You can find more steps to take almost anywhere, anytime. Every additional step adds up to more calories burned.

Walking is the king of all exercise because it is free, available and good for your health. Walking requires no equipment, can be done almost anywhere, lowers blood pressure, shapes and tones your body, burns calories, strengthens back muscles, reduces the risk of heart disease and diabetes, and reduces stress.

I’ve read that if walking were a drug it would be the most prescribed drug on earth. We humans are world class walkers. Our ancestors walked miles each day to hunt and gather food. You have this incredible innate ability to walk a lot longer and farther than you think.

America on the Move is an organization dedicated to helping you exploit your walking genius for weight loss. Their initiative is to improve health and prevent obesity with a goal for each person to move more and eat less by making 2 small daily changes.

1.      Add an extra 2000 steps (or activity equivalent) to your day. Two thousand steps is about one mile.

2.      Choose one smart way to eat 100 fewer calories each day. One hundred calories is about one tablespoon of butter.

If you can implement both of these steps, you will prevent the current average American weight gain of 1-2 pounds a year.

The long term goal of America on the Move is for everyone to take a total of 10,000 steps a day, which is approximately 5 miles. That’s about how far our hunter-gatherer ancestors walked each day. Even an inactive person takes 1,000 to 3,000 steps a day.

Every little bit helps. Start with a few extra steps and then add more as you can. We’ll be covering a number of strategies on how to add more walking to your Exercise Safe Zone.

Their program has you use a pedometer to count the number of steps you take each day.  A step counter is a simple device you attach to your waist band or belt. It counts the number of steps you take as you walk. Pedometers can be bought at any sports store.

You start by using the step counter to get an idea how many steps you take in a day on average. Then you make a goal of walking 2000 more steps a day. If you can manage to do that you are getting more exercise and burning more calories. After you reach your 2000 steps you can make an even higher goal.

At first I thought this program was, well, silly. The idea of counting your steps rather than going running or something more substantial didn’t seem useful to me. But I’ve totally changed my tune.

Now I seek extra steps everywhere. Thinking about adding a few extra steps wherever you can is very powerful idea. And the extra steps really add up. How much do all the extra steps add up to? That’s why the step counter is useful. It tells you in no uncertain terms the return in extra steps on your step increasing efforts. Using the step counter is excellent feedback on how you’re doing and having a good source of feedback is critical for keeping any strategy on target.

Measuring Activity Using Steps is Better than Using Time

Using a pedometer and having a goal of walking a certain number of steps a day may be more effective than setting a goal of exercising a certain amount of time. One study found the actual physical activity recorded was significantly lower for women whose goal was to exercise 30 minutes a day when compared to women who had a goal of reaching 10,000 steps a day.

 The reason was that the women who had a 10,000 step a day goal would still come close to their goal, even if they didn’t quite reach it. Women who had a goal of exercising 30 minutes may have had an all-or-nothing attitude that caused them to give up when they couldn’t fit in their 30 minutes of exercise.

This study is an exciting confirmation of my own experience. When your goal is to get more steps each day, you can seize any opportunity to add more steps to your total. If your goal is to exercise 30 minutes, it’s all too easy just to skip it.

For some reason, when I had a goal of adding an extra 2000 steps a day, I started looking for all sorts of ways to add additional steps. Just having a goal makes a difference. Goals get your mind unconsciously plotting on your behalf.

Now I find more steps almost everywhere. I can take a longer path through the grocery store. I can get up from my desk at work and take a short walk. I can park farther away from entrances. I can take the stairs instead of an elevator. I can get up during TV commercials and take a little walk. Once you start looking, steps are everywhere for the taking.

Get Your Home, Work, School, and Community on the Move

America on the Move has a readymade program you can use to set up their program for yourself, for work, for school, for your community, or for any group you belong to. Their website gives a complete set of materials for starting a realistic weight loss program. It’s a great way of getting people started.

To Learn More

·        The America on the Move website is at http://www.americaonthemove.org. On this site you’ll find their complete program offerings.