Exercise Facts: Steps, Distance, time, suggestions etc.....& Other cool Ideas!!

[gmvirtual_gina]

Ok, let's use this dicussion to talk about facts about walking and exercising.....if you know or took the time to find cool stuff about walking or exercising....post it here so we can come back to it and try new things.

Walk by Steps:
So I learned today if you like and use a pedometer there is one site that recommends 10,000 steps a day for weight management (& I suspect for those of us that haven't taken any steps...that this would include "weight loss")
On average in a normal active day most people take between 900 - 3000 steps a day.

10,000 steps a day is equivalent to 5 miles.= so 2,000 steps per mile
BUT - I suspect if you haven't walked at all in a long period of time...start with what your body can handle....and work up. These are just ideas and suggestions.
here is the resource on the 10,000 step suggestion: http://www.shapeup.org/shape/steps.php

Walk by Time:
For those of us not using a pedometer - here are some further helpful times to guage our walking by:
Here are some basic estimates, keeping in mind these would be for the average walker.

Walking slowly 20-25 min per mile
Walking Briskly 17-20 min per mile
Walking Fast 13-17 min per mile
Jogging 13-19 min per mile
Running 5-9 min per mile

also, if you would like, there are an average of 1760 to 2640 steps per mile.

So technically for those of us that want to walk 1 1/2 - 2 miles - if we walk at a normal pace for 40 minutes....we get our 2 miles and that same 40 minutes walking briskly gets us almost 3 miles!

Anyone else have some cool facts? Maybe something on Dancing, or bouncing or jumping or .....?

[ctm]

There are 3500 calories in a pound of fat. To lose a pound, you have to burn 3500 calories more than you consume. To gain a pound, you eat 3500 calories more than you burn. As we all know, the second option is MUCH easier than the first by a long shot 🙂

A rule of thumb is that walking 1 mile burns about 100 calories. I believe that is for a 150 pound person walking on a level surface. So if you weigh more or are walking up an incline, you burn somewhat more and so on. As a rule of thumb though, this is a decent number.

The point is that you need to walk about 35 miles to burn up a pound of fat. OUCH!!!

I've used this rule to my own advantage many times by asking the simple question:

Do I really want to spend 1.25 hours to walk an extra 5 miles to burn off this doughnut (or whatever) that will take me about a minute to eat?

The answer is almost always NO.

[cindywilson]

ok, so what is it that helps on the food thing, I'm southern and we are the kings and queens of greasy, fat food, need something healthier. I do stir fry, I switched my pasta to wheat or grain, we eat lots of chicken, but the thing is the unhealthy stuff just taste better, especially to the other half. He said it was harder for him to give up the food than the smoking...he actually almost cried the other day watching this guy eat a piece of fried chicken. He was looking at that chicken like a straight up junkie, I thought he was going to jump the guy....help

[Leenie]

If you don't have a pedometer, but want to know how many miles you've gone on a walk, you can go to the website, www.mapmywalk.com. If you do have a pedometer, you can use the site to check the accuracy. You don't have to pay for a membership. You can also map out new routes of whatever distance you want. Kind of nifty.

Our city is competing against some other ones in the state to see which city has the most miles being walked by its citizens. My place of work has four teams and some friendly rivalry going on. It really does encourage people to get out and walk. I had some issues with a non-healing oral surgery thing when I first quit and just really didn't put much into it, but now that I am 2 weeks out in my quit, I feel lots better (sleep better too!) and am healing better so I want to get going with this. I am also getting chubby and want that off soon. I want to add some free weights too - maybe that'll help.

You all are inspiring - and funny! ;-}

[Leenie]

Okay, ctm - very sobering information and almost makes me want to just fall down and wallow in my fat. But, at least there is a definite way of doing something. It always comes back to that ol' business of taking in fewer calories and increasing exercise. I wish there were an easier way to just plan it all out on paper and have it work.

Cindy - I followed the South Beach Diet and did lose weight so 'guess I'll have to do it again. It actually has some pretty good recipes in the book (some I didn't like as well too). Actually, the whole idea is to do that plan for life. I think it's gotten a bad rap because of the initial kick-off phase (pretty restrictive) but then in the 2nd and 3rd phases, it just becomes a healthy way to eat. I think it's best to let yourself have some fried chicken or Haagen Daz (my choice of calories and probably worse than fried chicken) once in a while so life doesn't get too dreary - then you just say, "Oh the heck with it! This is no fun!" and chuck the whole thing. Of course, I could be completely wrong and if there is a heart condition to be concerned about, maybe you have to steer clear of the fried things.

Leenie

[jan__tx]

I just joined WWatchers online and love it! you can eat w/it! I started a ww group if anyone is interested...trying to get support in that too:) I have gained wt. since I started smokjing so I want to get it off before I gain anymore:) so at least I am getting off my buttocks! lol! Last weekend at my hubby's family reunion the younger ones had a rap dance thingy that had us stomping and sliding and such - wish I had a copy of that to do here at home - great exercise:)

[joy6]

So how many calories does a 2 mile walk burn? I've been trying to walk daily a minimum of 20 minutes and occasionally as much as an hr. but I don't seem to be losing any weight at all. Has anyone heard of Diets for Dummies? A cousin said she lost weight on it.

[joy6]

Oops. I hadn't read ctm's reply about 1 mile = 100 calories. How discouraging. No wonder I'm not losing any of this weight.