Weight Loss: 5 Ways Counting Your Steps Can Make Your Daily Walks More Fun

Counting your steps can make you want to push your limites to achieve better goals

Starting a fitness regimen can be a daunting task. But with the right exercise, jumpstarting your journey to a healthier, fitter you can be a walk in the park, figuratively and literally. Simple, and effective, walking doesn't require the bells and whistles most other forms of exercise do. All you need is a pair of comfortable shoes and you can be on your way. However, given its simplicity and accessibility, it's easy to put off the activity for another day. With that said, given the marvels of 21st-century technology, this humble exercise has now upped its game with the clever motivation of step counting.

From goal-setting to reward planning, with an app or wearable, step counting has proven to be a truly effective tool to make walking engaging and fun. So, let's take a look at a few ways counting your steps can help you jumpstart your walking routine or just simply make those daily walks a little more entertaining.

Also read: 5 Simple Yet Effective Ways To Increase Your Daily Step Count, From A Fitness Trainer

Weight loss: How counting your steps can make your walks more fun

1. Helps you set better goals

Exercise and getting fit is a gradual process of improvement to achieve long-term sustainable goals. But if we rush into doing too much too soon we risk the possibility of losing momentum and motivation or even injury. In the case of walking a pedometer can help you set smaller goals to help you gradually build up to your overarching target. 

2. Enables you to keep a track of your progress

One of the greatest benefits of being able to count your steps is the ability to monitor and track your progress. There is no better motivator than looking down at your wearable or tracking app and seeing all those steps clocked and calories lost. You no longer have to rely on the weighing scale to help you feel accomplished. So whether it's setting a target for the number of calories to burn a day or just achieving your daily step target to get you to those 10,000 steps a day, counting your steps give an incentive to add a little pep to your step.

Counting steps can help you keep a track of your progress
Photo Credit: iStock

Also read: How Completing 10,000 Steps In A Day Can Benefit You, As Told By A Fitness Expert

3. You can reward every achievement

Rewards are a great motivator and counting your steps to the mini-goals you've set is a great way to ensure that every accomplishment is given due recognition and that you sustain the excitement of getting up and moving. Reward yourself every time you make progress, and it can be a big motivator to keep going on. 

4. Makes losing weight fun

After a while exercise can get a little monotonous. You've run out of playlists to listen to and you've tried every possible walking route to keep things interesting. Teaming up with a friend or group to create a fun walking challenge, with step counts being the ultimate goal, can be a great way to switch things up in your routine. Add a little social interaction in the mix and suddenly you've got an engaging way to keep to your fitness commitment while also encouraging others around you to begin their journey as well. 

5. Motivates you to push your limits

Taking all these factors into consideration, one of the most important aspects of step counting is the ability to gradually build your stamina and capabilities. If it's been a while since you've really worked out, walking is a great way to initiate the process. And as you go along, with every step you take you can look back and identify just how much you've been able to push the envelope on your physical capabilities.

Also read: Is Walking 10,000 Steps A Day Equivalent To A Workout? Experts Reveal

(Shivjeet Ghatge, CEO and Co-founder, StepSetGo)

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