There’s a difference between moving through your day and actually doing cardio.
And I think one of the reasons so many women keep meaning to do more cardio, but not actually doing it, is because the term ‘cardio’ is actually quite vague.
There are (at least) three distinct types, each good for something different.
General activity, an active job, gardening, being busy with the kids, gets your baseline up.
Steady state builds your aerobic engine, your endurance, the stuff that gets you up a hill without a fuss.
Interval cardio, at the right intensity for your fitness, is what shifts your insulin sensitivity and metabolic health, in a fraction of the time.
Most people are getting one of these. Often the first, sometimes the second, rarely all three.