Since I can’t decide if I should get a gym membership or not, I searched the web for other ways to lose weight without breaking my bank account. One of the articles which attracted me the most is the “10,000 steps to health” program. The 10,000 steps to health program is literally moving your butt out and aim to get 10,000 steps a day. If you manage to get 10,000 steps a day, you are roughly burning 500 calories a day. In order to track the number of steps I take in a day, I need either a pedometer or a strong memory to count the number of steps I take. Since counting the steps by myself doesn’t give me an accurate reading, I opted to purchase a pedometer. The pedometer I purchased is the Chinese model of Omron Pedometer HJ-113.

The “Look”

The Omron Pedometer HJ-113 is a step-up from the HJ-112 model. They removed the system reset button in the front and placed it in the back with the only option to reset it is by using a pin. In any case, the pedometer itself comes in red/silver color (China) or black/blue color (US). It is 1.3 cm thick, 4.5 cm width and 6.4 cm height. The front of the pedometer includes the screen, setting button (left), mode button (middle) and memory button (right). At the back is the system reset button, battery and the strap connector.

The “Features”

The Omron Pedometer HJ-113 has the following features:

• Dual-axis acceleration sensor which can count steps even if the pedometer is placed horizontally or vertically
• Counts step accurately and quietly when placed in the hip
• Calculates calories burned
• Stores 7-day information in memory
• Resets automatically at midnight

The “Experience”

I have been using this pedometer for almost two weeks now and I like the 7 day memory function and the accuracy of the steps it counted. I like the four different modes it offer which includes the number of steps, number of aerobics steps, calories burned and distance walked. The number of aerobics steps only triggers if I’ve been exercising or walking for more than 10 minutes straight.

The clip and the strap are sturdy enough that I just clip it on my waistband and put the pedometer in my pocket. My only frustration is not on the product itself but the calories I’m burning. I’ve hit 10,000 steps on certain days but the number of calories burned is a far cry from the 500 calories that I’m aiming for. With 10,000 steps, I’m just burning approximately 172 kcal. I don’t know what I should do to get the number of calories up but I hope I can make some adjustments to burn more calories just by walking.

Verdict: 4 out of 5. Mainly because the button descriptions are in Chinese. If you want to get started on the 10,000 steps to health program, I would highly recommend that you purchase this pedometer.