Does your step count help towards your fat loss goal?

Yes, it does. Your activity levels are the most basic, simple and effective tool you can utilise.

Think about it. How many hours per week are you in the gym? (Or right now, doing home workouts!). 2 - 4 hours, maximum? It’s a fraction of your time.

How many hours do you spend not doing a workout? The rest of your time outside of those 2-4 hours. The majority of your week.

Only focusing the calories you burn while doing a workout (while that will also be beneficial and has its place) isn’t advisable. The calories burned in your session are not going to account for much of your output. You're probably burning a lot less in those workouts than you think. Sad, but true!

Bringing up your N.E.A.T. (Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis) - which is everything from walking and using the stairs, to hoovering your house or running after you kids - will massively impact the calories you burn overall.

Having a step goal is a great way to ensure you’re moving enough. It’s also just another variable we can utilise when we are trying to achieve fat loss.

When I’m dieting, if my fat loss stalls and I don’t want to drop food, or add cardio like HIIT/steady-state on the bike, I know I can increase my step goal. This increases my output (calories burned), so I can continue to progress towards my goal.

Walking puts a lot less strain on the body than a HIIT session or a planned cardio session would. It is low impact and is rather easy to achieve when you make it a habit.

If you haven’t considered a step goal as something of importance when you’re dieting then I highly advise you do so.

Nadia x