Walking is the easiest exercise to include in your daily life without needing bulky equipment or a gym membership. Just be sure to wear good shoes for walking, and then take off. You can go for walks alone or with family members or neighbors. You can walk a dog — yours or someone else’s. If shopping, walk some extra distance in the store or parking lot. If you get a pedometer and keep it in your pocket, you will be able to measure how well you are doing, and this can provide a lot more motivation.

I have kept an inexpensive pedometer in the right front pocket of my jeans or other pants for close to five years now. I glance at it from time to time during the day. This helps me gauge how I’m doing so far that day. I can see if I should get on my rebounder, go for a walk, or go outside and toss balls for my dog for a while in our fenced yard… of course, that only works if I walk or run around with the dog, rather than staying in one place. When the weather is bad, I will also just pace around inside my house.

As I work at home, with many hours on the computer, I do best if I take a break every hour or two. That’s a perfect opportunity to get in some walking. Don’t walk late in the evening if it keeps you awake.

Research indicates that many people walk about three to five thousand steps a day. Ten thousand steps is a commonly recommended goal, but I have found that with my knees, I am better off with a goal of seven to nine.

I’m on my second pedometer now, and both have been made by Omron. But whatever brand you come across, pedometers are widely available in stores and online. They aren’t expensive, and they only require a rare battery change of a common small battery. On mine, the instructions were clear for how to set it up, and they likely will be on any model. Even if you didn’t set the pedometer quite right for what your pace length is, that doesn’t really matter for counting the steps; it would only mean that the number of miles shown could be a little high or low.

Walking briskly gives you better health benefits than just strolling along, but it all helps. People are becoming more obese, and there is a very long list of health problems that come with obesity. You don’t want them. Not only will they cut into your enjoyment of life and your effectiveness, but they are expensive. Some can even shorten life significantly. But just walking with a pedometer can help you keep your weight down.

I wish I could brag that due to using my pedometer, I am a perfect size 8 but in fact I am a bit pudgy myself. A period when one of my knees was bad and I couldn’t walk much showed me how beneficial walking routines are, as my weight went up then. I admit to overeating at times of stress too. But now my knee is good, there isn’t much stress, and I’m working on getting my weight down. My pedometer helps me keep walking, and I suggest you try one too! There are other brands, but I have been very happy with Omron.