When the Pedometer spits out a count way below your estimate!

I recently received a pedometer for my birthday!  I borrowed my son's a year ago for a few days and was impressed that I was over 14,000 steps per day.  I seem to recall, however, that it was a busy week with a lot of walking kids to and from school mixed with more up and down stairs doing laundry, making meals, cleaning toilets, etc.  Satisfied that I was accomplishing the adult recommendation of 10,000 steps per day, I presumptuously returned the pedometer.  It has since disappeared into the abyss of lost toys and gadgets.

Upon receiving my new pedometer, I was convinced that I would have no problem attaining 10,000 steps per day.  Much to my dismay, I discovered that during my 8 hour work day I am typically reaching only 3,000 to 5,000 steps!  Yikes!  That leaves a lot of steps to accomplish outside of my work day.  Despite my best efforts, I did not achieve my 10,000 step goal 3 out of 7 days.

I found Dr. Sharma's Obesity Notes post on "Why Sports and Exercise are Barely Relevant and What Really counts is Occupational and Household Activity" timely and interesting.  He states that we need to create "active buildings" similar to the more mainstream concept of "environmentally conscious buildings".  These buildings would encourage physical activity when at work .

I challenge you to discover your day to day pedometer count.  Like me, it may not be as high as you think! It will likely be years before our buildings are designed to promote activity.  At present, being aware of your daily count will help you tweak your daily exercise goals.  Having a weekly goal of 70,000 steps may be more attainable than a daily goal of 10,0000 steps.  Going for a walk at lunchtime may work best for you.  Maybe your answer is some extra laps around the kitchen island at the end of the day?  One day this week, I required 603 laps around the island to meet my goal.  I fell short by 598 laps but was motivated to do better the next day.

For me, my pedometer count equates to "knowledge is power".  It is one means for attaining a healthier lifestyle.