....and I did yoga, pilates, and the exercise bike. :bigsmile:

Im brand spanking new to this group so let me relay a little bit about myself. The company I work for has instituted a walking program as part of their "wellness" push and part of this initiative includes a step challenge. Those involved were issued an Omron HJ-72OITC Pedometer. I really like it and its fun to track your progress with the software.

Our corporate office tried this last year and the only involvement I had was to make fun of the people involved. SInce I can stand to drop a few pounds myself, I thought I would shut up and start walking this time. So far my progress has been good but we are approaching the midway point and it's seriously testing my resolve. It's so easy to find a million excuses NOT to do it but that's when I find it the most beneficial. First prize is $550 toward a bicycle or exercise equipment. I would really like to win so Im trying really hard. You chart your own progress so I have no idea how I stack up against others in the competition.

I went to a local park at lunch yesterday and met another guy walking as part of his company's wellness push. He asked me about my pedometer and I googled it and found this site.

Everyone's comments here are helpful and motivating. Great job and keep up the good work! I used to exercise a lot more and I hope to get back to that point. Unfortunately, I am probably the worst eater ever in terms of diet and timing so I hope this program can be kind of a springboard to a better lifestyle. However the bad side of me (we'll call him "Bad Dan") rationalizes my poor eating habits with the walking figuring it will all even out. I feel a lot better since I started walking and it's gotten a lot easier too.

I woudl really like some big numbers but lately I have really busy so it's been more and more difficult to block time for it. I will post my numbers as the days go by. Thanks for reading and feel free to comment as necessary.

Hi All! I didn't read the whole thread, so IDK if this has been mentioned, but iPhone has a pedometer app that is only 99cents. It's called footsteps and is pretty great! Accurate and motivational. You can use it while you listen to music. :flowerforyou:

Dan,

Far be it from me to offer much advice, since I'm STILL trying to lose the same 30 pounds for the past several years. Down 10, up 15, down 20, up 10. However, I'm quite experienced at losing and gaining. :laugh:

I'm a night owl, so I know what you mean about that being a bad time to eat. Everything gets quiet and calm, and suddenly I'm thinking, "Hey, I deserve something good for myself after a long hard day paying attention to everyone else's needs" and the reward is almost always something to eat.

So, here are my tricks: first of all, I try to eat most of my food earliest in the day. I hate eating breakfast but I make myself eat something protein filled. Scrambled eggs with broccoli and cheese seems to get me through the day well. Lunch is a bunch of little snacks throughout about 3 hours since I don't have time to sit and eat lunch. I try to keep almonds on hand. I found some cocoa coated almonds! Woo hoo! Not chocolate covered, but cocoa powder covered. Not as many calories, it's actually healthy cocoa, and pretty satisfying to my ever chocolate sweet tooth.

I eat a smaller dinner than breakfast, and try not to eat pasta. That leaves me bloated right after dinner, and wanting more food later. I hate that because I LOVE pasta. So, I try to eat any pasta I might have during my lunchtime grazing period.

I do usually have a sweet snack a little bit before I go to bed. I usually take a chunk from one of those 85% cacao bars. I've gotten used to the bitterness. I feel less guilty while I satisfy that chocolate need again. And, again, it's a healthy-ish chocolate. I can't possibly give up chocolate, so this is my compromise.

I also use my pedometer like a life-guide. I try to do more than 10,000 steps a day. I usually do about 7,000 on my treadmill. If I have a day where I've eaten especially too much, I try to get up to past 14,000 steps the next day. It's not scientific, but, it's sort of a mind set: If I overeat one day, have to pay the price the next day.

Keep moving. That's what I keep telling myself. It's important to keep moving. THAT should be a lifestyle, not just to lose weight or win a contest. I try to keep moving.

Good luck to you! Keep working at it! Don't make it miserable because then you'll not continue after the competition's over. Make it reasonable .... doable. Make it a life style you can keep forever. Then, no matter what, YOU win!

Keep walking!,
Susy

:flowerforyou: Susy, your advice about how to curb the late night snacking is right on.....thanks for sharing all your good ideas in such detail....:bigsmile:

:flowerforyou: Jen, welcome, I walk at the off leash dog park while my dogs play so I loved hearing that you walk at the ball park while your kids play.....I also get a lot of my steps from doing chores around the house......"if you're moving, you're losing"...sometimes I walk up and down the hall at bedtime to get my pedometer to over the next thousand :laugh:

:bigsmile: I'm almost at 10,000 steps but I've done yoga and my stationery bike so I've gotten a lot of exercise :bigsmile:

My first day with my pedometer and I had 8497 steps!!! I can't wait to see what tomorrow brings since I'm going to be at the ball park most of the day watching my daughter play. I'm loving this pedometer already!!
Jen

Hi,
I am new to this thread and new to walking with a pedometer so I hope I can join?

I just bought a go smart omron pedometer and I really like it so far. I got it by Friday 5/21 so I had the weekend to try it out I find myself trying to walk more now that I have it on me and that is a good thing. On Saturday I only got in 800 steps Then on Sunday I got in 1568 steps so I think that within time I will be able to get in lots more.

The neat thing about this pedometer is I can download the information into my computer with the software it came with so I can see my progress and even print it out. I am excited about getting lots of steps in with it!!!