Health 2.0 in Canada: I just can't control my feet!

How many steps do you walk each day?

The average sedentary person walks anywhere between 1,000 and 3,000 steps per day. Many health groups are recommending at least 10,000 steps in order to maintain a minimum fitness level. There are so many people that have benefited from 10,000 steps including my own brother.

My brother is not tall and used to be slightly overweight. Many would have considered him 'stocky'. Well, one day he decided to start walking 10,000 steps every day and he would not sleep until he did it. He got a pedometer and started walking during his breaks, lunch and in the evening time. Doing this simple type of exercise he also started feeling a need to change his diet and he did. Less fast food and more home cooked meals and greens. Within 3 months he lost 15lb.

I know that's not a lot of weight and he's likely not going to be on any commercials any time soon but considering that his only cost was $20 for the pedometer and a sacrifice of goofing-on-the-internet.

Google the term '10000 steps' and you'll find over 22 million websites relating to that term. 22 million!

Gee, how far is 10,000 steps?

First off, remember that things are only as difficult as you make them to be. Remember when you were an adventurous child and you could do anything? Well, it could still be like that. Anywho, back to your question. 10,000 steps is approximately 8 kilometers. With the average adult walking at a speed of 5km/h that equates to approximately 1 hour and 40 minutes. But remember, that's throughout the entire day - considering that many people already walk between 1,000 and 3,000 steps (to and from the water cooler, to and from the car, to and from the washroom, to and from the fridge, to and from the place where you left the TV remote control) you are already a large percentage of the way there.

Get yourself a step counter or a pedometer to track your steps. Also, get yourself a proper pair of shoes. I am a huge fan of the Nike Free shoes by the way. They are extremely light and have amazing flexibility which is highly beneficial for the musculature of your feet. A step meter usually only counts the number of steps you have taken since the last time the device was reset. A pedometer takes it a step further (get it? a 'step' further? hehehe) and can track calories burned and other nifty things. For me, I use a simple $5.00 step meter.

Place the step counting device on your pants where your hip is. It is very important to have it on or near the hip bone as the device works best there. Next, start walking!

If you're new to walking great distances, you might want to start off walking for approximately 2,000 or 3,000 steps. Each and every day, increase the number of steps by 500 until you reach your daily goal of 10,000 steps. If you're looking to lose weight, I can't stress how important a proper diet is. If you frequent the fast food establishments, you should think about cutting that down or eliminating that altogether as your weight will likely not change even if you were walking 10,000 steps per day.

Anyway, here are a few great 10,000 steps websites that I thought you would like. Please let me know how many steps you take on a daily basis and also any of your success stories!