Hi All,

Last year, I read a few articles that said if nothing else, you should try to get in 10,000 steps a day, or the equivalent of 5 miles. They said the very minimum you should get is 5,000 steps, or the equivalent of 2.5 miles in. This can be accomplished through just adding more walking to your daily routine.

I am a writer and spend a lot of my day in front of a computer. When I wear my pedometer I am more conscious of getting up and walking around the house while on phone meetings instead of sitting down at the desk, etc. But I was curious to see if other people used pedometers/counted steps?

I did this briefly last year during a short-lived weight loss attempt and felt like I saw some good results, but am curious to hear other's thoughts/experience.

Yes, I have a FitBit One and love it! I normally have no problem getting 10,000 steps in, but I have a very busy 2 year old boy (I'm a SAHM). It definitely motivates me to move more if I feel like I'm not getting enough steps in. I also love that it integrates with LoseIt.com which is where I track calories.

I do have one, I haven't used it lately but when I was using it I found it surprisingly easy to reach 10,000 steps in a day.

I have used one once upon a time but didn't find it very effective. I found it too sensitive to movement, so it'd count a step even if I just raised my leg slightly. I guess I'd have to invest in a more expensive one if I was to take it up seriously.

Good to know - Kymb I think mine is like yours, it is pretty sensitive to movement - they can get really pricey!!

Even though I think mine over-estimates steps, I have found it to be good gauge of how active I am in the day. 10,000 steps on my pedometer is probably not 10,000 real steps, but that number helps me relatively gauge (compared to days when I only get 7,000 etc in).

I am going to try to use mine all week this week to see if it adds (or should I say takes away?) anything from my bottom line during weigh in.

I have 3DS (handheld videogame system) that as a built in pedometer. It also saves the information each for each day automatically, so at anytime I can see how many steps I took while it was in my pocket on any given day since I've had it. I try to get in at least 5,000 steps. I found that walking 10,000 in a day, everyday eats up too much time for me.

I also have a FitBit One that syncs with MyFitnessPal. It isn't entirely accurate but I'd say it's close enough and shows me general trends. It has made me more aware of getting up from my desk more. Plus, when I go to the bathroom at work, I'll often go down and up a flight of stairs just to get a little extra in.

Not exactly weight loss related but I do really like the sleep tracking feature.

Yes! Mine is a brookstone and I love it. Wear it from the moment I get out of the shower until I go to bed (see ticker). typically i walk 7000 steps on the treadmill in the morning, about 4000 at work during the day and a couple more thousand when I get home. It makes me sooo much more active. The girls laugh at me at work cause I volunteer to run things to other parts of the building. One girl at work bought one and we had a month long competition. I've tested mine and it's fairly accurate.

Have you ever considered getting a treadmill workstation/desk...?

I finally got one several month ago... and all I can say is that it has completely transformed my life while having to work at a computer (in fact I'm on it right now typing this walking at a very comfortable 1.5mph) I can usually get in about 3 to 5 miles on it pretty easily... and I've even had a few days where I did 6... I really just can't say enough good things about it... I have more energy now while working and I seem to be able to focus better as well...

But as far as the pedometer goes... I'm currently using the Nike FuelBand... and even though I think the whole "Fuel" thing is maybe a little bit gimmicky... I'm secretly addicted to it... and I definitely find myself moving more in general... taking the stairs more often... getting off the subway a few blocks sooner... and sometimes just going out for a walk around block for no reason at all... other than for the simple fact that it will earn me more "Fuel" for the day... which really just means more "steps"... and hopefully more calories burned as well... so "mission accomplished" as far as I'm concerned...

I use a bodyMedia fit band on my arm and it counts steps and really, getting 10,000 steps in a day take a lot of concerted effort. On days I don't exercise and I'm just putzing around the house, on the computer and doing dishes, cooking, etc. I'll get as few as 3500 steps in a day. In a day that I spend an hour exercising either Zumba or step aerobics and plus normal day to day stuff, I'll get about 10,000. Only days I have a really high step count is if I exercise for an hour and have a really, really heavy, on my feet day at home. Then I get about 15000.

The BodyMedia fit bands don't over count steps. It seems to know the difference between moving my arm and taking a step - probably the cadence.

It's pretty good at keeping track of a lot of things, but not great at recognizing hard core exercise. Like, it will say step aerobics is light/moderate exercise, while a fairly easy aerobics class that gets my heart rate in the zone, but not in the HIGH zone will show as vigorous exercise. Doesn't count biking or strength training well either. But I really like it overall as a gadgets person.

I really need to dig out my GoWear Fit band and start using it again. I had to really push to get to 10,000 steps a day and only got there when I added extra activity.

But even if it helps to push myself to get an extra few hundred steps here and there. that is better than what I am doing now, which is not doing that at all!

I used to use one a LOT until I got a hip problem which limited my walking. I found it a tremendous help. I increased it up to 15,000 steps a day

I have a Fitbit Zip & do 8,000-10,000 steps in addition to weights & some yoga.

Thanks for the feedback, everyone!

Exactly this. Wearing a pedometer makes every step count, it makes me feel like I'm working towards my goal all day long rather than assigning 30 minutes of my day to it. All day counts. It's now a habit to get off the subway one stop early to walk the rest of the way. I park my car at the furthest part of the parking lot from the store rather than try to get real close. In the grocery store I zip from aisle one to aisle 12, back to aisle 2 and then to aisle 11 and so on just to move and walk more. I walk to the market every morning to get fresh produce rather than go shopping once a week. At first it feels like you think about it a lot but after a while you get in the habit of just moving more. The pedometer is the most invaluable part of my new healthy lifestyle. I will have it forever.