'I lost more than 8st - the fat melted off after I introduced a low-impact activity into my daily routine'

Health institutions across the world recommend walking 10,000 steps a day, which equates to a distance of roughly five miles.

Though this guideline is supported internationally, one slimmer strongly disagrees with the target.

Louise, a slimmer who started her journey at 269lbs (around 19s stone), believes this is an unrealistic number for those battling obesity, for example.

In a recent YouTube clip, the content creator claimed she started with a modest target of 3,000 steps, before gradually upping her step count.

“My name is Louise and I’ve lost about 120lbs," she told her viewers. "I used to weigh 269lbs and I started my weight loss journey in January 2020.

“I started counting my calories to make sure I was on a calorie deficit and started going to the gym and walking on an incline.

“The reason why walking is one of the best exercises is because it’s a low-impact cardio.”

Many people find walking more beneficial than running because it can be sustained for longer periods.

“Walking you can do for a long time, so you can actually burn more calories than running because you just can’t run for that period of time," explained Louise. "It’s also really good for your joints."

At first, Louise set out to reach a modest step count of two to three thousand on an incline, using a treadmill.

“A few months into me losing weight I decided to get a Fitbit to track my steps and see how active I am," she added.

“That really encouraged me to increase my activity and go for walks.

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“I set a realistic goal for 8,000 steps and I just aimed to get the 8,000 steps in every single day.”

After just a couple of months, Louise saw drastic improvements in her overall fitness and found it easier to get more steps in.

“Once 8,000 steps a day got easy for me, I increased it to 10,000. Don’t get discouraged and think that you have to get in 10,000 steps a day because you don’t,” she said. “What is important is increasing your steps by just a little bit.

“I’m telling you, walking is one of the best exercises. I injured my back in January and the only thing I could do was walk.”