My thought is that the 10,000 steps is a minimum daily activity level - regardless of what your activity is - this is the minimum number of steps you should take a day. Couple that with the need to get your heart rate up into a target zone and breaking a sweat for about 30 minutes 3-5 times per week, doing stretching and some sort of weight training, and that is where your actvity levels should be. This is just my opinion, but from gathering from what Dr. Oz said on the discovery program and on oprah. I have the book but haven't read it yet.

I put my pedometer on first thing in the morning. I will say that the weeks that I hit 10,000 steps a day and ate whole, healthy foods, are the weeks that I consistantly lost 2-5 pounds - the lesser number on the weeks that I didn't "break a sweat" a the greater number on the weeks that I did.

Again, just my opinion but this is how I interpreted his shows.

oh... and I think he suggests walking because it is something everyone can do, is easy on the joints and costs you zero money -thus an exercise program that one can do for life.

In the book on page 147 - it mentions that hitting 10,000 steps per day is optimal.

THANKS EVERYONE FOR THE INFO!

I AM WITH YOU OLIVIA86. I KEEP IT ON ALL DAY. I WAS SO DETERMINED TO DO 10,000 I PARKED IN THE BACK OF THE SAMS CLUB PARKING LOT! THAT WAS A FIRST FOR ME

I PUT MY PEDOMETER ON WHEN I DID TURBO JAM YESTERDAY FOR 45 MIN AND KEPT IT ON THE REST OF THE DAY. DAYS END I HAD 13592. I BOUGHT MY OMRON PEDOMETER FROM WALGREENS. IT WAS 17.99. IT IS NOT AS BIG AS THE ONE ON THE SHOW. IT KEEPS TRACK OF YOUR STATS FOR A WEEK, COUNTS AEROBIC STEPS, CALORIES BURNED AND MILES WALKED. I THINK IT IS COOL! I DONT KNOW HOW ACCURATE IT IS BUT IT SEEMS TO BE ON POINT. MY CURRENT STATS ARE AT 14721 TODAY WITH 3711 STEPS AEROBIC FOR 26 MIN. WHICH IS PRETTY DEAD ON BECAUSE MY TJ WORKOUT WAS 30 MIN.

I AM TAKING A MULTIVITAMIN FOR THE FIRST TIME AND I CAN SURELY TELL A DIFFERENCE. WHICH IS SO WIERD FOR ME. TAKING ON DR. OZ'S PHILOSOPHY OF BELIEVING THAT EVERYTHING THAT YOU EAT SHOULD BE CONSIDERED LIKE "MEDICATION", I REALLY HAVE PAID MUCH MORE ATTENTION TO HOW FOODS AFFECT ME.

Since I have heard about this and gotten my book this week..am on chapter 4..am a slow reader Very interesting info. It keeps me going. I have been walking and happy to report a 7 Lbs loss!! My waist is still over 60..I guess it takes time...so I will rely on my daily weigh ins..

Just wanted to share..

Enjoy your day!

I am reading this book too, and listening to the audio book. Dr. O & Dr. R. make some very good points, and have a lot of good advice.

I look forward to discussing the book with you ladies, and celebrating our achievments.

i fell off the bandwagon... kind of depressing. I was doing so well and then i ate a bite of cookie dough and the rest is history. I gained back all the weight i lost but i'm back and ready to lose this freaking weight!


edit: i am really debating myself... part of me wants to do YOU but another part of me is afraid i wont lose as much as South Beach. In the past i lose over 30 pounds on south beach but due to 'falling off the bandwagon' i have slowly gained it all back. If SB worked for me in the past what do you guys think i should do? i am so confused..

Oh Ally, but I don't think SoBe worked for you at all. See, if you really can't stick with it and "fall" off then it's probably not really working for you. You need a plan that isn't hard to stick to, that is more easy for you to adopt for life. I think you should try the YOU. As you said, if you don't SoBe religiously, it comes right back on. I'm sorry you regained, but your comments were VERY meaningful to this thread & the reason we're all here. Hang in there & let us know what you decide.

Oh, and love your avatar. What a great example of someone who really toned up with a clean diet and tons of cardio and weight training!

OK, I'm still confused by the waist. I know I saw with my own eyes on both O and the show that they measured around the belly button (me=40!) Heck, if I can go to the smallest part of my waist about 2" up from that AND suck it in, I'll probably get to 35". That would make a ton of difference. But why is the website saying something different from what we all saw them do. Were the people on tv straight as treetrunks with no visible indention and so they used the bellybutton measurement? Maybe cuz that I don't remember for sure. Does anyone else?

Altho, my omentum is definitely largest around the b-button. Hmmmm.....

On Oprah, one of the doctors said that it was good to eat the same thing every day. Is this mentioned in the book? Do they say why?

tara- they do say it is a god idea to eat the same b-fast and lunch everyday to cut down on choices we have to make, and make the eating process more automatic is the way i understood it. they suggest varying dinner everyday to keep from getting totally bored.

ally i totally agree with hrbabe- the best plan is whatever plan you can stick to. good luck with whatever plan you choose!!

you are doing great!!!! I just really think leaving it on all day keeps me "honest" and I know that if I am dropping under 10,000 then I have to step things up - literally. And it also keeps me making better choices - like when you said that you parked far away from Sam's - - I am starting to do the same thing - especially on days that I know I haven't been as active, then suddenly I know I am making better, more proactive choices within each day when I know where I am step-wise.

well i really did it yesterday, i went through all of my cupboards and threw out a lot of the stuff that is a no - no. i was sort of shocked at some of the things ie: my beloved tomato soup has high fructose corn syrup. so my cupboards are clean. i find myself reading every label now in the store, looking at the fiber, sugars, and ingredients. i was also sort of shocked at some of the seemingly ok to eat stuff.
of all things i had the hardest time finding a whole wheat bread with none of the bad stuff. i had to settle for a reduced cal ww that does have less than 2% high fruct corn syrup in it. i'll keep reading lables to see if a clean bread actually exists around here.

all in all the past week has not been bad, i followed the "diet" loosely some days and perfectly others. the one thing i did not eat any of was the corn syrup. i walked my 10,000 steps a day, i did the 20 minute exercise routine 3 times this week. for all of my efforts i am down 2.5 lbs and about 3/4 inch around my waist. that's the best result on any plan that i have had in a while. the best thing is i think i may be able to live like this.

how's everyone else doing??

Great job Jodi! Sounds like the easier question might be to ask what's LEFT in your cupboards!! I've heard dieticians say before to make sugar is not one of the first 3 ingredients (try that with yogurt - hard to impossible!), and that seems slightly more do-able.

Has anyone read YOU-THE OWNERS MANUAL? I think it's the predecessor to this ON A DIET book. I picked it up while awaiting my on hold copy of YOU to come thru at the library.

i would like to start the You on a Diet but I'm waiting for the book to come in the mail; I don't know what foods to start until I get my book. Any suggestions