Years ago I got a Fitbit and started walking 5,000 steps a day. Then I decided I would try to do 10,000 but it took some thinking on HOW to get that many steps which was actually really simple. I had always parked a distance from the building so that helped the step count, but to get more steps, instead of walking directly to my assigned spot, I would weave through the complex when arriving and leaving work. Did not take much time to do the extra walk but it really increase the steps. I would also walk at lunch. When a bathroom break was needed, I would not go to the closest bathroom but one that required a long walk.
Turned out it was easy to get 10,000 steps. The I decided to walk 20,000 steps a day, mainly to loose weight and this really took some effort but in the end it was not that hard. It was pretty simple. When watching TV, get up and start walking, often just in place but sometimes I will circle around to break it up. Then one day, as a kind of a joke, I said I am going to run in place to get more steps faster. Well, it was a joke, but I started doing that as well, since it broke things up, got steps faster, and increased the heart rate.
I also started trying Intermittent Fasting. I was loosing a bit of weight with the steps but weight would still go up and down. Part of this was drinking beer which I will get back too in a bit. The problem I had with Intermittent Fasting was the fasting time. Intermittent fasting just means one does not eat for a certain number of hours, usually 12, 14, or 16. I would prioritize getting 20,000 steps, which meant I would eat later than I wanted too, which would push out when I could eat next, so I would not get a decent number of fasting hours. For me to loose weight, I really need a 16 hour fast. It took a year or so to figure this all out.
Eventually, I gave up on doing 20,000 steps and now aim for 10,000, and usually get around 12,000-13,000, with some days getting up to 20,000. I aim to eat no later than 8:00pm and thus I can get a 16 hour fast by noon the next day. This has really helped to loose weight, IF I DON'T drink alcohol beer.
Decades ago, I noticed that beer, like many drinks, has too many calories which increases your weight or makes it harder to loose weight. Basically a can of beer or soda, which I don't drink, is a mile worth of calories. I started to drink carbonated water most of the week and this would help me loose weight. Course, eventually, I would go back to drink beer and the weight would come back....
A family member recommended non alcohol beer, which is pretty danged good, and lower in calories. No calorie free but lower. Heineken 0 is pretty good and there is even a Guinness non alcohol beer. I can tell the difference between the alcohol and non alcohol versions, but it is very slight. This has helped me loose weight but still enjoy a beer.
I do a bit of weight lifting, and there is work around the place that gets done, but doing steps is easy to do and I do it each and every day. I have tried to go gyms but that is just sooooo boring and it takes time to get to/from the gym. Not to mention the expense. The gyms I have used were part of a health care system so there were people doing rehab. It is a motivator when seeing people with the big Y scar on their chest.
