10,000 Steps or not?

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  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
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    Totally worth it IMO. I honestly burn much more calories if I try to be active all day and reach those 10k steps on top of whatever I do at the gym (especially lifting... it really doesn't burn that many calories) than if I just do one hour of treadmill/spinning then sit on my butt all day.
  • MelanieCN77
    MelanieCN77 Posts: 4,047 Member
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    I wasn't being snobby. If I ate those Fitbit calories back I wouldn't lose, so that tells me something about the calories out not quite being correct.
  • fitmom4lifemfp
    fitmom4lifemfp Posts: 1,575 Member
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    MelanieCN77 wrote: »
    Firstly I agree that being more active even just be getting up and walking around a little is better than not BUT as this is in the General Diet and Weight Loss area of the boards, in that sense I want to agree with TeaBea that getting 10k steps over the 16 or so hours or so a day you are up and about will have negligible effect on your calories out.

    10K steps over the *very few hours* that I am up and about (8 hours at a desk, 8 hours in bed, 1 hour sitting in a car) absolutely makes a difference in MY calories out.
  • inertiastrength
    inertiastrength Posts: 2,343 Member
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    fitmom4lifemfp wrote: »
    MelanieCN77 wrote: »
    Firstly I agree that being more active even just be getting up and walking around a little is better than not BUT as this is in the General Diet and Weight Loss area of the boards, in that sense I want to agree with TeaBea that getting 10k steps over the 16 or so hours or so a day you are up and about will have negligible effect on your calories out.

    10K steps over the *very few hours* that I am up and about (8 hours at a desk, 8 hours in bed, 1 hour sitting in a car) absolutely makes a difference in MY calories out.

    Mine too, I find it's pretty accurate

  • crooked_left_hook
    crooked_left_hook Posts: 364 Member
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    I have my activity set to 'lightly active' in MFP and 10,000 steps of gets me about 250 extra calories to play with. That's a beer, a treat, or a little extra cushion for the weekend. Sometimes those steps come from random walking on a busy day, sometimes from a short run on the treadmill. Either way the extra wiggle room is worth the effort.
  • MelanieCN77
    MelanieCN77 Posts: 4,047 Member
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    fitmom4lifemfp wrote: »
    MelanieCN77 wrote: »
    Firstly I agree that being more active even just be getting up and walking around a little is better than not BUT as this is in the General Diet and Weight Loss area of the boards, in that sense I want to agree with TeaBea that getting 10k steps over the 16 or so hours or so a day you are up and about will have negligible effect on your calories out.

    10K steps over the *very few hours* that I am up and about (8 hours at a desk, 8 hours in bed, 1 hour sitting in a car) absolutely makes a difference in MY calories out.

    Your very few hours versus piecemeal over a whole day was the point I was making.
  • 1234newman
    1234newman Posts: 31 Member
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    Reading up on real research, as far as walking exercise is concerned, 30mins at a fair-paced walk ie., faster than walking the dog and every two days delivers the optimal health value for effort. Add more distance and the gains plateau off.

    However, for optimal health benefit, the order of priority is:

    *Number one and by far the best, plenty of happy friendships and family; and,

    Number 2, losing any overweight is vastly superior to anything else (excluding giving up smoking).

    I try to do 9,000 plus steps a day, or 45-60 mins walk. Otherwise, I am less than sedentary :( which is not how humans evolved.

    *watch http://www.ted.com/talks/robert_waldinger_what_makes_a_good_life_lessons_from_the_longest_study_on_happiness#t-754995
  • 1234newman
    1234newman Posts: 31 Member
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    That study I quoted worries me. Because over the years with work and family dominating I found myself without a close group of friends. That probably didn't help with weight too.

    How I remedy that in retirement is my present problem, along with losing weight and getting some uni study going for interest.
  • nowine4me
    nowine4me Posts: 3,985 Member
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    Unless you're crazy busy and sacrificing other critical activities to get your steps in, why not? It's pretty easy if you spread it out and a great way to enjoy the outdoors. 20 mins in the morning at lunch and an evening dog walk usually does it for me.
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
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    1234newman wrote: »
    That study I quoted worries me. Because over the years with work and family dominating I found myself without a close group of friends. That probably didn't help with weight too.

    How I remedy that in retirement is my present problem, along with losing weight and getting some uni study going for interest.

    I would have thought having a close group of friends would promote weight gain.. More friends equal more socialising, equal more eating and drinking.
  • fitmom4lifemfp
    fitmom4lifemfp Posts: 1,575 Member
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    MelanieCN77 wrote: »
    fitmom4lifemfp wrote: »
    MelanieCN77 wrote: »
    Firstly I agree that being more active even just be getting up and walking around a little is better than not BUT as this is in the General Diet and Weight Loss area of the boards, in that sense I want to agree with TeaBea that getting 10k steps over the 16 or so hours or so a day you are up and about will have negligible effect on your calories out.

    10K steps over the *very few hours* that I am up and about (8 hours at a desk, 8 hours in bed, 1 hour sitting in a car) absolutely makes a difference in MY calories out.

    Your very few hours versus piecemeal over a whole day was the point I was making.

