10k steps a day are not enough
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I get a minimum of 10k steps during my commute and lunchbreak, which for me is around 4 miles. Eating at a modest deficit, very little other exercise, 33lbs down so far. I get a good couple of hundred calories out of my 10k steps. I don't walk to lose, I walk to ensure that I maintain a reasonable level of activity around my desk job.1
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I am also a special sort of snowflake! Started just after Christmas, 10k steps a day using my misfit shine, calories limited to 1200 by weighing and counting food here, down 13lb in just over a month, an inch of each thigh and off my hips,. Sure seems to be working for me!0
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I am also a special sort of snowflake! Started just after Christmas, 10k steps a day using my misfit shine, calories limited to 1200 by weighing and counting food here, down 13lb in just over a month, an inch of each thigh and off my hips,. Sure seems to be working for me!
Of course you're going to lose weight at 1200 calories a day1 -
10,000 steps a day burns about 430 or so calories for me. If I didn't eat those back I'd be loosing close to a pound a week.0
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Does your stride length change that significantly with pace of walking? @L_Master
Not within a reasonable range. I.e. if I am doing uninterrupted walking I primarily seem to control speed from cadence. "Default" if I'm outside walking is right in at 3.5mph, at roughly 120 spm (7,200/hr). which is 2' 6.7" stride length. If I walk at 4mph briskly I get there by upping cadence towards 130, and if I walk along slower cadence drops a bit.
Where it gets different is for much of the steps an activity tracker measures, which is moving around casually on the job or around the house. When I'm moving around like this, I often have a slightly different gait that feel less hip driven and more 'ambling', and using this stride I've noticed individual strides are about 20-30% shorter.
I tend to play it safe, going with the lower estimate of distance traveled per step, unless I know I did a significant amount of regular walking, in which case I use the midpoint.
So how can you say steps impacts on distance travelled to that extent? eg ambling along to walking at pace doubles the distance travelled
not being picky just confused
I think it is a time/distance comparison?
With speed of walking one tends to shorten steps, more steps are used to cover the same distance in a shorter time.
When I started training for a 10k my speed couldn't increase until I learnt how to shorten my step accordingly. I was verging on shin splints trying to do my natural stride at a 4-4.5mph pace. It was fine for 3-3.5.
My stride almost halves with speed and is just over my foot length. (Short legs, small feet)
So ambling along gives me nearly double the distance I travel for the same number of steps when taken at a fast pace.
The amble will obviously take a longer time though.
Cheers, h.0 -
callsitlikeiseeit wrote: »you lose weight in the kitchen.
you exercise for fitness.
amen0 -
singingflutelady wrote: »I am also a special sort of snowflake! Started just after Christmas, 10k steps a day using my misfit shine, calories limited to 1200 by weighing and counting food here, down 13lb in just over a month, an inch of each thigh and off my hips,. Sure seems to be working for me!
Of course you're going to lose weight at 1200 calories a day
But that's the point many are trying to bring up. That whether 10k is enough steps will depend heavily on how much you are eating.mostafa1975 wrote: »Take care. 10k steps a day may be not enough to create calorie deficit.
I have done even 15k steps with low pace without exercise and measure the total burned calories in a day by jawbone up3 and surprisingly I didn't reach even the default estimation by MFP.
Other days I made less steps but with some exercises and I passed my estimation.
OP - what did you set as your default activity level with MFP? I have mine set to sedentary. I don't use a FitBit but I typically get about 10k steps (per my phone) if I only walk, or about 17k steps if I go for a run later. Out of those 10k steps, about 8k are a deliberate 3 mile walk so I get about 300 calories for that. I agree if I had set my baseline activity level to 'lightly active' then I shouldn't be giving myself an additional 300 calories for walking. But maybe folks have their activity level set too high.1 -
Yes you lose weight in the kitchen but every additional calorie you burn is another penny in the jar. Not much when you look at it but over time it does add up. I did really well when I would run in the mornings and walk in the afternoon before dinner. Just not sure if it was the walking or the delay stating cocktails.0
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10k is a good minimum daily goal0
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No exercise is going to help with weight loss if your diet isn't in order. I've been maintaining going on three years and I cycle 80-100 miles per week and lift 3x per week and walk my dog 3-4 times per week and take my kids out on weekends for day hikes and recreational bike rides, etc...and I'm maintaining...because I'm eating an amount that is appropriate for maintaining.
