Is step tracking beneficial?
x_oh_x_oh
Posts: 7 Member
Do you think that tracking your steps has helped with any weight loss?
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Replies
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A lot of people find it immensely helpful. Personally, I don’t see the point. I exercise 5-6 days a week, lifting and cardio. I tried step tracking a while back and found it mostly annoying.6
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I find it fun to play with, but I don't know how useful it has been for me. I guess it does help me some. I found my baseline number of steps a day and now I have to make a plan to go up from there.
I have a friend who is an ultra-marathon runner and she thinks step trackers are hilarious! She runs for six hours/day several days a week.0 -
I thought I was pretty active until I got my first Fitbit and found I was barely getting 4k steps per day. Over time I've worked up to 8k+ and hope to get to 10k fairly regularly eventually and those extra steps have increased my NEAT. I find it motivating, that's pretty much how it's beneficial to me
I know it doesn't work like that for everyone though! 30 -
I thought I was pretty active until I got my first Fitbit and found I was barely getting 4k steps per day. Over time I've worked up to 8k+ and hope to get to 10k fairly regularly eventually and those extra steps have increased my NEAT. I find it motivating, that's pretty much how it's beneficial to me I know it doesn't work like that for everyone though!
Nice.
I have recently joined the ranks of wearable technology wearers. I am gradually increasing my step goal in hopes of pushing my own NEAT higher. I do notice that I can be "stepping" while in a chair but I must be fidgeting enough to get it counted and that works for me too. I don't believe any of it is enough yet to change anything calorie-wise but progress is progress.
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I enjoy it. It has made me aware of how much I do (or don't) move during my day. I have a sedentary job, and I use the hourly reminders to make me get up and move.
Plus my son (12 yrs) loves to compare steps and we challenge each other to do more.
It's not a necessity, and really doesn't affect my calorie targets at the moment, but that's okay. It's fun, and I was wanting a new watch anyway.8 -
I think it varies. My husband doesn't stop moving unless sleeping or sick. I am not that way. I need motivation. It keeps me moving, so for me, yes.3
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For me I think it has helped. I have a lot of weight to lose. By being aware of my step goals it encourages me to move more. This in turn gives me exercise calories, which allow me to indulge aliitle more while keeping my weight loss at around 2 pounds a week.3
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It has motivated me to move more. So it’s definitely worth it for me. I find the social aspect of Fitbit challenges me to move more than my friends and relatives. So that’s fun. I recently got a new device with the heart rate monitor and find the data for cardio fitness and the sleep data fun to dig around in too.1
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I thought I was pretty active until I got my first Fitbit and found I was barely getting 4k steps per day. Over time I've worked up to 8k+ and hope to get to 10k fairly regularly eventually and those extra steps have increased my NEAT. I find it motivating, that's pretty much how it's beneficial to me I know it doesn't work like that for everyone though!
this! me too!2 -
It was more important when I started than it is now. I used to very closely track my daily steps in the early days but as I've gotten more experienced at managing my weight it's kind of fallen off the radar somewhat and is something that I only glance at in passing now.
In the end step tracking is just another arrow in your weight management quiver. It is information that is available to you should you need it. If you're successfully meeting your goals without tracking steps then tracking them probably isn't going to help much, if however the progress has slowed, stopped, or even reversed then tracking your steps might be hugely helpful in identifying an unnoticed decline in daily activity which you haven't accounted for with a corresponding calorie target reduction.7 -
A lot of people find it immensely helpful. Personally, I don’t see the point. I exercise 5-6 days a week, lifting and cardio. I tried step tracking a while back and found it mostly annoying.
Me too. On both of the bold points. I'm posting because this was like a poll, and you're not the only person who feels this way.
My step goal is too not trip.
My bike goal is 100 miles per week.
Hitting my strap goal every day would have to mean riding less or skipping the gym. Counterproductive.
And I think that's the pattern. If you already exercise, step tracking probably won't appeal to you. If not, it could be your gateway drug.5 -
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In my opinion it can be helpful particularly if you're not sure of your activity level. We see it on the forums all the time here that people are hungry because they've set themselves to Sedentary and the highest rate of loss, but when digging deeper they'll say they are doing 8000 steps per day, which even if they are in an office job is far from sedentary.
