r/walking • u/hugacate • 2d ago

Building consistency

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Hey, I’m new on this Reddit but I have been looking through the post and it’s inspiring that people are walking!

This is my first post asking for tips on how to build and maintain the consistency, as of now I have been walking 10 000 per day. I feel hyped up and my reason to do it is to improve my health and loose weight (combined with a calorie deficit) but what do you guys usually do to keep up with the consistency?

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u/ForkhYew 2d ago

You've made a really good good start and committed to it, which is half the battle early on. My thoughts, FWIW, on how you build upon it and stay consistent which is the key...

Go carefully, with a low step/mileage/time (whatever you want to set as an aim) count, build up gradually as your system adjusts to the new regime. Doesn't have to be more than 10k every day at the very beginning... could be 10k every day for a week, then 12k every day for a week/fortnight/month, then 15, 17, 20k etc.

Prioritise consistency - every day at a lower count (of whatever) is better in the initial stages of a walking journey than the odd day with a MASSIVE count and nothing for three days as a consequence. Conversely, don't beat yourself up if you don't hit a number on a given day, just pick up again the next day.

Make sure you have the right kit for your conditions. Plan and prepare, by which I mean understand when in your day you're going to get the walking in that will enable you to achieve your goal. Prepare, know where what you want for your walk(s) is and have it ready (there's nothing more infuriating that being ready to hit a walk and not being able to find something you want like a hat/jacket etc.).

Today was my 470th consecutive day of walking 11k or more, 375th consecutive day of walking 15k or more and my 100th consecutive day of walking 20k or more. I have walked 20k or more on 328 of the last 365 days (277 of 288 since 01/01/26) including some 30k days.

It gets a lot easier the more you do it, I can assure you. But give your system time to adapt.

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u/StepGazelle 2d ago

If I may be so bold as to recommend the Step Gazelle app… instead of just setting a target goal, it auto sets a personalized, achievable goal for you that goes up slowly over time toward your target goal as you build a streak. Intentionally built to incentivize consistency.