Community Chat

[Styleovertrend]

Article mentions for those less active it can be DEMORALIZING to not reach that goal. Great article. Published 1/4/2020

[millieshops]

@StyleovertrendThanks for posting this.   I have no idea where or when I read that idea, but I know reading it made me feel better right away because with no real knowledge except how my own body was feeling, I had decided that was just one more "recommendation" that didn't work for me.

Doesn't mean it might not make someone else feel better -  just never going to be my goal and I refuse to let anyone make me feel guilty about that choice.

[jackthebear]

maybe but if it gets people moving who might otherwise not be doing anything it's not bad 

and a goal is a goal

[Still Raining]

How the mighty have fallen.  First a life altering app, now a downer.

[chrystaltree]

I don't have to read the article.  My common sense always told me that for someone like me, that 10K steps thing was a bunch of silliness for ME.  I walk for the cardiovascular benefit,  I walk for the emotional benefits,  I walk to maintain (or lose) weight.  It's easier and more honest for me to briskly walk for a specific period of time.  For me, when I am out of practice or have some back pain; I walk briskly on a flat surface for 40 minutes a day.  In the winter that is 2 twenty minute sessions.  When I am in shape and in practice, I walk for 60 minutes.  Usually 2 thirty minute sessions.  I don't need a Fitbit or an application on my phone that counts steps.  I can't cheat by counting my steps to the bathroom or my steps to the mailbox or my steps to the kitchen for tea.  Which is what I would do if counted steps.  And if I didn't reach those step goals, I know for a fact that I'd feel horrible about myself and eventually, I'd just stop.   My way, if there's a day when I don't do the 40 minutes, I don't feel bad about myself.  I have total control.  I just make up the minutes the next day or the day after that.  I'm not saying that Steps is a bad thing, it's just not the panacea that people think it is.  It's just ONE way to be more active.  

[hopi]

So many  are so out of shape at a young age. Long before Fitbit,  Doctors

from Heart surgeons to G.P.'s, Chiropractor's, P. T.'s and down the list have said if you don't move pretty soon won't be able to. Gimmick or not the concept is only to move about 250 steps per hour so for all the couch potato enthusiasts it is not asking much.  It is a gage to show you what your day is like.  People can get lost in  tech items, sitting activities or TV and not move all day.  You can get those steps in by the simplest tasks.

eta: For those of you that trivialize how easy it for you....fantastic.

There are many people in the world that have serious health issues not brought on by their actions or their eating habits that need help. One burst of excessive exercise is not the answer.

[Bri369]

With all the sitting people do nowadays, getting up and moving is never a bad thing.  It doesn't have to be done all at one time or a specific pace.  I think it's important to be mindful to get some physical activity in during the day.  

[blueroses47]

I think that if something, whatever it may be, helps to motivate people to do something good for themselves, then they should use it, or do it.  So, if the fitbit thing, and the goal of 10,000 steps is something a person thinks they want to do, fine.

But for me, as I get older I see most all of these things as really gimmicky.

And the obsession we have with numbers, and with tracking all these numbers, well for me it's become out of hand, and I just don't have the patience for it.  So much so, that I don't even weigh myself anymore, because (as a former once a week, sometimes daily weigher), the feeling about the numbers just came to upset me too much.  Even knowing that everyone's weight fluctuates daily, SEEING it would upset me.  Now, I don't weigh, because, believe me, I know when I'm overeating, and I know when I gain weight, and I do better if I just go by feeling, and not numbers.

Same thing with the obsession of numbers (stats? I think people say), in regard to health problems.  I can't bring myself to obsess about those numbers, I do better when I use common sense and try to maintain good health habits.

I remember when years ago my friend and I were taking a trip to Italy, and she wanted me to bring an odometer to track how many steps we walked, and the whole notion was so ridiculous to me.  I just couldn't bring myself to go along with this idea.

But, in the end, people should do what works for them.  The number tracking definitely doesn't work for me, it just adds another pressure to what I should be doing anyway.

[SeaMaiden]

I wore a fit bit for several years... what I found was on the days I did not make 10,000 steps it depressed me and I beat myself up over it.

  So I quit wearing it about 6 months ago....

Now, I do not worry about how many steps I take... and do not get upset over not reaching a goal...  best thing I ever did.

[Pook]

It's not just a gimmick but something to get people up and moving and to strive to beat their personal best daily by just a few steps - which is not 10,000 steps for everyone.  It would only be demoralizing if you let it be.  No one or nothing can make you feel inferior unless you allow it to.  I see now how some will use that as an excuse to stay a couch potato.    Also any fitness band I ever had measures arm movements as steps so to be active doesn't require walking -  it can be arm movement exercises also and everyone can find some way to move rather than just set around.