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The first thing to do if you want to add 2,000 steps to your day is to examine where you go and what you do each day. If you do not have some idea of your ordinary daily activity, you will not be able to tell if you have even added on step. Many people who want to improve their fitness or keep from gaining weight have probably already done all of the standard things to achieve it. Dodging elevators in favor of stairs, standing up and pacing when talking on the phone, and parking as far from the door of businesses that you visit are some of the obvious ones that everyone does.

If you are already doing this sort of thing, then you have to develop more creative approaches to adding steps. The easiest way to add 2,000 steps is to just add a walk to your routine each day. Even if you already take a walk, you might just have an extra 20-30 minutes at lunch or before work to just add a mile on to your day. That will not quite get you 2,000 steps, but it will get you within a whisker of it.

Another way to approach this is just to duplicate some steps that you already take. For example, If you are doing laundry, make it take two or three trips per load instead of one. Even if the washer is only 30 feet down the hallway, that will add another 25 steps to your day. If you have 4 activities like this, you have already added 100 steps. For most people, with a little forethought, this can easily add half of the 2,000 added steps during a day.

If your television will allow it, change channels by getting up and crossing the room to push the buttons on the set itself. If you are a channel surfer, this can add innumerable steps to your day. Plan to push mow part of your yard if you usually use a riding mower. You might very well get all 2,000 steps with added resistance in one shot.

Anywhere that you visit within 1/2 mile of your house, plan to walk there. A trip to the store and back can get your steps in for the day. You might try listening to books on tape. Using a Walkman or other type of device, you should try to get in a chapter or two per day while walking. This lets you keep up on the best sellers while adding to your steps. If it's a spell-binding book, you might exceed your goal.

Learn more about this author, Allen Teal.
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