On the whole 10K steps thing

On the whole 10K steps thing

I had an unexpected experience over the last few months that really helped me get back on track with my fitness goals. An old friend of mine started a fitness accountability/challenge type group on social media and I decided to join just for kicks. I didn’t think this group would move the needle for me because I already worked out 5-6 times per week, but for the last 120ish days, I have gotten over 10K steps daily, which is new for me. In the accountability group, we each have to share our daily step counts (with Apple watch or other fitness tracker screen shots) with the goal of achieving 10K steps. I averaged around 7K steps previously, but am now between 12-13K for the last four months and I actually see the results. However, I will add that It took over 40 days for me to begin seeing the results, so it wasn’t instant. At the end of the second 40 day challenge that I had joined is when I started noticing clothes fitting differently.

So, I hate to say it, but they’re right that 10K steps a day is helpful. Fitness experts always talk about how the one hour you spend in the gym isn’t the most important part of how many calories you burn on a day to day basis – it’s really the movement you have throughout the day that determines your total calorie expenditure. I knew this in theory and I always felt like I had an “active” job and therefore got enough movement throughout the day. And 7k steps per day (my old average) isn’t bad. But for someone who loves dessert as much as I do, it wasn’t quite enough to stop me from gaining weight over time. I have found that 12k steps per day may be my sweet spot for if I’m eating healthy and I think 15k steps per day is my sweet spot for if I’m eating whatever I want (within reason).

I feel a little silly for publishing a blog post saying what many of us already know – 10k steps per day is what we should be striving for. But even though many of us “know” that, I STILL think walking is a really underrated way to lose weight and also to get back into fitness and movement if you’ve fallen off the wagon for a bit. Increasing your step count by 4k or 5k steps per day isn’t going to drastically change your appearance in 1 month or even 2 months. But I’m publishing this post just to remind anyone reading this that if you stick with it, you WILL start to notice a difference in time. After 40 days in the challenge, I didn’t notice a difference in my body, but I told myself that the math doesn’t lie- increasing my physical activity HAD to make a difference. I reminded myself that it was mathematically impossible for increasing my step count to not be helping me, and I stuck with it. I know it’s hard to stay motivated when you aren’t seeing results, but just because you don’t look dramatically different after 1 month of consistency, that doesn’t mean it’s not working. It just takes time and there are no shortcuts. So if you’re looking to get back into fitness, take this as a sign to up your step count if you’re below 10-15k steps per day, and stay patient.

Share: