The Case for 10,000 Steps a Day

If you take 10,000 steps a day, you will lose weight. I know, I know. It sounds like a whole lot of walking. In fact, it actually takes an hour and a half of brisk walking to reach the target. The good news, though, is that it’s not as hard as it sounds. Getting your mindset right is probably the most difficult part. To help with that, think about the health benefits you will accrue, especially if you walk outdoors. Besides getting the blood pumping, it provides your lungs with the fresh air they crave, it tones your muscles, and it refreshes your skin, to say nothing about putting you in a more positive frame of mind. If you take 10,000 steps a day, you will lose weight. I know, I know. It sounds like a whole lot of walking. In fact, it actually takes an hour and a half of brisk walking to reach the target.

The good news, though, is that it’s not as hard as it sounds. Getting your mindset right is probably the most difficult part. To help with that, think about the health benefits you will accrue, especially if you walk outdoors. Besides getting the blood pumping, it provides your lungs with the fresh air they crave, it tones your muscles, and it refreshes your skin, to say nothing about putting you in a more positive frame of mind. Clearly, since walking is not as intensive as jogging, for example,you have to walk longer to burn the same number of calories. During 30 minutes of walking, you would normally take about 4,000 steps, and burn about 200 calories. If you want to lose weight, you should elevate your heart rate to the point that you burn fat.

But nobody’s telling you that you have to walk an hour and a half all at once. Think about taking a walk the first thing in the morning, another bit during your lunch break, and finish off after dinner. If you live close enough, you might think about walking to work and back.

I use my phone as a pedometer, carrying it in my back pocket so it’s more likely to recognize my steps than it would in my purse. You can buy a pedometer or fitbit or whatever. I like using my phone, because it keeps track of other health-related things, too, and logs steps and distance for me automatically, over time. I can check my progress any time I want to, and use the data it collects to tweak my routines.

I become more intentional about walking more, taking the stairs instead of the elevator, for example, parking at the far end of the lot, or walking to the grocery store when I just need a couple of items. As the number of steps in my routine increases day by day, my mindset becomes more positive and increased movement a good habit.

There are some tips I would share for your walking. They include building up your walking time gradually (my doggie, overweight and out of shape as I am, has ensured this in my practice), walking regularly (Sonya, my dog, has also helped with this. She is tail-wagging happy to get out first thing in the morning for our time together), wearing comfortable shoes (I made the mistake of wearing sandals one day, and ended up with blisters the next), maintain a fairly fast pace, so you don’t end up having to spend so very much time doing this thing, walk 30 to 90 minutes a day (I’m currently up to about 45 minutes), use good posture, and tense your abdominal muscles to train them, too. (I wear a somewhat tight-fitting shirt, which makes me aware of my “love handles” and encourages me to “suck in my gut” and trains my abdominal muscles), and probably more important than you realize, enjoy your walk! Look around, appreciate the birds singing and breathe the fresh air. You can make walking more pleasant by taking time to appreciate the sights and sounds around you. After a few weeks, you and others will notice that you feel–and look–more slender and healthy.

Walking rocks! It’s easy, free, and available to everybody. Besides that, it strengthens your heart, reducing your risk of heart disease and stroke. It lowers (bad) LDL cholesterol and increases the (good) HDL.

A brisk 30-minute walk every day helps to prevent and control the high blood pressure that causes strokes, and reduces the risk by as much as 27%. It lowers the risk of diseases like adult-onset diabetes by 60%, and colon, breast, or uterine cancer by 20%.

It also decreases the risk of dementia, tones up your body, and boosts Vitamin D, which affects bone health and immune system function. It boosts circulation and increases the oxygen supply to your body’s cells, giving your greater energy.

Finally, it boosts your feelings of well-being. It may just be that walking could replace antidepressants in treating mild to moderate cases of depression, because of the endorphins released during your walk. It reduces stress and anxiety.

I think I’ve made the case for walking. What more could you possibly ask for? You CAN do it!