    I don't get your point though. 5 miles for me, is about 500 calories. If I didn't bother, it would be easy to go home with less than 2k steps. That's quite difference, calorie-wise. Over a week, that's the difference between losing a pound and NOT losing a pound.
  • spiffychick85
    spiffychick85 Posts: 311 Member
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    I love hitting at least 10k steps a day...I'm a teacher so I hit 7k before I even get home for the evening. Honestly though some of these responses have me wondering...is it a waste of my time? If I pace around my house for the evening to get those last 3k steps...do they not "count" as exercise? I don't plan on giving up on it at the moment. My fit bit estimates CO is 2200....I honestly eat between 1300-1500 so I figure I'm at a deficit regardless.
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
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    I wonder if it makes a difference how you get those 10,000 steps? Slowly shuffling about all day or purposeful intense walking. I would think the latter would be more beneficial. .. or no?
  • mlinci
    mlinci Posts: 403 Member
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    I do 10-12k steps a day and earn betweeen 400-550 extra calories for that. So that makes an enourmous difference to my TDEE, from 1600 to over 2000. I'm a 5'5 woman, current weight just over 140.
    This was particularly important to me when I was losing 1lb per week - difference between eating 1100 per day (not recommended) and eating about 1600 per day. Massive difference.
  • MelanieCN77
    MelanieCN77 Posts: 4,047 Member
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    Christine_72 wrote: »
    I wonder if it makes a difference how you get those 10,000 steps? Slowly shuffling about all day or purposeful intense walking. I would think the latter would be more beneficial. .. or no?

    That's what I figure but I think it's different horses for different courses. Everything we'll hear is anecdotal from both sides, unless there's long term data out there somewhere.

    For the record, why I hold this opinion: I used Fitbit in the past, then changed to an Apple Watch. I recently started wearing both and comparing, with only the AW linked to MFP. MFP has a quirk whereby it'll give me step calories it gets from iOS but as soon as I log a workout it will take them away for the day, even if they were earned at a totally different time than the workout (it's not negative calories, just a software bug). It was never a ton, 40 or 50 tops, so I let it be and figure if it was a real thing it'd roll into my deficit and be helpful. Now I am within 5lbs of my weight goal and boy has my loss rate slowed. If I were to look at Fitbit right now it would have more calories for me than AW/MFP tells me as it is still counting those casual steps that the MFP/AW bug takes away, which is what has worked for me for 8 months now, I'm down 30lbs, not excessively fast at all. Today Fitbit has about 175 more cals that it says I earned with those steps. Every day I have a couple hundred extra deficit calories I am not paying attention to? Why am I not losing as much as such a deficit would imply? Because that casual steps to calories isn't accurate. Not for me.

    Like I said I wasn't being snobby, I have data that bears it out for me. Obviously some of you here have different experience but I think everyone should consider both ideas as it might become relevant somewhere down the line when you really have to tighten up to get the last leg done.
  • no44s4me
    no44s4me Posts: 73 Member
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    Christine_72 wrote: »
    I wonder if it makes a difference how you get those 10,000 steps? Slowly shuffling about all day or purposeful intense walking. I would think the latter would be more beneficial. .. or no?

    My adjustments on days when I just arbitrarily log 10K versus days when I purposefully rack up the steps seem to be lower. I found this article one day about the impact of getting 3000 purposeful steps:
    http://commons.lib.jmu.edu/master201019/404/

    Maybe it has some merit, but to me there's no holy step grail. I think just being more active is better than sitting all the time which is what my life lends itself to be. 2 years of TDEE data from FitBit bears out that maybe it does overestimates my daily burn, but I just adjust the MPF number to compensate. No big deal, I think most people overthink the pursuit of the magical TDEE number. I think it's just a range for most people, and hard as hell to nail down exactly.
  • Keapix
    Keapix Posts: 92 Member
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    MelanieCN77 wrote: »
    I wasn't being snobby. If I ate those Fitbit calories back I wouldn't lose, so that tells me something about the calories out not quite being correct.

    I have my goals set to a 1/2 lb loss per week, but if I don't eat my Fitbit calories back I lose around 2 lb per week. If I eat some back I lose around 1lb per week.
  • 1234newman
    1234newman Posts: 31 Member
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    Christine_72 wrote: »
    1234newman wrote: »
    That study I quoted worries me. Because over the years with work and family dominating I found myself without a close group of friends. That probably didn't help with weight too.

    How I remedy that in retirement is my present problem, along with losing weight and getting some uni study going for interest.

    I would have thought having a close group of friends would promote weight gain.. More friends equal more socialising, equal more eating and drinking.

    Hi Christine,
    The doctor told me that while being a carer (plus regular work too) I had fallen into the habit of eating a lot at the end of the day and calorie dense for convenience because I didn't feel like making myself a regular meal and not so much in the am and lunch, where coffee often sufficed.

    When the birds flew the nest and I moved too (ceased the carer role), however I continued the habit/practice of not getting out much - no friends. But friends give you the reason and opportunity to get about and keep active and busy. So I am now trying to correct that for good reasons. I hope that explains it.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
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    Christine_72 wrote: »
    1234newman wrote: »
    That study I quoted worries me. Because over the years with work and family dominating I found myself without a close group of friends. That probably didn't help with weight too.

    How I remedy that in retirement is my present problem, along with losing weight and getting some uni study going for interest.

    I would have thought having a close group of friends would promote weight gain.. More friends equal more socialising, equal more eating and drinking.

    No lie. I gained 5 lbs last year because I see my friends every week end!
    Christine_72 wrote: »
    I wonder if it makes a difference how you get those 10,000 steps? Slowly shuffling about all day or purposeful intense walking. I would think the latter would be more beneficial. .. or no?

    I actually burn more calories for the same amount of steps if I have an active day at home than if I use the treadmill for an hour then sit the rest of the day. Something about having my heart rate elevated for most of the day I guess? (I use a fitbit charge 2).

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