The‘ exercise causes weight loss’ myth 96 Designated Exercise( DE) is exercise that comes from putting aside designated time to go for a jog or visit the gym. It is what most people think of when they think of‘ exercise’ and it is what I have been primarily referring to so far in this chapter. Remembering that I am a lazy psychiatrist who is interested in what people can realistically do for the long-term, you can guess where I am going here. For those rare individuals who do not lead busy lives, DE is great. When they are sitting around with nothing to do and time on their hands( maybe because they have saved up all the time generated by their timesaving household devices like microwaves and remote controls) taking an hour out of their day to go to the gym is a godsend to treat their boredom. But for most of the people I deal with, particularly mothers and professional people( who are often both), their days don’ t look quite like this … Incidental activity is the answer Incidental Activity( IA) on the other hand is something that integrates into our day and is not what most people think of as exercise. The easiest way to measure IA is with a pedometer. I ask all my clients to purchase one to measure their IA. For around the cost of a three-course restaurant meal you can buy a good quality pedometer. Having been through a few pedometers that either broke, were unreliable or were too hard to use, I have a few recommendations. Buy one that opens out from your belt so that you don’ t need to take it off to read it. Make sure the belt clip is hinged as the solid plastic clips tend to break unless they are very sturdy. The hinged variety are also easier to take on and off. As they must be worn out on your hip( they won’ t register steps as well if they are closer to your belt buckle) and tend to hook up on things, a slim-line design is preferable. Start by wearing your pedometer without consciously changing your IA level to see what your baseline levels of activity are. Then try to step it up. Many people in sedentary jobs do less than 3000 steps a day. I suggest you start with a goal of around 7000 steps a day or twice what