Measure Your Steps

Many things in life can be measured out in simple steps. This chapter looks at a side of losing weight that is not often thought about but can be a powerful part of your strategy. I’m talking about another kind of steps, walking! Walking is something everyone does, but it is so taken for granted that we often don’t realize the potential.

We all walk, at least those of us who have a life away from the sofa and the TV, but we often don’t have any idea just how much walking we do each day. Knowing that can be a helpful addition to the reduction of our waistlines because walking is a form of light exercise and exercise burns calories.

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So if you were to have a very good idea how much you walked every day, you could extend that amount to ensure more calories are burned each day. The best way to do that is to buy a pedometer.

That will give you a pretty accurate tally of the number of steps you take each day. What you want to aim for is around 10,000 steps per day if possible. When you multiply that total by your average stride length, you can work out how many miles you actually walk each day. A rough average is about 5 miles for 10,000 steps although that really depends on your own personal stride length.

You can see the obvious benefits of knowing this figure. It can form a part of your daily exercise routine without you feeling like you are doing anything extra or out of the ordinary. This is a good way of conditioning yourself to get a good daily ration of exercise without the implied extra work, making it very desirable for people who dislike doing regular exercises or exercise routines in a gym.

When you get into this way of doing things, you can then make a point of walking a little faster or with a little more determination than usual, which will bring additional benefits in fitness levels and the number of calories burned throughout the day.