I'm trying to be accurate with my caloric intake but I'm not sure if my steps should be a factor?

Options
epcheney
epcheney Posts: 1 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I am at risk of some health concerns if I lose weight too fast, so I want to make sure my net is where it should be each day.

I am not sure if I should be counting walking. I use a pedometer and for example yesterday I got 26,000 steps. I work a desk job so I set my activity level to sedentary on MyFitnessPal, so I'm sure yesterday I burned more than MFP expected me too - but it doesn't know it, so I don't know how to adjust my caloric intake because I don't know how many steps a sedentary person is assumed to take, so I can't just determine how many miles I walked and work it in that way.

It's tough because I certainly don't walk 20k steps EVERY day - some days might only be 3,000 steps - so I can't just account for it using the lifestyle settings (e.g. active, sedentary).

And it's also hard to track it by saying I did 30 minutes of walking (or whatever it may be) because usually I don't spend half an hour walking - in an hour I might spend 10 minutes walking quickly, 5 loitering around, another 7-8 doing this or that at medium speed, etc. I don't want to have to keep track every time I walk 5 minutes.

I'm using Android and haven't found any reliable way to merge step tracking and MyFitnessPal. So far I've found three apps I can link but they were all unreliable - one didn't work, one counted 1/5 of my steps, one counted three times too many.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

Replies

  • RedRaven49
    RedRaven49 Posts: 52 Member
    Options
    buy a fitbit
  • minizebu
    minizebu Posts: 2,716 Member
    edited June 2015
    Options
    Have you been recording your pedometer steps on a daily basis? I mean, are you writing it down on paper or putting it in a spreadsheet?

    If so, then calculate an average number of steps per day. Let's say that yesterday was an anomaly, and you usually only rack up 7500 steps per day.

    What I would do is take anything above and beyond your average and calculate the approximate equivalent walking time for that portion.

    For example: 26000 - 7500 = 18500 18500 / 120 steps per minute = 154 minutes

    120 steps per minute is an average walking pace of around 3mph. So, you could log yesterday as 2.5 hours of walking at 3mph.

    If this doesn't sit right with you, then you can calculate your actual average walking pace (steps per minute) and re-do the calculations with your own actual data.

    Does this help?
  • Kerramarcus
    Kerramarcus Posts: 1 Member
    Options
    I have the same problem. I bought a Fitbit. Syncs with myfitnesspal hassle free
  • KaraDuke01
    KaraDuke01 Posts: 1 Member
    Options
    I have been wondering the same thing with my steps.. plus I have kinda stalled out on my weight drop.. I'm at 14 lbs and holding. . Which I kniw some is because I have lax on my food.. still no pop and plenty of water.. but I'm back to craving again.. sweets are of the devil..lol
  • gemdiver
    gemdiver Posts: 25 Member
    Options
    fitbit or any othe other similar tools that sync with MFP is the best option to track your steps but if thats not an option then search online for 'step calorie calculator' and you will find a number of sites that will tell you the calories burned that you can enter into MFP.

Categories