If you’ve had weight loss surgery in the Dallas or Fort Worth area, then you are well on your journey to achieving life-long good health. Reducing your BMI, or body mass index, with a goal of achieving a normal range for your height may seem impossible to begin with. Fortunately, there are some simple tools that can help you achieve this goal, even if you have a busy lifestyle or find it difficult to follow a structured exercise program to begin with.
A pedometer is a small device that you carry on your person that calculates the number of steps you take in a given day. It’s an inexpensive tool that helps you become aware of the steps you take each day. More importantly, it motivates you to get more steps in every day, even for those that don’t have a lot of time to exercise.
Using a pedometer after weight loss surgery helps you burn more calories and reduce your risk factors for certain diseases. Studies have suggested that incorporating an additional 5000 steps per day into your daily routine can help reduce your risk of such diseases as heart disease, cancer, osteoporosis and diabetes.
When you wear a pedometer after having bariatric surgery, you’ll find that you’ll make little changes in your daily physical activity. For example, you may end up taking the stairs instead of the elevator in an effort to get more steps in. Parking further away from the store will add steps to your day. You may even find that you try to beat the number of steps you took the prior day. Whatever the task, you’ll find that a pedometer is a great motivational tool to help you walk more and burn more calories after having weight loss surgery.
Make wearing your pedometer a habit. Wearing it every day will help you measure your activity and provide you with instant feedback if you revert to old habits of inactivity.
