Counting Steps

CDee · Post by **CDee** » Thu Jan 28, 2016 1:39 am

If you try to get more steps in the day please share your feelings.
Today I put in extra effort to get 5,000 steps. I wondered if this light exercise would really make a difference in the long run. I am aiming for more than 5,000, but I know that will require some creativity. I'll be honest, I am very stingy with my energy. If I can get results with less I will. I never do more than I need to. (That's probably known as laziness)

Merry · Post by **Merry** » Thu Jan 28, 2016 5:27 am

I haven't so far, though I've considered it at times. I try to take a walk daily (or if not a walk, to do something extra--the other day I cleaned out my closet which involved many trips up and down stairs).

However, I will say that after several weeks on NoS, I found I had more energy and actually WANTED to move more. It feels like kind of an upward spiral, if that makes sense. Maybe you'll experience something similar?

NoelFigart · Post by **NoelFigart** » Thu Jan 28, 2016 2:52 pm

Well, Urban Ranger (or some sort of exercise) is certainly encouraged in No-S.

Light exercise does help me some, but not necessarily for weight loss. Mood improvement, better sleep, more energy to do my day, oh yeah. But for weight loss, it needs to be at a minimum a good brisk walk for an hour or so. I'm naturally lazy as hell, and most of my hobbies and interests are incredibly sedentary, so I sympathize with that.

For me, the solution was to take up an extremely active hobby.

CDee · Post by **CDee** » Sat Jan 30, 2016 2:20 am

Thanks for the input. I am not sure about it. Would I be willing to count/track my steps everday for the next 10 years? Probably not. Perhaps I need to find an alternate activity.

CDee · Post by **CDee** » Sat Jan 30, 2016 2:36 am

Thanks for the input. I am not sure about it. Would I be willing to count/track my steps everday for the next 10 years? Probably not. Perhaps I need to find an alternate activity.

Merry · Post by **Merry** » Sat Jan 30, 2016 6:37 am

CDee wrote:Thanks for the input. I am not sure about it. Would I be willing to count/track my steps everday for the next 10 years? Probably not. Perhaps I need to find an alternate activity.

Would you need to, or would you just track periodically? I have a friend who tracked for awhile but then knew easily about what her range of steps was after awhile.

NoelFigart · Post by **NoelFigart** » Sun Jan 31, 2016 6:46 pm

For Urban Ranger, you count NUTTIN'. You just make a specific effort to walk as much as possible.

I did Urban Ranger for a while. My cutoff was that if it was less than a mile to whereever I needed to go, I would walk.

(This is going to show me as spoiled as all get out, by the way)

I live:

.25 miles from a FREE bus that goes to my office
.5 miles from: my gym, a small grocery store, city hall (I live in a small New England town), a bank, the post office, a library, a pet shop, an ice cream shop, 6 restuarants, and a traditional theater that will sometimes headline larger name shows.

But I also live in Northern New England. A half-mile walk is sometimes stretching comfort due to weather and I am a wuss. I drive to the gym, and I know that means I suck.

CDee · Post by **CDee** » Mon Feb 01, 2016 1:11 am

Noel, I wish I had so many things in walking distance.

And you don't suck. You are honest. All things are not for all people.

Merry · Post by **Merry** » Mon Feb 01, 2016 6:32 am

NoelFigart wrote:For Urban Ranger, you count NUTTIN'. You just make a specific effort to walk as much as possible.

I did Urban Ranger for a while. My cutoff was that if it was less than a mile to whereever I needed to go, I would walk.

(This is going to show me as spoiled as all get out, by the way)

I live:

.25 miles from a FREE bus that goes to my office
.5 miles from: my gym, a small grocery store, city hall (I live in a small New England town), a bank, the post office, a library, a pet shop, an ice cream shop, 6 restuarants, and a traditional theater that will sometimes headline larger name shows.

But I also live in Northern New England. A half-mile walk is sometimes stretching comfort due to weather and I am a wuss. I drive to the gym, and I know that means I suck.

LOL, I'll join you, I'm in the Midwest, and I know exactly what you mean! I DO walk (though less) in this weather, but only if the roads are clear & dry enough to walk (the sidewalks vary too much to trust them. I don't need to end up in the ER!)

We have no bus (except the senior bus, and I'm not there yet!), I'm over a mile to the downtown (City hall, PO, Library, theater), farther to most shopping I would do (except the health store, I do walk there), and I've only walked to the bank once (I use a cash envelope system for budgeting many items, and decided that wasn't the brightest time to walk...)

I walk and pray, but rarely walk to a destination.

Post by **reinhard** » Mon Feb 01, 2016 2:31 pm

A few months ago I discovered that my phone had been counting steps for me for about a year without my knowledge. A touch disconcerting and big-brotherish, but also (briefly) fascinating. I was comfortably in the 10K a day range (9545 average for the last year according to my check just now, if you want to be precise), and that was without any conscious effort or awareness, and without having the phone on me to count steps 100% of the time. I was also impressed with how accurately it registered flights of stairs climbed -- I was working on the 5th floor at the time and always "vertical urban rangered" so this was a respectable number, and it always matched my manual count when I checked.

That being said, the novelty wore off, and now I hardly look at it any more. It was useful as a quick sanity check of my behaviors, but that done I don't see the point of obsessing over it. I'm a little surprised there seems to be a whole industry sprouting around this. And why I would want yet another device to do what my phone is doing for me already is utterly beyond me.

catservant · Post by **catservant** » Mon Feb 01, 2016 10:17 pm

I have a fitbit activity tracker that I use. I do find that having a daily step goal really does make me move more. I have only missed my goal once since I got my tracker for Christmas. It can be a challenge some days when the weather is bad, but I have learned to be creative.

