Walking to Lose Weight has become a lifestyle choice for many women in recent times. I know that men do it as well, but often as a part of their journey elsewhere. On the way to running for instance or because the doctor said so.

I find it wonderful that there is a silent revolution happening within our everyday lives that is the easy sure way to add fitness and weight control to our lifestyles. It doesn’t matter why I am walking anymore walking has become a part of my life that I like to keep doing because it enhances it!

In this Walking to Lose Weight post what I want to talk about today is walking as a part of most people’s way of caring for themselves in body and mind. I find that when I mention walking for weight loss in conversation to others I’ve just met, so often they say the same thing: I walk too!

There are so many different ways to be walking for weight loss that walkers do not necessarily run into each other!

It appeals to so many people and even those who have moved on from weight loss as motivation still commit to walking as an addition to their lifestyle.

Walking as a lifestyle habit is one of the best you can have. It enables peace of mind and clarity of thinking. Take a look at this video of Will Smith. He talks about running as a key to a successful  life. Substitute walking and the same applies. We’re not all going to be Will.

Running is the key:Will Smith

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• “He set a criteria he knew would mean he could deny the issue. The same process but used to find supportive thoughts, words and emotions, would have created the perfect environment for change.”
• “Walking for weight loss offers multiple benefits both physically and mentally. When you are ready to give up making excuses and put the power into solutions then walking to lose weight has a lot to offer.”

The way to use your thoughts to help with walking to lose weight is to appreciate the distinction between thinking ‘you’re ‘getting away with something‘ and ‘feeling good‘ about what you’re doing.

Examples of “I’m getting away with it” thinking:

• they offered me a second helping so I’m obviously not over eating
• no one has told me I’m overweight
• everyone eats this much.

If inside your head you are either thinking of yourself as overweight or fat but that maybe no one else has noticed or are emphasising your bad habits and de-emphasising your good habits then you are practicing negative thinking.

If the amount of attention or emphasis you give to negative attitudes, comments and ideas surpasses the attention or emphasis on your inspired ideas, actions and thoughts, then you are practicing negative thinking.

The best way to use your thoughts when walking for weight loss or using any other weight loss tactic, is to concentrate on turning a negative into a positive interpretation. The best armour for going out into the world is the  way to sway your thoughts to the positive.

Examples of ways to change from a ‘I’m getting away with it’ thinking pattern.

• If I eat less than I  normally eat, I’m doing better than before.
• It feels good that others like me the way I am. My weight loss is for me to enjoy.
• I have no way of knowing what others eat in a day. All I need be aware of is what I eat, and feel good about it.

To use law of attraction for weight loss techniques follow me on Twitter or subscribe to my Hints and Tips.

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I know that taking on a walking to lose weight program can seem daunting. This is often the exercise of last resort and the walker must contend with multiple issues. Health can play into obesity and obesity affects health. Constricting yourself from exercise for whatever reason starts a trend towards inactivity that can have serious health problems including depression.

Walking for weight loss offers multiple benefits both physically and mentally. When you are ready to give up making excuses and put the power into solutions then walking to lose weight has a lot to offer.

This recent article, Traverse City Sports Writer Loses 200 Lb,  includes a significant amount of information relating to obesity. However one aspect I want to focus on for some of this post is the idea that others are a good gauge in any way. Mike let himself believe that his weight wasn’t extreme because his friends didn’t mention it. We often use unconscious selection criteria when choosing friends and associates. Overweight people often surround themselves with other overweight people. Under exercisers often surround themselves with other under exercisers.

Most likely he already believed he was overweight but was able to avoid it by making his friends the decision makers for his behaviour. He set a criteria he knew would mean he could deny the issue. The same process but used to find supportive thoughts, words and emotions, would have created the perfect environment for change.

Isn’t that saying the same thing? It’s wrong but it’s right? The answer is NO.

The first step for most people is to get the difference. One way is finding excuses not to make a decision to change his behaviour, the other is finding ways to make the process easy.

Listen to overweight people talking about their weight, or their body parts. Suggesting that someone interested in weight loss should remove it as a statement of their personal value is one way of using law of attraction principles to support walking for weight loss.

Weight loss shouldn’t be personal. Put better, weight loss processes work best when you depersonalise them.

Law of attraction and weight loss as a combination is a natural fit. Evidence presents itself everyday of the effective use of words and thoughts but especially emotions to prompt a new view of your body.

Come back in a few days to read my  next post, as I continue to explain the thought processes that make the difference when walking to lose weight. Law of attraction isn’t as scary as it may sound at first if it is new to you.

I am in the process of rewriting my book Practical Law of Attraction for Weight Loss. There will be a new version of the free chapters available also by subscribing to my Weekly Weight Loss  Hints and Tips email list from July.

