Tag: omron pedometer

I love my Omron Pedometer. I am constantly checking it throughout the day just to make sure that I am on track to meet my fitness goals.

With pedometer secured, I am totally focused on “step currency.” That’s a term for my personal game where I earn steps (or points) throughout the day for completing certain activities. So, I am now figuring out how many steps I will be rewarded with each activity. Huge stores are priceless. I picked up 1,000+ steps at Costco a few days ago. That really helped boost my step count. The pedometer also totally reverses my normal strategy. Ordinarily, parking karma means securing a prime spot right by your destination. However, if you are trying to boost your step count, parking a little further away is now a positive, not a negative. Imagine, fighting for that spot in the parking lot that is the furthest away. A total change in thinking for the better.

I recent purchased an Omron HJ-112 Digital Pocket Pedometer. Amazon also sells the Omron HJ-113 Digital Pocket Pedometer, but only through a third-party. Besides the obvious color difference, the HJ-112 has a front reset button to zero out your stats, and the HJ-113 does not.

First, I am a reluctant adopter of a pedometer. I thought it would end up being another pointless gadget to lug around throughout the day. However, after just two days of use, I am really glad I purchased it. The Omron HJ-112 pedometer is a rather basic model. No stored stats with accompanying maps or color charts like the RunKeeper iPhone App. However, the trade off is that the Omron HJ-112 pedometer boasts a tremendous battery life measured in months, unlike the iPhone 3GS while running RunKeeper.

Anyways, the pedometer has really proven to be a good motivational tool because it made me realize how little exercise I was getting during the work day. On my first day, I only mustered around 500 steps at work. Hard to hit that 10,000 daily step goal when the prime hours of the day are wasted in sedentary work while plopped right in front of a desk. I thought I would be generating a few thousand steps at work, but that was not the case. Anyways, I soon realized that I had to take full advantage of every opportunity to walk, such as walking (instead of driving) the kids to school or eating at a cafe down the street instead of at a restaurant in the same work complex.

Another lesson I learned is that stealing a 1-2,000 steps throughout the day is a far more manageable practice than trying to meet the entire 10,000 step goal all at once. From parking down the street at work to taking the long way to lunch, you can add to your tally without ending up completely drained for the day.