Walking to lose weight - What could be easier?

I love the idea of walking to lose weight. Walking has many advantages including:

It's very cheap

All you need is a decent pair of shoes. It may cost a bit if you drive somewhere scenic to walk, but I think that is always money well spent.

The whole family can join in

Walking is an ideal activity for everyone in the family. It's fun and is a great way to spend time with your family.

Good for the heart

Walking is an aerobic exercise so it's great for cardiovascular fitness. This can help to ward off nasties like heart disease and stroke. It can also help lower your blood pressure.

Walking is a very low impact exercise

Walking places very little stress on your joints and muscles. It is often an ideal exercise to start with if you have not done any exercise for a long time. It can be beneficial for some people with joint problems such as arthritis.

Stress and anxiety

Walking can make you feel happier in yourself as it can be very relaxing and is an excellent way to help with the daily life stresses and anxiety.

Now let's look at ways we can implement walking into our daily lives.

  • Walk to the store instead of driving (assuming it is not 30 miles away :)
  • Walk up a flight of stairs instead of taking the elevator.
  • Get off the bus a stop or two earlier than you would usually and walk the extra distance.
  • Walk to pick the kids up from school and avoid the often horrendous “school rush traffic”.
  • Next time you go out to eat, choose somewhere you can walk toPark your car a ˝ a mile from work and walk the extra distance.
  • Walk to see your family and friends.
  • Whenever you are at home bored, go for a short walk.

    • How about buying a pedometer?

    A pedometer (sometimes known as a stepometer) is a little device that calculates the distance you have walked. The device detects the number of steps you make. You can program the size of your steps into the device. Typically an average male step is around 2.5 and around 2.2 for females.

    You can wear the device as much as you like, even all day. It can be very useful for setting goals and trying to build up the amount of walking you do. It may even help motivate you to walk more :)

    If you do use a pedometer to set goals, make sure they are realistic and obtainable, otherwise you may get discouraged. Remember as always, make sure it is fun and never a chore.

    Most pharmacies sell pedometers and some supermarkets. You can also buy them online. There are many online stores selling them but amazon have a good choice.

    How many calories will you burn by walking?

    This is a good question and difficult to give an exact answer, because the more you weigh, the more calories you will burn and of course the speed you walk at will have an affect too.

    As a general rule of thumb, you should burn around 100 calories per mile. A gentle 30 minute walk should burn around 150 calories.

    If you do this everyday or even a few times per week, it will soon build up. You should also start to feel better within yourself, another great reason why you should get walking to lose weight!

    Where can you walk that would be interesting?

    I don't know about you, but I don't really like walking on main roads and breathing in all the car exhaust fumes.

    I really like parks and moorland walking. So I bought a book on moorland walks in my area.

    Books are one option, but I found mapmywalk.com is an excellent site for finding nice places to walk. You can put any location in the world and the chances are it will find an appealing walk for you.

    How often should you go out walking?

    This is up to you. As you are walking to lose weight, the more the better. However, it is important that it remains enjoyable. If you do too much, you may find it becomes boring and lose your motivation. This may be detrimental, so make sure you don't do too much.

    Why don't you join a club?

    How about joining a walking club near you so you can go out walking with other people who also enjoy walking. This can be a great motivator and you might make some new friends at the same time.

    There are very likely to be other people walking to lose weight! This about.com page provides details of different walking clubs in the US. In the UK there is the very popular Ramblers association with many local groups.

    Always remember to keep safe

    When you go out walking always remember to keep safe. Take care when crossing roads. If you go moorland walking, be sure to look out for holes and bogs.

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