Getting Your Steps in, What a Scam

Oh hold your horses, I’m not trying to stop the walking revolution. I’m not even trying to make the world a chubbier place so that I can feel more comfortable in my skin. Hang tight and we’ll discover what I mean together, literally. I know in my head what I mean, but let’s see how clear I can make this brain hot tub come to a true thought revealing moment.

I have friends, associates, and neighbors who challenge each other on daily steps. I see many of them on Facebook talking smack to each other about steps and bragging about how many they got compared to the entire world. Yes, the entire world, the internet is like that, competition is big. Even in my own house, I have heard these words, “don’t forget to get your 10k miles in today” I would say, when did this obsession and need and drive for 10k steps a day start, but there is the internet and within 15 seconds I could answer my own question, but seriously.

We know why people are obsessed with the 10k a day mantra and we know that the greatest benefit and reason has nothing to do with your weight. Okay, maybe that isn’t entirely true, but it does, in part, resemble the truth. The biggest benefit to walking 10k a day is what it does for your heart and hypertension. It is said by more than one that the health benefits are greatly beneficial, especially to those with already diagnosed heart-related issues or those who may be at risk. In fact, walking could reduce a cardiovascular event by as much as 31%. I believe this important to mention because I don’t want you thinking that I am going on some tyrant and proposing that walking, in general, is a scam, I do not believe that and do understand all the good walking brings to a body.

If your main goal for walking and trying so hard to get in your steps because you are looking to drop loads of weight, then that is where the ‘scam’ lies. Did you know that 10k a day, on average, only burns about 500 calories. However, not everyone has the same results or better put the same calorie burning furnace. In reality, you can burn as little as 400 calories or less depending on your weight and stride. Well, I’ll be, that sounds good D, why are you complaining? Here’s the skinny, that number, 400 calories or even 500 calories represents 10k steps, but not universal steps. When trying to lose weight you’ll have to monitor your caloric intake, don’t say duh, some think that because they are walking they don’t have to. So, here it is, if you walk 10k steps a day, every day, and reduce your caloric intake, you could lose a pound plus some ounces each week. The average person walks about half of the 10k goal on a daily basis. 5k steps burn approximately 248 calories. The best advice is to walk as much as you can every day, watch your calories and incorporate other exercises as 10k a day isn’t enough activity to help you lose weight, overall.

Just for fun, let’s look at a comparison of steps versus bites.

• 1 Big Mac = 12k steps
• 1 Donut = 6k steps
• 1 Taco = 8k steps
• 1 Chef Salad = (about) 16k steps
• 1 Slice Pepperoni Pizza = 7+ thousand steps