Okay, I unearthed the pedometer this morning.  I went for a walk before work today...35 minutes, 2,940 steps, 1.4 miles.

I don't expect to do 10,000 steps/day...but, at least I'm moving.  I sit at a desk w/ a calculator, computer and a pencil all day.

Anyone want to join me?

It's great that you're exercising, Terry. May I ask what your goals are? Walking isn't exactly a fat burning exercise.

I disagree with you Scott. Sometimes people don't have a chance to get in any excercise, and I think motivating others to take a walk during the day or even count thier steps is a great thing to do- goals or not.

And walking does a lot of good for the body, even if it isnt a high calorie burning activity. Someone my height and weight can walk at a moderate pace (3 mph) and burn 150 calories. Walking is one of the suggested ways to lose cellulite according to a few sources I have read.

It's too bad this topic lost steam! 

I remember when using a pedometer and counting 10,000 steps a day became a trend.  Many people find that they do walk close to that amount every day just through a 30 minute to 1 hour walk plus the walking here and there they do in their everyday lives.  One of them that I know is a therapist which is a pretty sedentary job.

I've read quite a bit about exercise and weight control and it's true that every little bit you do counts.  Walking up or down four flights of stairs once a week might not seem like much, but when you combine it with other small lifestyle activities it becomes significant.

I've been using a stationary bike for almost four years now, and have also been practicing yoga for a little over 10 years.  I find that I generally can't do both in one day, because that takes way too much time.  The bike is easiest for me, because I don't have to change into yoga clothes and get the mat, etc.  For the bike I just grab my iPod and hop onto it.

I had been doing 30 minutes a day, and dieting a bit here and there.  Then a friend of mine slipped from about a size 20 down to what appears to be somewhere in the size 6-10 range.   (It took her a couple of years, but the last couple of months were so dramatic everyone thought it had happened overnight.)

When we were discussing this at dinner one night, one of my children mentioned that she walks for an hour every day, either outside with friends or on the treadmill.  I complained that now that I've gotten older (almost 52) it's been very hard for me to lose weight and I've been riding the stationary bike for almost 4 years!

My husband, who is a family physician and has an amazing intuitive understanding of how our bodies work, said to me, "If you ride your bike for an hour every day, you'll lose weight, I guarantee it."

So I've been doing that and watching my carb count for a month, and I AM losing weight!

Cassandra, I don't disagree that walking will burn calories or that it is good for you. But walking will not burn fat. In order to burn fat your heart must be in the "fat burning zone". Walking does not get you there. I do agree that it is good to have goals and to exercise, but it isn't as easy as just walking around the block.

Leah, your husband is right in the fact that you will lose weight. You will lose water weight and muscle. You will also lose a little bit of fat for the first few times you ride (if your heart is in the fat burning zone), but after that you will not. The reason is that the more cardio you do, the more efficient your body becomes at burning calories.

Even if your heart does rise to the indicated zone that is needed to burn body fat, you must remain there for 20 mins to burn your entire glucose reserves and then, after those intial 20 mins, you will begin to burn fat.

I am a student of Exercise Physiology at EMU. Regardless of the missconceptions, shedding body fat is not as easy as you would think. There is very, very common misconception that losing "weight" and losing "fat" are the same thing. They are not the same by any means. You can be a thin fat person--someone who is low in weight, but simply because most of their mass is composed of body fat and not lean muscle.

Well how much walking and at what speed does one have to walk to burn the most amount of fat?  It's important that people get facts and encouragement.  Walking does burn fat, and if you walk faster and longer, you will burn more fat.  And it keeps the muscles toned.  I guess you have to use that method of finding your optimal heart rate which varies based on your age/sex.

http://jumk.de/bmi/pulse.php

Then it's a matter of keeping your pulse/heartrate above that particular number to allow maximum fat burning.

Plus people who are exercising tend to eat better, so that helps too.  I really haven't changed my diet too much, except for not eating McDonald's for breakfast anymore.  Now I have oatmeal and fruit instead.  I ride the stationary bike at a pretty fast speed for 35 minutes, and I've lost 40 pounds in 5 months.  Of course, probably some of that was water weight, but I've also gained some muscle mass through lifting weight.