Merry · Post by **Merry** » Tue Feb 02, 2016 3:56 am

reinhard wrote:I'm a little surprised there seems to be a whole industry sprouting around this. And why I would want yet another device to do what my phone is doing for me already is utterly beyond me.

It's another form of a counting diet! Something to track so people feel like they are doing something productive, setting a daily goal that's measurable (and, added bonus, gadgets with buttons). Gadgets do have an appeal...

catservant · Post by **catservant** » Sat Feb 06, 2016 1:04 pm

No...it's not another form of a counting diet. It is a way to make sure I am not sedentary. Sitting at the computer can stretch into hours per day, and I use my tracker as a tool, nothing more. Maybe the gadgets aren't for everybody but certainly those of us who use them shouldn't be criticized for doing so.

Sarah-lara · Post by **Sarah-lara** » Sat Feb 06, 2016 5:22 pm

I like my Fitbit. I have their little one. After all these years, I know how many steps it is to various places around me (for instance, 5K round trip to the shopping center but 6K if I go into a bunch of stores, etc.)

I don't always carry my bulky phone, and I noticed the pedometer app I used to have (I know they have something built-in now with the iphone but this was before) would drain the batteries too fast whereas the newer Fitbits can go for 2+ weeks without charging.

I have a couple of people on my Fitbit page, but I guess I'm not very competitive because I tend not to look at their readings. If anybody cares about mine, they sure haven't said.

It's fun, say, when I'm doing something unusual like taking a day trip to NYC. I racked up over 20K that day. It's not so fun when I've done a particularly grueling, killer weights workout only to look down in the midst of a Biggest Loser Wheeze and see I did, like, 135 steps.

By the way, the Fitbit looooves hula hooping. Once you get the hang of hooping, you're practically standing still but that Fitbit is counting steps right and left. It's how I completed a full island on Wii's Walk it Out, the game that counts steps.

catservant · Post by **catservant** » Sat Feb 06, 2016 6:00 pm

I have a Fitbit also. I'm like you...I don't even look at the stats of the few "friends" I have there. I am just interested in staying active myself, not competing.

oolala53 · Post by **oolala53** » Sat Feb 06, 2016 9:38 pm

If you don't have a relatively easy way to fit walking in consistently, a counter can be very helpful. Habit theory says that recording the target bx success is useful. That said, once you get your routines down, or the feeling associated with more consistent movement, outside tracking probably becomes less important.

Glad a techie like Reinhard didn't know his phone was tracking! I discovered it on my new smart phone a couple of weeks in. Another reason it might have been good to triple my monthly phone costs... was thinking of buying a pedometer. Though the phone is a LOT more bulky.

I just read recently that weight loss is 80% diet and only about 20% exercise, if that. But exercise apparently contributes to maintaining losses. And it's even more correlated with longevity than body weight. As far as I know.

Merry · Post by **Merry** » Sun Feb 07, 2016 4:46 am

catservant wrote:No...it's not another form of a counting diet. It is a way to make sure I am not sedentary. Sitting at the computer can stretch into hours per day, and I use my tracker as a tool, nothing more. Maybe the gadgets aren't for everybody but certainly those of us who use them shouldn't be criticized for doing so.

Sorry, I wasn't actually trying to criticize (and I was sincere when I said gadgets have an appeal--I meant to me too!). When I counted calories, it gave me a sense of control over knowing what was enough and what was too much--and for awhile I really liked that. I just got tired of the process after awhile. Counting steps I think would do something similar, but also be something that would take time to keep up with--and I've seen people tire of that after awhile too (though I think counting steps with a gadget would be much easier than counting calories--not as hard to keep track of, but has that same kind of appeal of controlling something or motivating a certain type of action--that's why people do it). That's all I meant by it. There's nothing wrong with counting things (steps, calories etc...) and if someone can maintain it long-term--awesome! Or, if it helps someone get on the right track, then even if they stop counting but continue the same basic habits, it was still beneficial. (I actually use counting more in that way--I measure certain walks to see about how far they are rather than counting all steps in a day, but I have considered tracking steps in a day--I almost asked for a gadget for Christmas!)

Merry · Post by **Merry** » Sun Feb 07, 2016 4:47 am

Sarah-lara wrote:It's how I completed a full island on Wii's Walk it Out, the game that counts steps.

I've never tried that one, is it fun?

Sarah-lara · Post by **Sarah-lara** » Sun Feb 07, 2016 4:55 pm

I adore Wii Walk It Out so much that I bought a spare game when it got reissued, but I don't have a great place to play because I have downstairs neighbors. I hula-hooped on the Wii balance board (which isn't necessary to play the game) which kept the stomping noise down.

There is something fun about building up your little island with, say, a suspension bridge or a field of flowers with your earned points. I wound up losing close to 8 lbs the summer I played it, even though it wasn't much exercise for me using the hoop. I imagine it's just because I wanted to play rather than eat and watch TV.

I remember someone in a review thread for the game once said, "but I can just go for a walk outside and NOT have to listen to the Black Eyed Peas." LOL, so there is that.

Eventually I played so much that my hand would fly up to click on colorful things in the real world when I was walking my dog, like an orange landscaping flag. As if I would get points for them, ha ha.

You don't need to have a Fitbit or pedometer to play.