Working that 9-5 job

[Adelina-P]

I have had my fit bit for a few days now and I do love it.

I used to wear another pedometer at work so I already knew that the aim of 10,000 steps a day is very difficult to achieve. I work that 9-5 job where unfortunately 90% of my day involves sitting at a desk. Seeing other people and friends on fitbit constantly achieve 10,000 steps is a little demotivating.

I know I shouldn't compare since we all lead such different lives. I do exercise thought, I actively work though the 21 day fix and T25 program from beachbody. It still doesn't really get steps up as dramatically as I would like.

Anyone else in the same boat? How do you work with this?

[Heybales]

Refocus what is actually important in over all health and body improvements for you.

Steps?

Or those workouts you are doing?

Guess who is going to look better, especially if steps is the extent of all they do?

And there are many that will fess up to missing what would have been a better workout for over-all body improvement and health, just to get enough steps to be the top of their leaderboard.

The the other thing would be to get new friends with different goals than just steps.

I've been thinking of starting a group and challenge for VAM, forget the steps. Because I sure hope you are manually logging those workouts that are badly underestimated for calorie burn based on mere steps during the workout.

You've got lots of VAM time.

[Adelina-P]

---

@Heybales wrote:

Refocus what is actually important in over all health and body improvements for you.

Steps?

Or those workouts you are doing?

Guess who is going to look better, especially if steps is the extent of all they do?

And there are many that will fess up to missing what would have been a better workout for over-all body improvement and health, just to get enough steps to be the top of their leaderboard.

The the other thing would be to get new friends with different goals than just steps.

I've been thinking of starting a group and challenge for VAM, forget the steps. Because I sure hope you are manually logging those workouts that are badly underestimated for calorie burn based on mere steps during the workout.

You've got lots of VAM time.

---

That is true, i know these workouts burn at least 150-200 calories because they are high intensity

[Maxit]

The thing about steps, though, especially when a person has a sedentery job, is that it encourages movement throughout the day which reduces risk factors for heart disease and other health problems.  http://tinyurl.com/npfmqcv   So even if it's hard to move around, it's worth it (even if you can't make a 10K goal).   I do agree that not everyone's goals can be met by walking.

[Gandhi]

Adelina- P

Very relevant post.

I used to struggle doing 10 k but fitbtit friends and suggestions on forums --like walking between seeing patients helped .

I do 14 k a day now .

Also am part of challenges that are awesome.

BTW I work 8 to 6 - 6 days a week and used to be sitting 90% of the time .

Where there is a will there is always a fitbit 

Infact I am going to invite you to be part of my weekend/ weekday challenge . Anyone else like this can send me a message if they want to be part of the challenge or need motivation. 

[Adelina-P]

That sounds so fantastic

[gmurtie]

I have a pretty sedentary job too.  I have had a fitbit product since April.  All my excercise was jogging/running related so the steps were not a real difficulty.  I am focusing on more strength training lately with 3 workouts a week of lifting.  Not seeing the steps there has been a difficult adjustment and I haven't seen the benefits of the strength training yet.  Sometimes you just have to be patient and trust the proccess.

[Adelina-P]

Yeah it's understandable, when I do my upper or Lowe fix workouts it's not heavy cardio just strength but just gotta focus on the results

[Tcup]

Here are some tips that work for me...

- I know for me I get up a little extra in the morning and run for a bit on the tradmill. I run around 1.5 miles in 20 minutes and that gives me a good 3,500+ steps. 

 - I eat my lunch at my desk (approximately 10 minutes) then I walk for the remaining 45 minutes of my lunch break.

- I also get up from my desk every few minutes and walk to either the bathroom, kitchen or just a lap around the office. People always ask me why I'm running around so much but it definitely gets my steps up!

Between those tips and walking to and from work, I'm at around 13,000/day consistentl on average.

Hope some of these work for you!

