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Losing weight can be difficult for anyone – you have to get your head in the right place and you have to be mentally ready for it. But for new mums, it can be even more difficult – suddenly, you have to look after a whole new person, your house and your family. This can make losing weight fall right back on the list of your priorities, but luckily, there is one thing you can do to lose weight that’s easy, free and you can do it with your baby. All you have to do is walk – 10,000 steps per day.

The average person walks between 900 and 3,000 steps per day – so you might think that getting up to 10,000 steps per day is a bit of a challenge. However, you can do it – you just need a pedometer so you can track your steps. You can get a pedometer from a sports shop and a good one costs around $30 or you can also get a free one via Lose Baby Weight over the month of September

How Much Weight Could I Lose?

Walking 10,000 steps every day will burn off roughly 3,500 extra calories per week. And burning off 3,500 calories per week burns off half 500g of fat – so combine your walking routine with a healthy and sensible diet and you can easily lose between 500g – 1kg a week. This weight loss is healthy, sustainable and easy – and it will help you to maintain your weight in the long term.

Generally, you need to create a calorie deficit of up to 700-800 calories per day – this will make your weight loss even more sustainable. So if you eat 2,000 calories per day, reduce your intake to around 1,700 or 1,800 – this calorie deficit probably won’t even be noticeable, but in conjunction with the 500 calories you’ll be burning off every day through walking, it’s an excellent way to melt away the weight.

Why is Walking Good for Me?

Walking is good for you in other ways, too, aside from helping you to lose weight – it helps reduce the risk of obesity, and with it, the risk of heart disease and liver disease. Walking regularly also halves your risk of certain diseases and cancers, and it also helps you to feel fit and healthy – and the endorphins it releases will make you feel happier, too!

Walking also improves your energy levels – the more you walk, surprisingly, the more energetic you’ll feel. It also improves your posture.

How Quickly Should I Walk?

Research has shown that if you walk your 10,000 steps in a brisk half hour or hour, it is better for you than if you take those steps leisurely instead. A brisk walk gets your cardiovascular system working, which reduces the risk of heart disease and heart attack – it also reduces the risk of high blood pressure later on in life. Walking briskly also burns more calories off, so the faster you walk, the more effective the exercise. However, if you can’t get your steps in in just half an hour, that’s fine too – any exercise is much better than none.

How Can I Increase the Number of Steps I Take?

It might seem a scary prospect to increase your steps to 10,000 per day, but there are a few ways to do it at home with your baby.

  • Put your baby into a pram and pound the pavements – and the hills, as you’ll burn off twice as many calories if you walk up a big hill. The pram also creates resistance, making the exercise more effective.
  • Hold baby tightly in your arms or put them in a sling and have a boogie around the house!
  • You’ve got floor space – so use it! When your baby is napping, run up and down the stairs, do laps around your living room or run round the garden.
  • Use your spare time. You might not think you have any spare time, but take periods such as television commercials as an opportunity to exercise – jog on the spot or run round your house and you can really increase your step count for the day in just a few minutes.

If you’re new to exercise, speak to your doctor or midwife before starting.

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  • I used to run around 8hours at work and still not get 10000 steps. I have no hope now being a stay at home mum. But don’t care

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  • I wish I could get out and do 10k steps but with young kids it’s a bit hard. Even more so in winter

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  • A pleasant way to slowly shape up, I’m in

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  • Little changes add up over time ,????

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  • As someone who had a low milk supply, I found balancing inhaling “milk enhancing” foods, getting rest and getting enough exercise was difficult. I tend to lose weight easily but gain it back just as easily. I’m still trying to find a sustainable way that works for me

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  • I have a Samsung watch which tracks my steps.
    My target each day is 6 thousand but not I’ll have to up that!
    I haven’t been doing as many steps with COVID and working from home not to mention my watch is playing up and hasn’t been counting my steps properly.
    Thank you for sharing this. I’ll have to look into another mode of step tracking!

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  • I never have that many steps

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  • Just moving more during the day will help increase energy expenditure and with a healthy balance diet it’s great lifestyle changes that will help you maintain your weight too

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  • I got a fit bit recently and was surprised how little steps I do per day to what I thought I actually did.

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  • When I used to look after my granddaughter 3 days a week when she was not at walking age sometimes I would carry her and walk around the block briskly. That kept me fit and in shape too! lol!!!

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  • I walk my dogs every day for an hour, not sure how many steps this is, I watch what I eat and still can’t budge the last 10kgs

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  • A really interesting article! I know someone who did that with there work! Thank for this read!

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  • We do the 10,000 step challenge

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  • I didn’t think I would ever walk 10,000 steps a day, it just seemed like a huge number, but there were nights when I was jogging on the spot to make up the last couple of 100’s steps. It’s amazing how much we walk when the babies take their first steps!!

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  • a pedometer is great and a lot of busy mums will easily be doing these amounts of steps and more.

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  • I hope bits easier then it seems

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  • Spring is a good time to get out there… time to get walking 10,000 steps a day.
    This is my new goal.

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  • Time to invest in a pedometer. I walk everywhere but am really interested to find out just how many steps I am doing.


    • I found a really good app which counts your steps & shows how many calories you’ve burned etc.
      It’s not that hard to do 10000 steps a day, but it’s a good motivator to walk more if I haven’t reached my goal.

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  • i have been wanting to do this for ages, and reading about just how effective it is makes me want to do it even more.

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  • I always try to walk at least 10,000 steps a day. I notice that if I do walk this amount of steps in a day, then my weight will slowly go down. If I walk less than 10,000 steps a day then my weight either stays the same or even increases. The exercise trackers are a great way of keeping track of steps walked.

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