A pedometer is often used by individuals who are interested in tracking the total distance they have traveled per day. However, not many people realize that a pedometer can also be used quite successfully as a tool to help you in your weight loss goals. For best results, be sure that your pedometer is accurately calibrated. Put your current age, weight, and height in for best results.

Before discussing whether or not a pedometer can help you to lose weight, it is important to understand fully how weight loss occurs. Most people understand that you lose weight when the number of calories you consume is less than the number of calories that you burn over the course of a particular day. However, the problem comes into play when people are trying to determine exactly how many calories they actually burn per day. While it can be easy to track your calories burned through exercise, these are not the only calories you burn. In fact, they make up a small proportion of your total calorie expenditure per day. In reality, the majority of your burned calories come from normal physiologic functions that happen over the course of the day. In order to get the most accurate measurement of the total number of calories your body uses each day, you would need to undergo a metabolic test. However, you can estimate the total number of calories burned per day by multiplying your weight by 10. For example, if you weigh 150 pounds, you can reasonably expect to burn around 1500 calories per day, excluding exercise.

Next, you must understand that in one pound of fat, there are 3500 calories. Therefore, in order to lose one pound of fat per week, you must cut out 500 calories each day. Say that the person above who weighs 150 pounds and has a daily metabolism of 1500 calories also participates in a walking program for one hour each day. This amount of exercise will typically burn around 500 calories. Therefore, by walking at a moderate pace for one hour each day, this person could lose one pound of weight by the end of the week.

So how exactly can a pedometer help you to lose weight? As discussed above, an average 150 pound person can reasonably expect to lose around 500 calories by participating in a one-hour walking program. But if you don't weigh 150 pounds, or aren't walking for one hour at a moderate pace, a pedometer can be of great assistance. A pedometer not only tells you how far you have walked each day, but it can also accurately measure the number of calories you have burned. This is accomplished through the input of your weight, age, and height. Knowing how many calories you have burned each day can help you to track your progress towards your ultimate weight loss goals.