Hello

I am new to the site, I am charging my Fitbit at home have used it before but a while ago. I hope to get going again from Monday with my new lifestyle, I walk everywhere as I do not drive. I am retired at 48 due to health problems but wish to get to the 10,000 steps the government recommended to do daily but I have been told by my nurse at the Doctors that walking will not help me much as I have walked all my life my body's will not get much benefit out of it, any thoughts on this.

[Realfoodieclub]

I'm not a Health professional and I really do wish they wouldn't make flippant remarks like that, it serves no purpose at all.

Any activity is better than no activity , that is just a fact. We all start with our own capabilities and we can build on them. Walking is a great way to get fit at any level that you can manage.

The person going out and doing their first 1000 steps is making a great headway to getting healthier, the person who is already at 10,000 and increaseing their distance or speed is doing exactly the same for their body.

As with any exercise they recommend you shake it up every 6 weeks so the body doesn't get too comfortable.

in your case I would think of speed maybe. I speed walk. And I would challenge any nurse or doctor to tell me it's not doing me any good. I get up to a pace that isn't running but it will of raised my heartrate and will be burning calories and working my heart muscles. It has kept me very fit at times when I couldn't run. It is my go to exercise.

They say walking 10,000 steps a day can burn up to 300 kcal a day so that's not to be sneezed at at all either.

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Hi regleedailylife - walking may not improve your quality of life much if you are a walker already, but my goodness if you stop it will surely get worse! Trouble with most health professionals is that they are actually "illness" professionals and are geared towards curing sickness, not creating good health! You do what feels right to you - after all, no one knows your body as well as you do! Good luck, and keep posting - you'll get lots of support and common sense here!

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Thank you