Shoes, Ships, and Sealing Wax

More on pedometers

A visitor to my humble blog came via the Google search "Are McDonalds pedometers any good?"

After nearly a week of playing with the pedometers (yeah, you know I was first in line for a Go Active meal. I love that balsamic vinaigrette dressing.) I have discovered that I am not even sedentary (7000 steps a day). My category, if they had one, would have to be "slackass." My daily step count is in the 4000-6000 range, it looks like. It doesn't help that my office is in a one-story building, we have a small parking lot, and my printer is about 18 inches from my desk. And this week was quite hot, so the dog had pretty short walks, for her sake...when her tail drops and her tongue hits the sidewalk, I don't want to push her. Last thing I need is an overweight elderly beagle having a heart attack on me.

Excuses, excuses.

(I haven't worn the pedometer at the gym or while doing my aerobics tapes, which is usually where I get my 30 or so minutes of activity every day. I'm not worried about fitness levels, I just wondered where I stood in normal activity. Now I know, and I'm chagrined.)

Anyway, to answer Googler's question: the McDonald's pedometer works just as well as my other two freebie pedometers as a step counter. I like that it has a cover so you can't accidentally hit the reset button, and it has a pretty good spring clip so it doesn't fall off your pants when you move. The drawbacks: you don't actually calibrate anything, so the only data you have is number of steps, not miles walked or calories burned. And the one thing that annoyed me is that the click from the mechanics seems really loud. I'm self-conscious wearing it at work, because I'm afraid everyone can hear me.

This week's Lean Plate Club (a Washington Post feature that I frequently invoke; it's a common-sense approach to everyday fitness and nutrition for real working people) is about pedometers, if you're looking for more information.

And me, I'm looking for ways to increase my steps. I think I'll bribe myself...a walk around the block before typing each blog entry. That should get me out of the sedentary range.

Posted by Nic at May 14, 2004 09:46 PM