Five thousand steps? No, my preplanned target is for six, but I almost always go over. And recently I’ve been in the seven- and eight-grand range. But thanks to the arthritis in the feet, those halcyon days of going for hikes of many miles are in the Rear view mirror.
You say, “But step counting is such a limited way to estimate your exercise”. You are correct. It doesn’t account for how aerobic my exercise is, ignores all the toting in the garden, spreading and lifting mulch, or any of the other stuff.
” Get a Fitbit, or other similar device!” you suggest. No, that’s just too fine-grained tracking of my life. Yep! I can do without notices about the caloric values of putting on my socks in the morning, or how many I expend using a bottle opener, or using the rake. After a while, I’d just become disgruntled with the invasiveness of the whole thing.
What would come next? The program whispering in my ear that just two hundred more calories burned and I’ll hit the golden level? I don’t want it; I don’t need it. And I can do that for myself.
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Ah, yes, the struggle is real. I used to get so obsessed with the steps I made daily. Then I injures my ankle pretty badly and resumed my normal way of living.
Right! Our bodies suggest what’s appropriate. Your ankle and my arthritis suggest that stupid excess is just that.
Our parents’ generations would shake their heads over today’s fitness-advising technology! Most stayed in shape just fine.
You’re a man after my own heart, Lou. I can’t be doing with all the micro-managing of fitness and being spied on by devices. However did we manage before the little electronic tyrants came into our lives? All we need is a little common sense. 🙂
Ya, I did the whole fitbit thing a couple of years ago. It got old very fast, lol. I’m too old for that stuff… hugs
It’s kind of enslaving.
I don’t measure achievements — or “fitness” — in steps. I measure them in BFU’s (Big Fun Units) as per one of my favorite bloggers, https://halffastcyclingclub.wordpress.com/ AS for a FitBit? I watch a woman runner out at the Refuge. She is controlled by her FitBit. It’s OK. She’s nice, but watching her is kind of funny. She’ll look at her fitbit and run in circles for a bit to catch it up.
BFU’s sounds good!
Definitely!
I get out of bed every day. That’s my exercise for the day. The rest is a bonus. I think I’m moving pretty fast for someone who wasn’t expected to still be living. My last fit bit that I had to keep myself moving broke and I decided to not replace it. It was creating too anxiety, I was down to 2 or 3 thousand steps and that disappoints me. I still shop for my own groceries. and do most of my own housework. Small goals.
What you do is likely correct for your age and health status – which the apps and devices don’t take into account.
My husband got a health watch.it encouraged him to move more. He kept moving more and more but it was never enough for the watch, so he gave up on it.
Yeah, I’ve noticed that with the Apple app I use too.
Fitness trackers definitely make you a bit obsessed. I remember once missing my step target by one (1) step. Had I checked before going to bed, I’d obviously have made the effort to walk one more step. But I checked the morning after, by which time it was too late. 😫
We all struggle to use the technology, not get obsessed by it. It get away from us sometimes.