Also if your day-to-day non-exercise activity varies greatly then it can be useful to ensure you're fueling that activity correctly over time.
If however you're doing the same activity pretty much day-in/day-out then I don't think it's really that beneficial unless you're a number geek like me, who just likes seeing the data.
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If you do nothing all day and have the time to walk 5 miles daily...that's great...but most people will struggle with that...and the 10,000 steps has been proven to be an arbitrary figure plucked out of thin air for the purposes of marketing step counters in the first place...so I like others have gone through the motions of having a step tracker...because it was a thing...and I haven't used it in about a year...because constant use meant having to charge it every fortnight...and I very rarely achieved the golden goose of 10,000 steps! I think I did it once when we were at a rock festival walking from the campsite to the arena every day equated to about 5 miles! Dr Michael Moseley a proponent for reversing diabetes is against it also:
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=14&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwiy8Kne1p_iAhWbQxUIHZnoD40QFjANegQIAhAB&url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-42864061&usg=AOvVaw2uEES2c7whXn1fVHqjyFmG
The only useful function was the sleep analysis...I took notice of that more than the walking to be honest...8 -
For me it’s a great motivator to get me to move more. I’ve had a Fitbit for 6 years now.
I can see why very active people find them unnecessary, and annoying, but for those of us that may need a push to be more active, they are very useful, and motivating.5 -
If you do nothing all day and have the time to walk 5 miles daily...that's great...but most people will struggle with that...and the 10,000 steps has been proven to be an arbitrary figure plucked out of thin air for the purposes of marketing step counters in the first place...so I like others have gone through the motions of having a step tracker...because it was a thing...and I haven't used it in about a year...because constant use meant having to charge it every fortnight...and I very rarely achieved the golden goose of 10,000 steps! I think I did it once when we were at a rock festival walking from the campsite to the arena every day equated to about 5 miles! Dr Michael Moseley a proponent for reversing diabetes is against it also:
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=14&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwiy8Kne1p_iAhWbQxUIHZnoD40QFjANegQIAhAB&url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-42864061&usg=AOvVaw2uEES2c7whXn1fVHqjyFmG
The only useful function was the sleep analysis...I took notice of that more than the walking to be honest...
I don't think that's really true, I work a desk job 9-5 Mon - Fri and even on days I drive in, I can easily clock up 8,000 steps, which is about 4 miles. If I go out for a walk on my lunch break 5 miles is quite easy.
Also think the 10000 steps thing has been around long before step counters became such a big thing, my first step counter was a little clip on the waistband that cost £2 and that was 20 years ago, the 10000 steps thing was a recommendation back then too because it roughly equates to about an hour of walking/running a day.
I don't think someone who is doing no activity a day should initially set out to achieve 10,000 per day, just like I wouldn't expect someone who's done no running to start out by doing a 5km run. It's something to build up to over time.
Michael Moseley trained as a psychiatrist, before ditching it for journalism and advocates VLCDs, so I wouldn't really be taking anything he says about fitness or nutrition to heart.
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I used a Fitbit for 4 years, went through 3 of them in that time and then when the last one gave up I ditched it. Turns out I don't need a gadget to keep me active, it comes naturally to me even with a desk job. The last time I tracked my steps via mobile for a week I was still averaging 11k in normal day to day activity. Its a personal thing, if it motivates someone to move more then its a good idea.
(I've been in maintenance almost 6 years)3 -
If you do nothing all day and have the time to walk 5 miles daily...that's great...but most people will struggle with that.
Whoa there, way to overgeneralize. It's almost like you're trying to shame people who get in a lot of steps. I don't get in 10,000 steps daily; I get in 15,000 to 25,000 depending on the day. I exercise six days a week, have a full time job in which I'm constantly on my feet, and I'm active a good portion of the day. I would call that far from doing nothing all day. Even if someone gets in 500 steps for the day, are they doing nothing? Maybe they have a desk job, maybe they aren't able-bodied, or maybe they just don't feel like moving much that day. Let's reserve judgment based on how many steps one does or does not get in a day because everyone is different.
