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Comment by AdmiralAsshat | Hacker News Reader

Well that's good to know. I literally can't get to 10,000 steps during a normal day unless I make it a goal during my lunch break to run down to the gym and walk around 4 miles on the treadmill. Since my walking speed is 3.2/3.5 mph, this can't be done leisurely. My only hope for getting to 10,000 is that I'll do the 3.5 or so at the gym and then hopefully be required to run to the grocery store later in the evening so that I can be forced to walk more.

The fitness tracker is supposed to be a motivator, but instead when I see that I'm only at 7-8k per day even after an hour-long walk, it feels more like a fat shamer.

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At the risk of posting in a topic that I have a professional interest in --

this is the entire point. You aren't getting enough activity in your day. Now, personally I think the emphasis on steps is a little overblown -- and no the "right" metric is not necessarily heart rate. Instead people need to be thinking in terms of a balanced budget of activity, calorie intake, and nutrition. You won't get a good outcome unless you're balancing all of those. What you find when you really try hard to do this is that the baseline activity level for most sedentary workers is incompatible with any kind of "normal" American diet while still getting adequate nutrition. Increasing the activity level is part of the puzzle, but you need to be thinking holistically for it to actually work well.

   I literally can't get to 10,000 steps during a normal day unless..

Isn't this pretty literally the problem that such approaches are trying to address? I mean, if you believe that a fundamental health issue for yourself is due to a sedentary lifestyle then a tracker like this is hoping to help you change that lifestyle, not just change your lunch break (although that can be a good baby step on the way).

I have a typical in front of the screen job, just walking to and from work and from meeting to meeting. I found that 10000 steps were not much of a problem for a typical work day, if I consequently walked. No elevator, no bus.

10000 steps should be about 4 to 5 miles or 6 to 8 km. I always thought this is realistic for a typical work day, but your comment made me thinking that maybe my tracker is just off. I should compare it to a GPS log one day.

Most people don't walk to work. I live eight miles away from the office, so that's not really an option for me.

Then take the bike ... walking is not the only way to exercise.

Conveniently buses tend to stop at multiple places - not just your home and your office.

So, assuming your interest is in walking more (but not necessarily 16 miles a day) you could perhaps walk a little way, and catch the bus from a different stop. And/or perhaps get off the bus a few stops before your office and walk the last bit. You can adjust to taste depending on how you're feeling, how late / early you're running, whether it's raining, and so on.

Well shame and motivation are pretty much antipodal, the sheer amount of shame should motivate you.

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