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One thing I know is necessary for any successful outcome when walking to lose weight is that a continuous stream of challenges must be surmounted. They are necessary for progress! Some of these are small e.g. mentally preparing yourself to say no to social situations to make time for walking to lose weight, or bigger such as overcoming a dislike of exercise.

Recently I had a new understanding that’s allowed me to introduce another way to lose weight. The reason I enjoy and chose walking to lose weight was to be able to include it easily into my life and so keep balanced and harmonious while I lost weight. Part of this is to avoid the body strain that could effect the rest of my life.

This is a major advantage of walking to lose weight. To introduce what is to be a lifestyle change without rocking the boat in other ways is important. The bootcamp approach for example is a ‘shock to the system’ style of high intensity and interval training that satisfies our desires to get quick evidence of success.

It also is likely to affect your body with muscle soreness and tiredness-after all you have intentionally worked your muscles and tiredness is a natural result. Satisfying a need for speed in weight loss (and the evidence that this system ‘works’) has an impact on your ability in other ways. Your commitment may be strong initially but how long can this continue?

Today I have the best result ever after introducing an amazing new exercise session!

I know that the difference is in my attitude and expectation. You know what it can be like when exercising or walking for weight loss with others, the group dynamic can contribute to how you feel about the sessions.

The normal expectation is that the first experience of a tough series of exercises will have a body swamping result-muscular and otherwise. The key is to gradually introduce your body to that sort of exercise and the increased level of intensity. Preparing for the change means that any soreness or distress is quickly overcome and confidence in your body is increased.

Mentally it becomes very important to the new exerciser to prepare to have a comfortable attitude to exercise while increasing the intensity. Not the comfort that comes from doing very little. The comfort that comes from using muscles, stretching ability, performing tasks and knowing that your body can do much more with the right kind of support.

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If you’re following this blog and wonder why my titles always include the words walking to lose weight it is to keep my keyword phrase (walking to lose weight) represented in the appropriate spots for correct search engine optimization.

When I started learning internet marketing in 2008 I was a relative newbie to all things internet. The process of starting my own business involved researching and finding an attractive niche with the right statistics suggesting a viable business. At the very beginning I didn’t understand enough to create many options for myself so in the end to have a project to begin with I focused on a hobby, walking to lose weight.

Well the hobby was weight loss really. I have been perpetually dieting, exercising or reading about weight loss since I was 12. The various analyses around weight loss showed that it is a huge industry with a highly diverse market and major online commercial viability already extremely well serviced by huge organizations.

The fitness industry even more so although this surprised me.

The humble walking to lose weight niche though was statistically acceptable.

That is why I started the discipline of walking for weight loss.

However the why is such a small part of the story. Today my Walking to Lose Weight blog (and it is only one of a few) is something I am so grateful for and delighted with. The focus and effort required to come to grips with an internet business was a perfect combination with my desire to build a lifestyle for fitness and weight control.

There have been a number of ups and downs that go along with any new endeavor. Both the internet business and walking for weight loss required learning new skills and changing my attitude in a number of ways. Today I am passionate about walking to lose weight as a weight loss practice.

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You have a pedometer, you follow a plan, you’re counting steps, you think about what you eat and weight loss results. These would be normal behaviors for some when walking to lose weight in 2010. However what you believe is also important. Think about the typical drug evaluation process that requires the new drug to be tested against a placebo: An inert substance represented to the patient as an effective drug yet with no known medical value.

The placebo usually has an excellent result. It  can have a startlingly good result in fact. A drug needs to rate better than a placebo for it to become a prescription drug. The placebo effect is attributed to the powerful effect the mind has in contributing to someone’s health. Believe that what you are doing is going to work and it has a good chance it will, and this is a recognized part of therapeutic treatment where at least some of the resulting success is from the psychological effects of believing a treatment will help.

In our walking to lose weight process you have to find a way to believe in (i.e. have confidence in) what you are doing. This is either provided from others such as fellow walkers or successful weight losers; or from yourself. You are your own best resource, but with the addition of other’s belief in you, this is a powerful source of confidence.

The continuing process of weight loss (everyone gains and loses weight continually as your body does its job of  balancing the various processes of energy use and storage) requires that belief  be maintained for a long time even after the success i.e. weight loss, begins. Confidence around walking for weight loss and other tools of weight control once established creates results without your conscious effort.

Just as learning to sing or dance is an ongoing commitment so is getting your body attuned to living long and well. To do this, just as with any other skill, requires your best asset, self belief.

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If you have led a sedentary lifestyle for some time and now realize the burdens this lack of exercise and eating as a hobby have brought, then walking to lose weight is for you. If you want a lifestyle full of joy and pleasure in being active and participating in whatever way makes you feel good and you know that you haven’t been doing that-perhaps saving it for special occasions only, than walking to lose weight is for you.

