Using foot power to get where you need to go can be more fun and healthy with a fairly inexpensive gadget. It's estimated pedometers can help you lose about one pound every ten weeks. It can also help you maintain a good blood pressure.
"Pedometers are nifty little gadgets that count steps according to your body movement. Just clipping one on seems to make people want to walk more," said Jenny Cook, Good Houskeeping.
Seventeen panelists tested 10 of the newest pedometers to check their reliability.
"We had our panelists walk on the treadmill at speeds of 2.5 and 3.5 miles-per-hour for about 10 minutes. I counted their steps with a counter and then we compared their actual pedometer readings to the counter readings," said Charmaine Gillespie, Good Houskeeping.
The panelists named the Accusplit Eagle multi-function pedometer as their top choice. The pedometer measures calories burnt and distance walked.
"This one is small. It's compact. I forget that it's there," said Nicole Larsen, tester.
Another pedometer winning high praise is the Omron Pocket Pedometer. You can actually hook it up to your computer to track the steps you've taken, the calories you've burned and the distance you covered. For those that want something just basic, the Yamax Digi-Walker is a both simple and accurate.
A recent Stanford University study found people who wear a pedometer take more than 2,000 extra steps a day - that's more than a mile.
