How physically active are you? Would you be more motivated to increase daily physical activity if you had an easy way to monitor your level of activity? If so, consider wearing a pedometer to track the number of steps you take each day—a rough but easily obtainable reflection of daily physical activity.
Determine Your Baseline
Wear the pedometer for a week to obtain a baseline average daily number of steps.
| M | T | W | Th | F | Sa | Su | |
| Steps |
Set Goals
Set an appropriate goal for increasing steps. The goal of 10,000 steps per day is widely recommended, but your personal goal should reflect your baseline level of steps. For example, if your current daily steps are far below 10,000, a goal of walking 2000 additional steps each day might be appropriate. If you are already close to 10,000 steps per day, choose a higher goal. Also consider the physical activity goals in the 2005 Dietary Guidelines:
- To reduce the risk of chronic disease, aim to accumulate at least 30 minutes of moderate physical activity per day.
- To help manage body weight and prevent gradual, unhealthy weight gain, engage in 60 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous-intensity activity on most days of the week.
- To sustain weight loss, engage daily in at least 60-90 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity.
To help gauge how close you are to meeting these time-based physical activity goals, you might walk for 10 or 15 minutes while wearing your pedometer to determine how many steps correspond with the time-based goals from the Dietary Guidelines.
Once you have set your overall goal, break it down into several steps. For example, if your goal is to increase daily steps by 2000, set mini-goals of increasing daily steps by 500, allowing 2 weeks to reach each mini-goal. Smaller goals are easier to achieve and can help keep you motivated and on track. Having several interim goals also gives you the opportunity to reward yourself more frequently. Note your goals below:
| Mini-goal 1: | Target date: | Reward: | |||||
| Mini-goal 2: | Target date: | Reward: | |||||
| Mini-goal 3: | Target date: | Reward: | |||||
| Overall goal: | Target date: | Reward: |
Develop Strategies for Increasing Steps
What can you do to become more active? Your text includes a variety of suggestions, including walking when you do errands, getting off one stop down the line from your destination on public transportation, parking an extra block or two away from your destination, and doing at least one chore every day that requires physical activity. If weather or neighborhood safety is an issue, look for alternative locations to walk. For example, find an indoor gym or shopping mall or even a long hallway. Check out locations that are near or on the way to your campus, workplace, or residence. If you think walking indoors will be dull, walk with friends or family members or wear headphones (if safe) and listen to music or books on tape.
Are there any days of the week for which your baseline steps are particularly low and/or it will be especially difficult because of your schedule to increase your number of steps? Be sure to develop specific strategies for difficult situations. Below, list at least five strategies for increasing daily steps:
Track Your Progress
Based on the goals you set, fill in your goal portion of the progress chart with your target average daily steps for each week. Then wear your pedometer every day and note your total daily steps. Track your progress toward each minigoal and your final goal. Every few weeks, stop and evaluate your progress. If needed, adjust your plan and develop additional strategies for increasing steps. In addition to the chart in this worksheet, you might also want to graph your daily steps to provide a visual reminder of how you are progressing toward your goals. Make as many copies of this chart as you need.
| Week | Goal | M | T | W | Th | F | Sa | Su | Average |
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| 2 | |||||||||
| 3 | |||||||||
| 4 |
Progress Checkup
How close are you to meeting your goal? How do you feel about your program and your progress?
If needed, describe changes to your plan and additional strategies for increasing steps:
| Week | Goal | M | T | W | Th | F | Sa | Su | Average |
| 5 | |||||||||
| 6 | |||||||||
| 7 | |||||||||
| 8 |
Progress Checkup
How close are you to meeting your goal? How do you feel about your program and your progress?
If needed, describe changes to your plan and additional strategies for increasing steps:
| Week | Goal | M | T | W | Th | F | Sa | Su | Average |
| 9 | |||||||||
| 10 | |||||||||
| 11 | |||||||||
| 12 |
Progress Checkup
How close are you to meeting your goal? How do you feel about your program and your progress?
If needed, describe changes to your plan and additional strategies for increasing steps: