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walking to lose weight

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walking to lose weight

Written by Administrator

Thursday, 06 November 2008 00:16

Start Walking To Lose Weight!

If you want to lose weight, but don’t have a lot of time to exercise, walking could be the solution. Everyone walks – whether it’s through the parking lot or around the block. All you have to do is walk more often in order to see a change in your weight.

When walking to lose weight what is healthy is individual. In our abundant lives we most often have choices to make rather than have or not have, and so the question is…which is healthier for me? Don’t let other people tell you what the right choice for you is but be aware of the consequences of your choices and choose those which you want. Most often this is between what short term joy comes with a choice such as eating a bar of chocolate watching television late at night and cutting down the time required to reach the longer term joy of fitting in to a favorite dress.

Walking is also a great option if you are self-conscious about going to the gym or working out in public. You can really peel off the pounds in a simple, enjoyable way; walking to lose weight is a well-known method of exercise.

1. Making It Easy.

Making it easy is the first way to trick yourself into losing weight with exercise and controlled eating. Whatever activity you are already doing, make it easy and fun to do more, and more, and more…

Make a list of the foods you like which are also going to give you the results you want. Be conscious of burning calories while you’re walking.

2. Attitude to Walking is Everything!

Shift from a fear of losing out. Instead of seeing this choice as giving something up, see it as adding to your life. Healthy weight loss is a good feeling part of life. Allow evolution from fear to joyful appreciation of this additional focus. Everyone changes constantly. This is normal. Often we feel at the receiving end so this is an opportunity to be at the focal point. If a friendship seems threatened it is commonly the friend’s fear of losing something they enjoy from your relationship. Find another way of being in their life which also allows you to change and satisfies them. If a healthy life is incompatible with your friendship, end it.

3. Use Walking Support Systems.

Be dedicated to attracting friends, tools, inspiration which are also focused on walking to lose weight. Take only those with you, on this particular journey, who support what is positive about walking and weight loss for you. Sometimes walkers like to do it on their own. It can be used as a time to listen to music, a book, a study tutorial, an uplifting lecture. It can be a social opportunity if this is what you prefer, by joining a walking group, gym or a friend. In addition there are many ’support’ tools, different from devices such as pedometers and of a motivational nature, which are not necessarily social. These include magazines, online clubs, forums, blogs, corporate sites, etc. I like the About.com walking forum, and for example, have set a walking target for November, there. Also I’ve started a FriendFeed room for anyone interested in asking questions or making comments, posting interesting websites, etc.

4. Maintain balance.

Emotional balance is what will help you the most. It’s not so much a trick, as an awareness: Drastically changing by cutting down food will affect you emotionally; Increasing exercise vigorously beyond what is normal for you, continued to over tiredness, will affect your emotions. Aim for emotional balance and ask for support on forums etc. if a new approach isn’t working out. Allowing emotional over balance to get out of hand in an attempt to lose weight quickly may negate any positive changes which you have made and produce a defeatist attitude. Focus on fun. Reward yourself constantly, with something you like at the end of the day. Perhaps one small glass of white wine, diluted with ice. Don’t finish the glass until the ice has melted. If you are thirsty have a glass of water before the wine. Also find other ways of rewarding yourself which don’t involve food or drink. Time to relax with a good book, outside enjoying the sun, with nothing to do for an hour, might be your idea of a reward.

5. Be Creative-Loose Your Inner Athlete.

Use creativity to make this decision into something interesting and relevant to you. We put our creativity to use all the time. Now use it to make walking to lose weight successful. Let it be a ’something wonderful’ in you life.

Use natural parts of your day to support this:
Do you like to party? Make a perfect evening out by combining fun, socializing and being seen with standing, dancing, moving-a lot, even all the time. Eat sparingly and small amounts. (Eat before going out, something lite.) Limit sugary drinks (which includes alcohol). Dilute drinks which otherwise would be high in calories with low energy soft drinks or water. Watch out for energy boosters with high sugar content. Have a cup of unsweetened coffee as an appetite suppressant. Drink lots of water.

In any way you normally enjoy yourself, integrate walking into it, in a way that shifts your approach from hardship to joy. Express yourself through this activity. Make it a part of you, an extension.

Walking can promote weight loss, and it is often quite easy to maintain a walking program, especially since the cost is minor, and a walk can begin as soon as one steps outside one’s door. The amount one loses depends upon metabolism, consumption of calories and the type of walking. A ten minute walk daily will not likely result in much weight loss. Walking an hour, five days a week, at a pace of about 2-4 mph (3.21-6.43 kph) can, however, burn quite a few calories.

If you don’t plan to change your diet, walking may still allow one to lose weight. Studies usually find that a combination of reduced calories and walking are most effective in promoting weight loss. Walking alone may still provide some weight loss benefits, particularly if your calorie consumption is not overly high to begin with. If you add calories to your diet because you are walking, you may not see weight loss benefits.

Walking at 2 mph (3.21 kph), a relatively slow pace, burns about 26 calories per 10 minutes. In 30 minutes the benefits increase and the average person burns about 79 calories. Walking at least thirty minutes is considered better than taking three ten minute walks a day because greater time spent walking means elevating one’s heart rate. As one’s heart rate increases, more calories are consumed.

Picking up the pace and walking about 3 mph (4.82 kph) almost doubles the benefits of a half hour walk. One burns about 125 calories in a thirty-minute period. As one gets more comfortable walking at slower paces, one can begin to burn even more calories by including a few minutes of extra fast walking to increase heart rate. When one can walk a mile (1.6 km) in 15 minutes, one burns about 370 calories in an hour.

Walking more quickly and for longer time periods also contributes to greater calorie burning abilities for the rest of the day. Any type of cardiovascular exercise that gets the heart pumping at maximum heart rate for your age and health means the body treats calories differently for the rest of the day. Generally, even if one is sedentary after a walk, one burns calories at a higher rate.

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