[Adelina-P]

The lunch break wont work much for me as i only get half an hour for lunch so hard to squeeze a lot in. I will definetly try and do some more laps, maybe using the printer thats further away could help!

Great suggestions

[jwishart86]

I only get 30 minutes for a lunch break also but I still manage to get about 1.5 miles if I walk. Then I take the dog for a short walk after work which gives me another mile or so. 

I started out getting only 3000 steps a day due to my desk job. I find little ways to add steps (jogging in the bathroom while drying my hands, walking to post office, parking at the back of the bank lot) and each week I raise my steps by 100 if I reached my goal consitantly. I am now at 5300 a day and while that may not be what everyone on my friends list is averaging, it is a much better step up for me than where I started.

[Telle]

You don't have to jump to making 10,000 immediately.  Get a baseline reading of how many steps you gain in a typical day or week, and make your goal a modest increase from that.  Once you consistently make that goal, raise it up again.. and keep going from there.

[Adelina-P]

Yeah that is true 🙂

Ive been doing a few laps of the shopping centre in my lunch break so thats something i suppose

[RedRaven]

Hi Adelina - I've been using my fit bit for 1 month.  I also work full time and have to push myself for 10,000 steps.  Well, I made my goal 4x so far, but the important thing is that I've increased my overall steps 32%.  I just work on my own statistics.  I know how it feels to see most of my other 'over 60' group beat me.  I'll get there someday - in my own time!

[Adelina-P]

---

@RedRaven wrote:

Hi Adelina - I've been using my fit bit for 1 month.  I also work full time and have to push myself for 10,000 steps.  Well, I made my goal 4x so far, but the important thing is that I've increased my overall steps 32%.  I just work on my own statistics.  I know how it feels to see most of my other 'over 60' group beat me.  I'll get there someday - in my own time!

---

Yeah that is exactly how i feel, i lowered my goal for now and might try raising it little by little. Its a little haird always being at the bottom of the friends list!

[AmandaMarieMoor]

I'm there! I work a desk job as well and I feel very unmotivated especially since I am counting calories. I am trying to lose 20 lbs by the end of the year and it wont happen if I continue to eat the way I do. I think that we just need to mentally balance everything out. I don't have much advice but I am in the same boat. Power to you!!

[Gandhi]

Amanda

Correct 

i think i shopuld add u to my challenges - have done 31 so far

[SunsetRunner]

park further away, get off the bus a few stops before work/home

instead of driving into town for lunch, walk

whilst watching tv, walk around the room

[Nick17]

Getting steps in is definitely good, but remember that organizations like the CDC and American College of Sports Medicine recommend at least 30 minutes of moderate physical activity a day.  Getting the activity in is what counts.  Whether it's a brisk walk, cardio, strength training, or a sport that you enjoy, focus on getting activity in. 

There are alot of ways to look at it: steps, how many calories you burn a day, what kind of activity, etc.  I do alot of strength work, so I log the time separately.  I may not get the 10K steps a day, but I get 45-50 minutes of vigorous activity in.  I also do stationary bike at high intensity and it doesn't record the steps, but it does give me 30 days of activity on days where I don't strength train.

The important thing is to eat healthy, be active, do some cardio and strength work.  The "bad" thing about a pedometer is it only focuses on steps and doesn't record other activities. 

[mommyknits]

I have a 9-5 desk job, too and it is hard to get the steps in.  As well, Bootcamp 3 times a week doesn't add the steps super quickly unless we run.  I also chauffeur 2 kids to activities so I spend time in the car a lot.  It gets challenging.  I've just tried to re-energize my work day activity but getting up at least once an hour and running up the flights of stairs in the building and back down, walking at lunch and..... Still haven't hit 10,000 steps today yet but I am closer than when I just sit all day.  And don't discount that you do activity, even if it isn't increasing the step count dramatically.  It all still contributes to your health and well being. :-))  We just have to use a bit of creativity to keep moving as often as we can given the circumstances.   At least that's what I'm trying to tell myself.