I have a mostly academic question to pose, and would like to hear your thoughts on it.
I am VERY short. At 4'10, I wont hit a "normal" bmi until I reach 119 pounds. Allow me to glare briefly at you ladies with normal BMIs in the 140s and 150s. Jealousy is an ugly monster!
Anyway, walking is my normal form of exercise. I love walking, and am currently up to 6.5 miles per day. I intend to add in jogging after another 10 or 15 pound loss. Currently, it is still a bit too rough on me. At my height, needless to say, my legs are very short, and consequently, my strides are also very short. All my life I have compensated for my short stride by taking fast steps. When I watch people walking near me, I can see that I take at least 30 percent more steps than those around me. Now, bear in mind, I am losing my weight nicely, feeling healthier, and its not REALLY important, but it has become something I would like at least a sort of definitive answer on. All the charts, all of the "how many calories burned " pages, use distance walked and MPH to determine the burn rate.
Here is my question..if one of you tall ladies, with a weight equal to my own, was walking with me, both of us keeping the same pace, and me taking 3 steps to each 2 of yours, am I burning more calories than you, because I have to expend more energy, stepwise, than you do? If I were say 5'2 or 5'3" I think the difference would be pretty negligible, but I am not just "normal" short, ya know? For me to walk 4mph requires WAY more steps than your "average" sized person. The average mile is 2000 steps, but if I go 2000 steps, I have not even close to one mile. So if I am walking at 3.5 miles per hour, am I really burning the calories of , say, a 4MPH walk? This was really rambling and maybe confusing, but I hope I explained well enough that the question is clear.
On a secondary note..any of you other short ladies have a recommendation on a recumbent bike that I can fit comfortably on? I am afraid to buy one not knowing if it will adjust to my shortness.