Walking, maybe even running, to lose weight can be a safe platform to start re-entering life with anticipation of the future. I am going to get down to the specifics of why I am talking this way today. One of the advantages of youthfulness is the optimism and dreaming of the future that goes with it. The true assumption that a lot of really good stuff lies ahead. One of the downers of a long period of forgetting to dream, tying yourself to small dreams, is often a turning inwards resulting in ‘old age’. There are many examples of brilliant lives that have started in middle or older age.

Past generations had a worldview that often seemed to amount to seeing old age as a reward for living through war or depression, other hard times. Their expectations of old age weren’t high as to health or vitality yet a simple life around family often provided satisfaction.

Those of us who live in a different era where wealth and health are dominant expectations of many cultures, have an opportunity to rearrange our lives to support magnificent old ages. At the same time as we do this we demonstrate for younger people what is possible as you get older-to live vital gorgeous fun filled and fulfilling lives.

I know from seeing my parents ‘bloom’ in retirement how amazing it can seem as a child used to certain images of your parents. At the same time as I was adjusting my mental image of them, I found an excitement around the future possible. Maybe in part they and my dad in particular, were open to living a better life in retirement, because of Uncle Phil.

Uncle Phil was my father’s uncle and my mother enjoyed talking about him-how funny he was, how everyone loved him, what a joy he was to have around and listen to the stories he told. Since my mother was the talker in the family and she didn’t have a lot of good things to say about most of his family, this was a blessing to us. The family had permission to have a gregarious and happy old age.

My parents had a brilliant retirement and old age. When you’re in the midst of your own self centered problems it is of benefit to see a truly wonderful lifestyle ahead of you. Trying and taking action to change your life becomes attractive when you can continue to dream.

Walking to lose weight is one way of getting control of your well being now and into the future. It offers so much more than weight loss, although it certainly offers that.

Why isn’t walking to lose weight free?

Well it is of course. Easy and free to start. There is a cost however. It requires a lifestyle change. It requires a new attitude. If you want to hold onto the attitude and worldview that led to your current overweight or unfit condition than accept that that is what you are doing.

Walking for weight loss costs money. You can choose to do it for free and there are an abundance of free websites and tools available (including my ebook) however if you are someone who has not naturally developed an active lifestyle, it can pay to develop resources and tools of your own i.e. resources such as a series of videos and motivational tools for feeling good about your new life while you’re adjusting to it, for instance.

Traditionally, before the world wide web, the support necessary for a major life change would come from a friend or family. These days as we know that is less the method of choice and a far wider and relevant resource can be found on the internet. Walking to lose weight by its nature is a local and physical activity. This supports lots of socializing and community interaction. To really benefit to a higher level of belief in yourself, weight control, active living and long life, the internet enables you to see and hear how others have created a life beyond your expectation that now is yours.

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Is walking to lose weight for you?

If you don’t get it i.e. why their is such hype around exercise, and you’re trying to get your mind into walking or running for weight loss then here are some tips:

• It is important  to remember that for some people perhaps many women it is better to keep their goals to themselves. Talking up your enthusiasm as a means of forcing yourself to achieve is a common mistake. I have decided to prepare myself for the City2Surf Fun Run but have made it a game. This photo of a T shirt from the 1970s is the closest I have ever been to running. As product manager I suggested the idea but left the company before the actual event. It was the first of its kind in Australia, and there have been more similar in concept since.
• Share your goals with like-minded people. If you don’t understand the appeal of walking to lose weight then talk to others who do. Even if they aren’t totally on your wavelength you can take ideas and advice and try it for yourself. This video on walking and running for weight loss has mainly good advice.
• The physical requirements of exercise and weight loss need to be managed with some enthusiasm for ongoing success. Matching your mental agenda and action is important for well being. Forcing yourself to rise early and negatively reinforcing this by nagging yourself is less effective than encouraging yourself with positivity. Find a way for it to feel good when you’re walking to lose weight. Put a treat at the end, such as seeing a movie.
• Sometimes the changes can be rapid-stick with the process to the end and then ensure that you maintain the results with an advanced versions of walking for weight loss.
• Some of the things that you have rejected in the past, such as running or walking for weight loss, may now be more appealing. Times change, what’s in fashion what isn’t, you change, and in particular your needs, the thing itself changes-increased finesse, systems, social opportunities, technical aspects, technology. Review your attitude to running for instance because it may have much more appeal now.
• I’m in the process of cleaning in preparation to sell my home. That’s why I found this old t-shirt I mentioned above. In this fairly normal activity I am benefiting greatly from the fitness I possess from walking to lose weight. This is just one example of the the ways that exercise and activity as a lifestyle helps  make your overall life easier.