Exercise and general activity are great for your health and they can make weight management easier...but it still all really comes down to how much you're eating.1 -
I think the point of using a pedometer type device and trying to get 10,000 steps isn't useful as a goal unless you know how many steps you normally get and increase that amount by quite a bit.
If you normally get 5,000 or less steps then getting 10,000 is a great goal. If you normally get 9,000 steps then 10,000 for your goal is not going to do much for you. You should probably be trying for 18,000 or so.
http://www.prevention.com/fitness/fitness-tips/walking-pedometer-program-lose-weight
That article says you should aim to increase your current steps by 7,500 after tracking your normal activity for 3 days.0 -
mostafa1975 wrote: »Totally right. Anyway 10k is better than nothing.
Just warning people who is planning to loose weight using that only. This is not going to help.
I disagree. It won't magically cause weight loss if you overeat, but any additional movement may help.0 -
I think that's pretty good information, though I'm not convinced that (aside from helping with weight loss) there's much health benefits from increasing steps above a certain point (especially well over 10k.)I think the point of using a pedometer type device and trying to get 10,000 steps isn't useful as a goal unless you know how many steps you normally get and increase that amount by quite a bit.
If you normally get 5,000 or less steps then getting 10,000 is a great goal. If you normally get 9,000 steps then 10,000 for your goal is not going to do much for you. You should probably be trying for 18,000 or so.
http://www.prevention.com/fitness/fitness-tips/walking-pedometer-program-lose-weight
That article says you should aim to increase your current steps by 7,500 after tracking your normal activity for 3 days.0 -
cwolfman13 wrote: »No exercise is going to help with weight loss if your diet isn't in order. I've been maintaining going on three years and I cycle 80-100 miles per week and lift 3x per week and walk my dog 3-4 times per week and take my kids out on weekends for day hikes and recreational bike rides, etc...and I'm maintaining...because I'm eating an amount that is appropriate for maintaining.
Exercise and general activity are great for your health and they can make weight management easier...but it still all really comes down to how much you're eating.
This.
I exercise about 45-60 minutes everyday and not just walking. But I overate consistently last year and gained 10lbs. I exercise because I enjoy it. But if your eating isn't under control you will still gain weight.0 -
What is all this about calories only being controlled through food? you can perfectly well create your deficit with the food AND exercise. If you effectively burn 250 calories working out and have a deficit of 250 in your food intake, there's your 500 calories deficit.
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mostafa1975 wrote: »Take care. 10k steps a day may be not enough to create calorie deficit.
I have done even 15k steps with low pace without exercise and measure the total burned calories in a day by jawbone up3 and surprisingly I didn't reach even the default estimation by MFP.
Other days I made less steps but with some exercises and I passed my estimation.
I only do about 6000, that's why I use mfp... it gives you a deficit before exercise0 -
callsitlikeiseeit wrote: »you lose weight in the kitchen.
you exercise for fitness.
I see this quite often, both points are half true. You absolutely can lose weight through exercise, that is undeniable. You also contribute to health and fitness in the kitchen. Weight loss is an equation between two data points, intake and expenditure. Where one lands in between the two points is a personal choice. Some people prefer more work and more/different/calorie dense foods. Some people prefer less work and less food. One can be perfectly fit and healthy with either path as long as the get adequate exercise and proper nutrition. I don't really "disagree", this just isn't the whole story.1 -
I read an article recently that stated that the use of pedometers could actually be making us fatter. (Can't remember where I read it, I read a lot, but it makes sense).
All of our devices tell us that they are accurately measuring calorie expenditure (unless you read the small print), but the truth, of course, is that they are not, they are trying hard, but we are all different shapes and sizes, we have different body shapes and stride lengths etc.
The key is that you DO NOT believe everything that your device tells you and eat back those calories. the premise of the article was that all these people that received a new fitbit (or whatever) for Christmas were happily stating that they had "burned and extra xxx calories" and promptly allowed themselves an ice-cream/burger/beer etc.
My own view is similar to most above.
I use my Apple Watch, I try to get to at least 10,000 steps a day, I aim for at least an additional 1000 calories from movement and I IGNORE IT COMPLETELY from a diet point of view.
If I go to the gym, ride a bike, hit the treadmill as an EXTRA exercise, I count it and may eat back 50%. More often than not, I will not.
I am working on the assumption that if I continue this way, I am getting additional calories in the minus column and a healthier outlook from the additional walking.2 -
I take my TDEE (that I have calculated over the course of a year) and set my calorie intake to be X amount below it. Then I moderate my steps to increase/decrease my weekly deficit.0
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