​Have you ever heard the notion that walking 10,000 steps a day leads to improved health outcomes? Well you may be surprised to learn that metric was developed for a marketing strategy in 1965 to sell a pedometer called Manpo-kei—translated to the “10,000 steps meter.”
 
Walking 10,000 steps is roughly equal to 5 miles and about 500 calories. But the original focus of tracking step counts was not to set exercise goals or lose weight. Rather, exercise scientists have studied step counts as a practical measure of sedentary behaviors.
 
Steps are a measure of how sedentary one is during the day outside of intentional exercise. In other words, step counts help to determine whether our Activities of Daily Living (ADLs) keep our body in motion or whether we sit for most of the day. Even if you intentionally exercise one hour a day, you are still considered sedentary if your steps are limited on average to about 2,700 steps a day. Likewise, if you jog 5 miles a day, i.e. 10,000 steps, but your step count outside that intentional activity is in the 2,700-step range, then you are still considered sedentary.
 
The Health Implications of an Increasingly Sedentary Society
 
Since the 1950s, rapid advances and changes in technology, communication, transportation and the workplace have evolved us into a society that spends much of the day sitting and less time being active. Being inactive, or taking fewer than 2,700 steps a day, has been linked to metabolic diseases, cardiovascular disease, dementia, depression, falls, sarcopenia, osteoporosis and cancer. It is now widely recognized that there is value in breaking up the time we spend sitting.
 
Science-Backed Goals with Encouraging Figures
 
Since the unofficial target of the 10,000-steps-a-day metric was an arbitrary number, what does science say is an ideal step count to counteract the effects of being sedentary?
 
Last summer a meta-analysis of 31 studies found that 7,000 steps a day vs. 2,000 steps is a clinically meaningful goal.
 
Importantly, researchers found this can lead to a 47% lower risk of all-cause and cardiovascular disease mortality, 25% lower risk of cardiovascular disease incidence, 37% lower risk of cancer mortality, 14% lower risk of diabetes, 38% lower risk of dementia, 22% lower risk of depressive symptoms, and a 28% lower risk of falls.
 
Finding Ways to Stay Active
 
After you have exercised with intention each day, what are some ways you can defy gravity and increase your ADL steps?
 
General Activities

• Stand/walk around when speaking on the phone
• Do your own housecleaning or gardening
• Walk the dog the long way home (fun fact: dog owners have lower BP, cholesterol and triglycerides!)
• Meeting a friend for coffee? Go for a stroll instead of sitting at a café.
• Get off the couch at each commercial break (Even better? Lose the remote and get up to change the channel or volume—if your TV set still has those physical functions!)
• Golfing? Skip the golfcart and walk the course
• Go shopping in person instead of online
• Plan some fun that involves walking such as visiting a museum, art gallery, flea market, street fair, etc.

 
Getting Around

• Get off the bus or subway one stop earlier and walk to your destination from there
• Walk errands
• Take the stairs down, elevator up
• Don’t use the drive-through window, park and walk inside
• Park as far away from the store door as possible

 
At Work (if you are working in an office setting):

• Use the printer/copier farthest from your desk
• Set a timer to go off every 20 minutes to stand up and walk around
• Get out of the office for at least 20 minutes each day to walk a few errands (this can be a great mental health break, too!)

 
And remember, what gets measured gets managed, so a small investment in a pedometer or fitness watch may be a worthwhile expense.
 
If your New Year’s resolution to start exercising with intention has fallen through, or if you already exercise with intention and want to stay motivated, Motivated Mondays, a member benefits through my partnership with Concierge Choice Physicians is about to embark on a two-month long resolution around exercise. If you aren’t already signed up, you may do so by clicking here.
 
And as always, we are here to help you achieve your wellness goals. Please reach out if you have any specific questions.

If you want to be alive, love is the truest health.
-Rumi
 
Over the past decade, researchers have used PET scans, MRIs and biomarkers to assess the neurobiology of love between romantic partners. In doing so, they’ve been able to get a closer look at the body’s chemical response to love and even explain such phenomena as “feeling weak in the knees,” or being “madly in love.” From the initial attraction to long-term marriage, the data demonstrates that being in a supportive, loving relationship offers several health benefits.
 
Do you know that feeling when just the thought of someone makes you weak in the knees? As it turns out, that feeling is not just in your head! Researchers have discovered that the initial throws of romance create a physiological stress response, including the release of a cascade of neurochemicals, most notably cortisol. This leaves our heart racing, induces sleepless nights and can lead to excitement and trembling at the thought of the person we admire. This biochemical response also leads to less fear, reduced depression and improved mood.
 
Moreover, owing to love-induced hypercortisolemia (a temporary rise in cortisol), serotonin is reduced, potentially leading to irrational behavior and lack of judgement particularly affecting our ability to critically assess our partner—a phenomena that leaves some feeling that “love is blind.”
 
And when we’re in love, our dopamine reward centers become activated (the same reward centers associated with addiction). This might leave us feeling indescribably infatuated with someone or, as some refer to it, “madly in love.”
 
As a romantic relationship endures, cortisol and adrenaline eventually level off. And as intimacy and emotional connection level up, something known as “pair bonding” occurs, wherein oxytocin (the “love” hormone), vasopressin (which regulate your kidneys) and GABA (the brain’s primary calming neurotransmitter) are released, leading to the relaxation response restoring the autonomic nervous system to homeostasis. This leads to a sense of calm, contentment and security as the heart rate, blood pressure and oxygen consumption are reduced. This stage also includes an upregulation of the immune system, improved mitochondrial efficiency, improved insulin secretion and reduced sensitivity to pain, i.e., love-induced analgesia.
 
Notably, the health benefits of love are sustained in long-term healthy relationships, specifically in those whom continue to describe themselves as “in love.” Sustaining that love through acts of kindness and displays of affection promotes a greater sense of purpose and well-being, further boost oxytocin, and lower blood pressure, leading to greater heart health and improved mood.
 
Importantly, the physiological benefits of love don’t just disappear when someone is not partnered. In fact, acts of self-love and displays of love for friends and family have many of the same life-sustaining benefits.
 
So this Valentine’s day (and every day), we encourage you to celebrate the love that sustains you, be it with a partner, with yourself, or in the nurturing relationships with friends and family.