Day 4-

Setting Goals and Recording Progress

Previous posts on 31 Ways to Lose Weight Walking.

Walking: As you walk today, note the time, distance or steps. (Whichever you can do today. By Day 6 you will have a pedometer to record this information for you.) At the end of tomorrow you will be able to find the averaged results over the 5 days of walking. That will become the basis of the goals you set for the next 5 days. It is best to look at the goal as a unit that is equal to how much you would like to achieve in the 5 days totally and then divide it to find what you have to do on a daily basis to achieve that. Then each day you will know how much you need to do and the affect on the next day of what you have done today.

Weigh In: Do this today or soon, record and and then forget about it for the time being. This is not to be your major weight loss indicator or record of progress. To maintain a positive uplifting approach which we’ll discuss more another day avoid the pressure which constant monitoring on the scales produces. You’re walking enough now to have a feel for your abilities and the sort of distance/time you have been doing and what would be doable but stretch you. You will find that by investigating some of the suggestions below and seeing what other people have done when walking for weight loss, a huge range of choices exist to choose or modify some goal setting and reporting techniques to suit you.

Refer to my previous post on setting up walking to lose weight goals and keep record of your daily walking. There are a number of different ways you can do that. It is also beneficial to use more than one way. Many people do this, me included. Starting off though choose one way. You can even use the comment form on these posts to tell me how much you have walked today.

If you have bought a pedometer, many of these come with a record keeping suggestion. Check out exercise DVDs and other walking websites. Some other options include:

Post a Comment: A walking to lose weight blog provides a wonderful opportunity to write down goals and report back. Choose an appropriate one and start writing regularly.

Diary or Journal: Using anything from an exercise (!) book to your most intimate journal to record goals and achievements, plans and check lists.

Friend: If you have a friend also walking or losing weight arrange to phone daily with your walking results. There are two prerequisites-

1. Both of you must maintain a positive and cheery tone. The purpose is to encourage your efforts and complaining can be contagious and discouraging.

2. Don’t weigh in daily or even weekly. Do not talk about body parts or weight other than to acknowledge how good you are looking!

Forum: A better idea could be to be a participant in an appropriate forum. There are many and I am enjoying this one from About Walking.

Twitter: Tweet your results to friends or me- Twitter ID: walk2loseweight.

All: Of course you could do all of the above and more besides. If so tell us!

It makes the whole walking to lose weight process more game-like if you set up specific goals, increasing as you go, until all your goals are achieved.

Technorati Tags: goal setting for weight loss, twitter, walking, walking for weight loss, walking forum, walking to lose weight

Do You Twitter While You Walk? If not you may be one of the many who don’t understand it’s appeal for walkers and when walking to lose weight. I like it a lot.

Twitter is called micro-blogging and it enables you to comment on what you are doing right this minute in 140 characters. This is enough to succinctly record something. Others can see your words if they are following you and you can see theirs if you are following them. Once you know someone’s Twitter ID you can find their twitterlog which is simply the list of their comments chronologically. Or you can search a topic such as walking to lose weight and review the results.

This is useful also to contact others as you can send a direct message to a someone else. You can use your own name as an ID or a made up one such as mine: walk2loseweight.

The messages sent over Twitter are called tweets.

Reasons to Use Twitter.

When walking to lose weight and making the process as simple and natural as possible it is really good to put in lots of positive reinforcement. As it goes on, the support of others can become more important but less available. After all 2 weeks is a long time for most “diets” so the initial enthusiasm others may have shown may be reduced to luke warm and that willing listener to the details of your walking progress, is showing signs of flagging interest.

Many like to walk alone and others find it their only option. It is a regular repetitive activity. Find ways of making it fun if you can such as dvds. Everyone does it differently- look for what works for you. Walking for weight loss requires attention to detail such as keeping record of times, steps, distance etc. For example I keep a nightly record of my daily steps.

Often when watching what you eat distraction works as a way to counter eating urges. Twitter is perfect for this. Write about your temptations or something else entirely. If you must describe your temptation remember that distraction works better if you find a reason NOT to eat whatever it is!

It is fun. How often have you had a very interesting question you’d urgently like to ask someone while out for a long walk. I do. Sometimes I will get the answer as well. This requires setting your phone up to send tweets.

It becomes a record of your progress.

If you find a link to a great website you would love to share with like minded people, twitter it.

By following others a sense of community is created.

If you can send text messages you can tweet.

Make It Simple.

One of the simplest methods of reporting your progress and keeping the momentum going is to use Twhirl which enables you to keep your Twitter messages open on your computer screen. A beep sounds when a message comes in either to you or from someone you are following. More importantly for me it allows easy messaging, giving options for shortening urls, doing searches etc.

It can be a distraction so I don’t always have it on.

The other important application is for the phone. Install what is necessary to send and receive tweets via text messaging, depending on your phone. Some only work for sending messages.

Keep your message simple. I don’t have a specific purpose behind my tweets except to add fun and a ‘walking with a friend’ feel while I’m walking. How tweet it is!

Technorati Tags: twitter, walking, walking to lose weight, weight loss

Walking on Funshine!

Walking is so low tech…if you want it to be! The easier, cheaper and simpler solution to fitness and overweight issues, can be fun for just about everyone. Not all want this of course, and there are truly wonderful action options in our world. Stripped down though, walking has it all- including gear and gadgets which take the experience to a whole new level.

http://friendfeed.com/rooms/walking-to-lose-weight

As an adjunct to your walking fun program why not try out the FriendFeed room I’ve just started, for walkers to share thoughts or results, or something else fun. Also drop in links to other people or news items which are where you think it is at! Comment or ask questions of other contributors. See this as an opportunity to vary how you do what you do, or share your perspective on walking to lose weight.

Ultimately walking successfully for weight loss requires arranging to make it fun. This can easily be the key- focus on positive thoughts, interests, viewpoints. Avoid revving yourself up to the point where you attempt to walk all day i.e. resist overdoing it. Balance between stretching yourself towards your goals, versus rushing ahead, before you are ready. Preparation helps make walking fun everyday.

Each time I find a new way of increasing walking in a fun way, I feel that I am in control of my life, particularly weight management. I live an abundant life, with multiple food choices. I enjoy eating because it is a pleasure and a social focus. There are many wonderful healthy or calorie conscious diets. A walk after a meal balances the body, and is a standard health rule even today. After eating too much, a walk helps you feel better.

Walking is a magnificent addition to any life. It adds stamina, good sleep, fun, destressing, boosted spirits…and weight loss!

http://twitter.com/walk2loseweight

As you can tell I now use Twitter to supplement my positive attitude when walking, after walking or before walking. I write this blog. I record my separate walks in the About.com forum. Many free and paid options exist for getting help when walking to lose weight.

Technorati Tags: friendfeed, fun, twitter, walking, walking to lose weight, weight loss