pedometer
We live in a society that encourages sedentary activities and offers food with every activity. The result of this trend is that many people in America are struggling with weight problems. If your goal is to achieve a healthier weight, it is important to set achievable and measurable goals. During the Family Fitness Challenge I offer a course over 8 weeks that puts participants on a path of wellness that involves gradual lifestyle changes that ultimately result in achieving a healthier weight. The difference between a diet and lifestyle changes is that a diet implies a rigid eating plan with strict rules that are usually followed for a specific period for the purpose of weight loss-but is rarely sustainable. Lifestyle changes involve eating and physical activity patterns based on general guidelines that are adaptable to different situations and practical on a long-term basis.
Why use a pedometer?
It is important when working in health care that you meet patients where they are at when it comes to physical activity. One of the best tools I have found to advise my patients in regard to how much they should exercise is a pedometer. A pedometer is a device that keeps track of how many steps you take in a given day. Some people believe that it is the number of times that they make it to a gym that determines their fitness, but the reality is it is the amount we move ALL day that matters when it comes to calories burned. I encourage my patients to wear a pedometer and get a baseline to see how many steps they get in a day. Whatever number they start at, I encourage them to increase it by 100-200 steps the next day, gradually working to towards the goal of 8,000-10,000 steps a day.
Track your family's exercise activity
The pedometer has worked as a great “watch dog” for me as a working mother as well! The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that children get an hour of exercise a day. When I am working all day, it is difficult to quantify how much time my children have exercised. If they wear a pedometer, this task becomes much easier! If I get home from work, and my son wants to play video games while I work on dinner, if I look at his pedometer and he has 14,000 steps on it, I can see he has had an active day and not feel too guilty if he wants to play video games while I cook. On-the-other-hand, if I look at his pedometer and he only has 4,000 steps on it, I let him know that he has not moved much today and that I want him to go outside and shoot some hoops or get some friends to play soccer in the yard while I work on dinner instead.
Taking the right amount of steps
The wide variety of media options available to children these days has been implicated as part of the reason we have a child obesity epidemic in the country. If parents are struggling with their children spending too much time on media, I have encouraged them to have their children wear pedometers and earn 15 minutes of media time for every 1,000 steps the child takes. With this strategy, it is amazing how much children begin moving! If you are not familiar with pedometers, here is the breakdown: under 5,000 steps=sedentary, 5,000-7,499 steps=low active, 7,000-9,999 steps= somewhat active, 10,000 steps= active and greater than 12,000 steps= highly active. So, clip a pedometer on today! Where ever you start at, continue to gradually increase your steps the next day, and you eventually will reach your fitness goals!
