10,000 Steps to Good Health |
Choosing an Active Lifestyle |
Health and fitness researchers are finding that people can achieve health benefits by exercising at a less intense level than previously thought. In other words, someone who is sedentary most of the day but who jogs over the lunch hour may expend as much cumulative energy as someone who is active the entire day.
Two recent studies published in the Journal of the American Medical Association have confirmed that this lifestyle approach can be as effective as a traditional exercise program. Many doctors and researchers have found that wearing a pedometer is a great way to track your daily activity — and inspire you to move more on days you have been sedentary.
To achieve good health, strive to take 10,000 steps a day (the equivalent of walking roughly five miles). A person who walks 10,000 steps a day will burn between 2,000 and 3,500 extra calories per week, which will result in achieving a vastly better health profile and longer lifespan.
|
Walking as a Means of Losing Weight |
If your goal is to lose weight, start slow and gradually work yourself up to walking 12,000 to 15,000 steps a day. Small changes can lead to successful weight loss. Walking is a great way to lose weight — and keep it off.
Remember a lifestyle change is healthier than a temporary fad. Whether your goal is to achieve good health or to lose weight, put your pedometer on when you dress in the morning, and don't take it off until bedtime (unless, of course, you take a shower somewhere in between). Every step you take throughout your day counts!
PLEASE CHECK WITH YOUR PHYSICIAN BEFORE STARTING ANY EXERCISE PROGRAM
|
Tips To Increase Activity |
Keep a pair of walking shoes in car or office
At home and in your neighborhood
· Take a walk with your family or with a friend
· Take the dog for a walk
· Walk around the block each time you go to your mailbox
· Don’t use the car for short trips
· Do housework at a fast pace
· Rake leaves or do other yard work
· Pick up litter for your neighborhood, favorite roadside area or park
· Bad weather? Walk the mall, the school gym or a treadmill
Leisure time
· Swap TV time for walking time
· Walk by yourself or with a friend
· Take a walk with your children/grandchildren
· Walk into the bank or restaurant instead of using the drive-in window
· Take a walk while waiting for your doctor’s appointment or for a restaurant table
· Park further away from your destinations
· Try to have some ACTIVE leisure everyday
At work
· Get up and talk to people instead of using email/phone
· Get up and move every 30 minutes
· Go to coffee machine or restroom that is farthest from your office
· Use the stairs instead of the escalators or elevators
· Walk to lunch instead of driving
· Fit two ten minute walk breaks into your day
· Park far away and walk
· Hold a meeting while you go for a walk
· Walk the airport while waiting for your plane
|
Break that TV habit! |
First turn it OFF. Then look in the paper and decide which programs you REALLY want to watch. Make a time limit for each day
In the time you would have been watching TV you could:
· Take a walk in the park, along the river or in the mall
· Join a sporting club - bowls, golf, tennis, racquetball . .
· Join an exercise or fitness group
· Play in the park with the children or grandchildren
When you watch TV, walk around room during commercials
|
START A FAMILY CHALLENGE FOR MOST STEPS WALKED |
Health Steps Conversion Chart
Steps 150 = 1/16 mile
300 = 1/8 mile
600 = 1/4 mile
1200 = 1/2 mile
1800 = 3/4 mile
2400 = 1 mile
If you prefer not to walk, you can swim or ride a bike. For every 30 minutes in the pool or on your bike, add 3,000 steps to your daily total.
|
