For Chrissy, who unpacks diet culture in her book, The Body Liberation Project, often critiques the fitness industry’s obsession with discipline over joy. Instead, she says sustainable movement should be the main priority. “The movement practice you’re going to do consistently, and that doesn’t feel like you’re dreading it all day, that’s what matters.”

So, where did this arbitrary number even come from? “This idea that I have to hit these 10,000 steps a day is not found in science,” Chrissy says. “It was literally just about marketing.” A study led by Dr. I-Min Lee, a Harvard Medical School professor and epidemiologist, traced the 10,000-step benchmark back to a 1960s Japanese marketing campaign. Her research, published in JAMA Internal Medicine, explored whether more steps actually led to lower mortality. The answer? Yes, but only to a point.

The study found that women who averaged 4,400 steps per day had a 41% lower mortality rate than those who walked less. The benefits continued to increase with more steps but plateaued around 7,500.

Still, the pressure to chase high step counts can backfire. “If you were a person who hasn’t been very active and you suddenly walk every single day, your body’s gonna be hurting,” she says. And more often than not, Chrissy adds, the motivation isn’t health, it’s weight loss. That mindset, she says, is exactly where things go wrong. Even if weight loss is the goal, sustaining it should be part of the plan.

Instead of setting massive daily goals, Chrissy encourages people to build movement into their lives in ways that feel manageable. “You can just take a 10-minute walk during your lunch break. It doesn’t have to be this huge commitment.” When weather or time make that tough, she suggests trying a walking pad. “I got one when it was really cold and snowy. I just turn on a show and walk on it while I watch TV.”

And if a long walk doesn’t fit your day, break it up. Chrissy recommends splitting your movement into a few short walks, or making it social — call a friend, listen to a podcast, or use the time to catch up on an audiobook. You can also switch up your route, explore a new park, or just take a different block in your neighborhood to keep things fresh. However you get it in, the important part is that you move your body every day, whether you count your steps or not.