10,000 steps.
It’s supposed to make you accumulate at least 30 minutes of activity.
It is equivalent to about 5 miles.
I’m a fairly active person, and sometimes it’s hard for me to meet, especially since my workouts these days mostly involve weights and intervals, which aren’t measured by my FitBit. (< Who am I?)
It’s cold. My commute used to be a 1-mile walk each way (or, when it was really cold, just a bus ride instead), and I used to work on the 5th floor and frequently take the stairs up to our 9th floor to visit the espresso machine.
My office is now two blocks away, which is FREAKING AMAZING, but a detriment to my FitBit game. I walk home at lunch now to walk Bailey, but that still only adds up to 8 blocks of commuting. We’re on the second floor, so I take one flight of stairs twice a day.
I’m honestly rarely running these days. I have zero desire to freeze outside and zero desire to run on the dreadmill. (This half this weekend should be fun.)
But I still just really want to hit my steps for the day, so I’m trying to make myself get them in creatively by thinking of where I can push myself a little more in my regular day.
- Walking Bailey longer: It is so so freaking cold, and most of our walks this winter have been pretty short, but I’m making myself walk him a little further for both of our sakes. I looked at my FitBit last night, and walking just one square city block is about 1,500 blocks!
- Getting off the subway a stop early: Yeah, it’s really freaking freezing, but I feel like I’m finally acclimating to this crap. As long as I have time, I try to get off the subway one stop early. Anyway, I’m usually rushing somewhere and walking instead of subwaying gives me time to wind down a bit so I’m a little less frazzled by the time I reach my destination.
- Taking the long way: Where possible, I’m walking out of my way to get the rest of those steps in.
Oh, and there’s always just doing some high knees in my apartment, which I’m not above doing if I’m close to the 10,000 step goal but not there quite yet.
IS IT SPRING YET?!
I just started using a Fitbit, too, and can’t believe how few steps I take on days I don’t go to the gym. The Fitbit is a real eye-opener!
Right? Also, I go so many less steps now that it’s SO COLD.
I just paced my living room while watching The Biggest Loser to break 10,000 today! Good for you for braving the ridiculous cold to make it!
You go 4.27 miles in 33 minutes? That’s pretty speedy! Even when I’m running it takes me at least 34/35 minutes to go 4 miles. Good for you!
Definitely not! I don’t quite understand the miles/active min correlation, but def not.
I recently got a FitBit too. At first, I was really motivated to get in my 10,000 steps, but the last week or so has been really hard. I’m sick of this cold (I live in Minnesota). There have been days where it was so cold, it wasn’t even safe to have my dog outside for very long! I can’t wait to see how much easier it will be to get to 10,000 when it’s nice out! I’m glad I’m not the only one who tries to get to 10,000 in the living room when I’m close! (I’ve had dance parties and done jumping jacks while watching TV, haha).
@Laura: Minnesota. Oof, I can’t even imagine how cold you are.
I have such a hard time getting in 10000 steps, especially in the winter. I have a very sedentary job (I’m a counselor), so moving is just tough.
It’s not just the weather, I’m SO excited for the sun to be out long enough to run outside safely after work. Dear Sun, I miss you. Love, the girl who runs the treadmill 4 nights a week.
So weird, but I literally posted about this same thing a few hours ago! I just got a pedometer and was shocked by how little I’m moving! Agreed about the weather… I like to walk during my lunch break, but haven’t dared in weeks!
Good for you, especially with the cold weather. I remember one weather reporter saying “there’s no such thing as bad weather, just inappropriate clothing”!
Do you have room in your apartment to do a DVD workout? I’ve been doing that new T25 workout you see on TV. Only 25 minutes long and it’s a really good workout. Don’t need any special equipment – just a little room to move around.
Something to think about. Changes things up.
My walking takes a major hit during winter, can’t wait for spring!
You are so lucky to live in a city that is so walkable. Whenever I come up to NYC, I always end up loosing weight despite the delicious (and probably not so healthy) food I consume.
@Stacie @ SimplySouthernStacie: Oh, I know. I realize when I go home to my parents’ how much easier it is to walk here without even thinking about it. I’m lucky if I get 5-6K steps when home.
I don’t do cold, either. We can be “real runners” again come Spring. 😉
I was just thinking something similar the other day. I am also very active and 10K is hard to meet a lot of the time! I can’t imagine how difficult it is for someone who typically drives to work and doesn’t live in a city that requires walking EVERYWHERE. On another note, the only reason I volunteered to take the dog out last night was because I need a few hundred more steps to meet 10K 😉
My FitBit definitely makes me walk more then I would choose to on normal days 🙂
I definitely noticed that the colder it got, the harder it was for me to reach 10,000 steps on my fiitbit, especially on days that I didn’t run. Sadly I sent my fitbit through the washing machine and it stopped working…
I really want to get a fitbit, I’m so curious about my activity! I’m also a little afraid I’d become totally obsessed. . . I’m a bit of a freakazoid that way
I just got my fitbit a couple of weeks ago. I’m out in Central California and we are having an unusual warm spell so being outdoors isn’t to bad. We’ve actually been complaining about the heat. Anyhow, to get my 10,000 on non-run days I will go to the furthest bathroom from my cubicle at work…which helps.
i can’t believe how hard it is to get 10,000 steps a day!!! Sure I can get them from running but I need to be more active all day and it is tough. I have a stand up desk so now every few minutes I pace around the room once just to add steps.
Glad I’m not the only one doing high knees and laps around my apartment to meet my steps goal! Really though, having a FitBit has definitely been eye-opening on how much more I need to walk and move during the day.
So aside from the fact I don’t think I could function in that type of cold, I have found that Soul Cycle actually gets you quite a bit of steps (ahem… or the weights portion does – I seem to hit my goal about halfway through it). I actually also ran up and down the stairs like 4 times yesterday at work to get to my 10,000 steps. I have no shame. I feel like my FitBit judges me when I don’t hit the goal.
I have a cheap $20 pedometer, and I work in an office all day (and drive to work). So in order to get 10,000 steps I now know that I have to walk my dog in the morning, take two 10-minute walks during the work day , and take another long walk with my dog in the evening. And even then sometimes I still don’t reach 10,000. I have to REALLY work at it to get those 10,000 steps, but I love that it’s making me more active! I’ve been doing it since October
I LOVE Fitbit, but I didn’t realise how far 10,000 steps was lol. Way to go 🙂
I do high knees too! Also pacing at home or the office, jumping jacks, “jumping rope,” etc. What’s helped is doing them throughout the day (particularly if an option at your office — sometimes I’ll bust out 100 high knees in the bathroom — *hangs head in shame*). I’ll try to get to the next hundred steps or if I’m within 200-300 maybe the next thousand steps. I’ll check my steps and say “I’m at 6750 — I’m going to get to 7,000 on this trip to the bathroom, however that has to happen.” It adds up over the course of the day (plus I think keeps you moving throughout the day, which I see as the point of the thing).
Obsessed with fitbit! I got my for Christmas in 2011 and since then my friends have slowly been joining me, which only fuels the competition –I’ve definitely been known to pace around my apartment to hit my daily quota!
I love my fitbit, I do have some lazy days but thankfully on work days I can walk up to 9.5 miles!
I have gone around and walked up and down our stairs to get to my goal of 10,000 steps. It’s much better now that we bought a house last year and have 2 sets of stairs, one up the front and the other up the back. I can make full loops to get to my goal, and love my Fitbit.
I just starting used a fitbit surge pedometer. It gives me awesome service.From now i can track my every steps with it.Love you surge!