Anyway, I still wear my Fitbit even though I technically don't have to. However, it was because of my Fitbit that I realized exactly how much I'm allowed to eat. I'm 5'3" and 110 pounds but my TDEE is 2100 to 2300 calories on average, sometimes even more calories than that. The diet world usually tells women they have to eat so little to lose weight and even to maintain their weight, 2000 calories is seen as "so much food" when really, it's not. It's because of tracking my steps and everything else that I was able to see that. I would have been undereating otherwise and making necessary adjustments would have taken far longer without my Fitbit.
In any case, as I stated earlier, everyone is different. Some people find it motivating, some people find the data useful, some people don't, and some people couldn't care less. All of those are valid ways to feel about it.11 -
tinkerbellang83 wrote: »
Also think the 10000 steps thing has been around long before step counters became such a big thing, my first step counter was a little clip on the waistband that cost £2 and that was 20 years ago
Just done a bit more research into it and the 10,000 steps recommendation came from Japanese research in the 1960s so definitely before FitBit became popular.
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I am not sure if it helps with my progress of losing weight, but I use it as a way of getting up and getting active. I generally exercise 5-7 days depending on weather and hubby's work schedule. So if I don't exercise, I try to get steps in but not always the case. On a good day get over 10,000 steps on a bad day only over 2,00-3,000. So if id doesn't help with weight loss it motivates me to be more active.0
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I don't keep track of my steps, but I keep track of my daily fitness walking miles.
I love to exercise so I don't need the motivation, but I enjoy working towards fitness goals, I love seeing my numbers go up every year, the extra movement makes me feel great and I love the results.
Plus I'm sedentary outside of exercise, so working towards a weekly mile goal gives me inspiration to get in extra walks at lunch, walk/run in place while watching TV, go an extra mile or two or three on my long walks etc. It really adds up!
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That depends, are you the type of person who is going to challenge yourself to beat yesterdays count or reach your goal? Then it could be. If not, then no.0
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not for weight loss. I have had mine thru the weight gain too
then the loss.
10,000 thing was also around back when people had good old school pedometers. it's just a random goal to get people moving, really the point is to move MORE than what you previously did.1 -
It sure made a difference to me. In the beginning of the fitbit craze I thought it was silly then I bought a Garmin because it was cheaper at the time and was amazed that it kept me motivated to move more. Ultimately it has helped me to walk alot more which is the only exercise I used to lose 100 lbs.7
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I have a desk job and step tracking does encourage me to take a lunchtime walk or print on another floor.
Anything that encourages more NEAT activity is incredibly useful, but personally, I would never rely on my steps as my sole form of exercise.
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Yes.... Imho... it has been shown ,in SOME studies, NEAT slows with weight loss. Step counts devices can be used to make sure you keep NEAT up.7
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I wear a pedometer, as in, thats all it does, counts my steps. Inexpensive and easy to wear, simple to implement.
I wear one because I can have anywhere from 5 or 6,000 steps to 27 or 28,000 steps a day. I have to fuel myself well, so on days my steps are high that means a lot more calories! Over a week, if its a high step week, I could be severely depleting myself, or I could make myself fat if I were to eat to fuel 28,000 a day and only actually be walking 5,000.
I use a pedometer because I don't seem to notice the difference between 5,000 and 20,000 steps a day, time goes by anyway. I log steps every night in a notebook and average the totals every 10 days or so so I can eat accordingly.
I agree, not every one needs to be so attentive to their step count, it could become unhealthily obsessive!4 -
Yep although I don't think it was specifically the tool, more the information it provided. I never realized how very little I was actually active during the day. Seeing it now pushes me to be more active.0
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I work in an office where it is very easy to get too busy to get up to get a drink, go to the bathroom, or even eat lunch. Watching my steps is more a way to make sure that I am getting up and doing something during the day. I don't have a magic number I go for. When I first started, it did help as I was really beyond sedentary and working my step count up was beneficial. I was not at a point where I was going to be able to do any exercise for any amount of time that was going to really help get me into shape. Now that I am able to exercise longer periods of time, I am not focusing much on the steps anymore.1
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