Step to It!

by Megan

As a challenge to myself to increase my daily activity I have dusted off my pedometer and started wearing it again. Good thing too - I thought I was walking around much more than I really was. Thank goodness I exercise most days or I would never make my goal just walking around work and home.

For those of you that don’t already know, the daily goal is 10,000 steps, which is roughly the equivalent of 5 miles. Who the heck came up with that magical number? The man behind 10,000 steps is Dr. Yoshiro Hatano from Japan. In the 1960s, he found out that most people walked maybe 5,000 steps a day and figured they would be leaner if they upped their steps to 10,000. The websites 10,000 Steps USA and Walking 10,000.org both have great information on this. Yesterday, I walked for a bit at lunch and squeezed in a stroll after dinner. Those walks, mixed with my normal daily movement helped me reach my 10,000 step goal.  

If you have a pedometer but haven’t used it in a while I encourage you to bring it out again. It’s a nice tool to remind you to move more. If you don’t have one I recommend purchasing one. I have gotten a few questions on what pedometers to use and how much to spend on them. Honestly though, I just bought an inexpensive one at Target and it seems to work just fine. I’m sure it’s off by a few steps but it has got me moving more and that was my goal. For those who want more information on more accurate pedometers, this article may help.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go out for a walking meeting with some coworkers. Happy stepping!



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