Steps Aren't Everything

[NGWehner]

Roaming the forums, I see what seems to me to be an over-reliance on steps as a measure of how one is doing. Don't get me wrong. Counting steps can be a good way for many people to keep active, but there are other ways.

I pay no attention to how many steps I do in a day - some days more be as low as 5000, some as high as 30000 - but rather what is my calorie burn. I do a lot of things that don't involve steps but do burn calories, some of them more then walking does - biking, rower, weight work (significant weight and many reps), kayaking, etc. My goal is a minimum burn of 2400 and I generally push for up to 3000. I track everything I eat and I always use a scale to weigh my food - no estimating portion sizes. I shoot for a deficit of 750 to 1000 calories a day and I'm consistently losing 1.5 to 2 pounds a week.

My point: Don't get trapped into feeling you're not doing what you need to do to reach your goals just because you're not obsessed with step counts.

[MakMak]

Hi, @NGWehner! You have a great point. I think a lot of the focus on step count came because some of the other types of exercise are much harder to measure the impact, most notably weight exercises. With the advent of heart rate monitoring, there's definitely been more flexibility, but I think it's still important for people to move and stretch their legs, which is probably why there is still some of this focus. Also, it's a lot easier for people without a fitness tracker or without the budget for a fancy heart rate monitoring one to track their steps.