When it comes to losing weight, you’ve probably heard that following a strict diet or starting a cardio-packed exercise routine is the way to go. Sure, that approach definitely works short-term. However, do you want to lose weight AND keep it off? That’s where keeping track of your steps comes into play.
Yes, a caloric deficit is what you need to burn fat, and most weight-loss strategies rely on decreasing the number of calories you consume (via dieting) or increasing the number of calories you expend (via exercising, notably cardio) to create a calorie deficit. That being said, behaviorally, it’s not always as simple as calories in and calories out, or we’d all be doing it perfectly!
The key to long-term weight loss AND keeping it off is a change in lifestyle choices. And one of the lifestyle choices that will generally help most people is making sure you get enough movement each day.
Non-exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT) has been shown that over time, it helps with weight loss, change in metabolism, and overall better health. NEAT includes all movement outside of exercise, so that could be cleaning the house, running errands, walking the dog, walking to work, fidgeting, or anything that is not sedentary. Studies show that it is more beneficial to have daily movement throughout the day than it is to be sedentary all day but then do a 30-minute cardio workout.
Whatever you decide to do with your health and fitness journey, keep in mind these habits need to be maintained for the rest of your life to have the same results. Most people’s lives ebb and flow with different transitions, so it’s normal to go in and out of different workout routines. That’s why the habit of daily movement and steps is more important than your 30-minutes of steady state cardio because at least behaviorally, it much easier for most people to keep up daily walks & movement consistently. Not to mention you actually burn more calories if you move all day long.
Taking 10,000 steps a day is an arbitrary number, but most clients I know who work from home or at a desk job have a hard time getting even 5,000 a day. You can use 10,000 as a specific goal that will help you stay motivated and hold you accountable. But if you aren’t already taking 10,000 steps each day, don’t worry! Figure out what your base line is for each day, and make sure you are consistent in those daily steps before you slowly increase each week. JUST KEEP MOVING!
Ready to start increasing your steps per day and losing weight? Contact me at happyhelenfitness@gmail.com today!