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Making decisions on the run while out with others can challenge your focus on weight loss as your primary decision criteria. It may support or upset your confidence in your walking to lose weight process. The best thing you can do is to set yourself up so being out with others (or at home in a social situation) is a joyful extension of your routine weight loss process.

To keep up with a positive social life, prepare for it and then stay focused on yourself without expecting others to take on a weight loss caretaker role. Walking for weight loss gives you the basis for taking personal responsibility for your body. You can do it on your own, you have thinking time to mentally prepare yourself to be the person who is capable of making good decisions.

There are lots of hints and tips that I use for these situations, occasionally or more often. I find talking with others also provides new ideas and insights into different types of occasions and their answers can be creative. One woman I know makes a game of encouraging her husband to eat from her plate at a restaurant and claims he almost always eats the most of it!

Typically I make my game when eating out with friends (and I keep it to myself) that I want to finish eating last so I start eating after everyone else has started, take small bites, leave some food on my plate. If someone asks I just say I have had enough.

If I am at a dinner party or a restricted menu restaurant, then I do what I can to divert attention from how much or what I am eating. Make the occasion your focus, a birthday party, anniversary, Christmas, etc. Find things to do that take you away from the food and eating or drinking. Help in the kitchen, play with the children, organize entertainment (dvds etc), fetch and carry, play hostess, dance.

At this time of year take some time to think up tactics for the social season. Collect Christmas weight loss tips from magazines or blogs. Try a few of them out to see how they feel for you. Maybe you can modify them to suit you? Practice a positive worldview around your ability to combine walking to lose weight with a social life.

What is the real purpose of the event for you? Is it to eat too much food, high calorie meals and alcoholic drinks, or is it to celebrate a significant holiday or perhaps have a good time and relax away from work or home duties? Say no to invitations that are filled with expectation that you will participate in overeating or drinking. Say yes to those that allow you to enjoy being involved without forcing food onto you.

Sometimes forethought helps by preparing decisions in advance- diet drinks or water, always having a glass of water with your dinner, make one glass of wine last all night, drink watered down drinks, low calorie beer or wine, etc.

The attraction of alcohol can be social pressure which some of the ways above may help you resist, and also the relaxed social attitude that comes from drinking. I’m not talking about drinking to excess but the social ease that can come with those small sips of wine. If you find making the decision to not drink alcohol when out with others is hard to do because it is the only way you enjoy yourself, play a game with yourself when attending a party by filling your glass with diet soda and pretending that you are feeling more and more at ease with each sip. Fill your mind and body with the same feelings of relaxation that comes when you take that first sip of an alcoholic drink. Make up a fancy name for it and feel better about yourself. Have fun!

These are Christmas weight loss tips that really work to keep walking to lose weight an easy part of your lifestyle.

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This video below is fun for me because when I first started Walking to Lose Weight blog I wrote a post about avoiding excuses for not walking and included a video with the same topic and from memory the same doctor talking about walking for weight loss in the rain. In the first video he was holding an umbrella! Walking to lose weight is a lifestyle because of the dedication you demonstrate when overcoming the ‘issues’ that you can choose to let get in the way, or choose to look for answers or solutions to resolving the obstacle.

The first step is to make an attitude change if for some reason the ease of starting walking has led you to believe that you will never have to change your mind or food habits, make decisions supporting your new hobby and try doing it differently occasionally.

Walking in the rain or going to the gym, using a treadmill at home, walking early morning in the  local mall…These are some examples of solutions for weather problems that I use all the time!

Think of it this way-I am an active person (or becoming an active person) so I will do what an active person would do under these circumstances. An active person feels better for exercising so prioritizes it, an active person sees benefits for herself and others (children, partner, other walkers) from her activity, so feels good about doing it. An active person finds way to make walking, exercise, running more than a means to an end, because there is no end. Old age is not about sitting back and relaxing! Use the extra wisdom you’ve gained from those years and enjoy living.

However tiredness is a potential problem that can be resolved with trial and error. How much tiredness is from muscles and joints getting a workout for the first time ever perhaps? How much is from physical exhaustion? When you increase your level of exertion such as I did from the beginning of this month it has an effect on your tiredness during and at the end of the day.

Take a lesson from athletes and take care of yourself with proper treatment of injuries or concerns. There is a vast array of creams and potions for strains and blisters etc. so use self care first unless you have done something serious where professional help is necessary.

For hints and tips for how I stay above the real world issues that could prevent staying focused on walking to lose weight join my free mailing list for insight and advice from my ebook.

The point is to do as much with what you’ve got until the time you can develop higher fitness levels or have reached your personal limit. Stretch those boundaries to determine just how far you can go.

Keep on with the walking even if at lower intensity until any physical ailment resolves itself. If you are really tired then sleep-an early night or cat nap worked well for me when long work days added stress to the list of issues. Walking aids depression sufferers so it may actually be the ‘fix’ needed.

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