Alternatives for Walking to Lose Weight can come from your book shelves or DVD collection, the Wii or just wet weather gear!
Recently I was putting on the Leslie Sansone walking DVD for the third time in a few days and felt, let’s say,…hesitant. How many times can I do it in a row without getting bored? Especially since I’d misplaced the 3 mile walk and was doing the 2 mile. (I’m packing up the house ready for selling.)
As usually happens when I’m reluctant to do something when I get started it feels much better than I expected. However knowing that I really wanted an extended walk made me put extra effort into the 30 minute walking to lose weight program. The 3 mile walk is high intensity and I really know that the guided DVD walk is more calorie burning than my regular one hour, because you follow four different types of steps in this home version some of which you’d be unlikely to do exposed in the outside world. Knee lifts, kicks, sideways moves and, of course, weights.
This time with the 2 mile walk I threw myself into the “walk”once the warm up was over. I did it all at a high energy pace and ended up with some floor exercises including push ups. I surprised myself with how much I enjoyed the exercise even though it was only another walking to lose weight DVD.
Then today I went for a walk in the sunshine and perfect sky when all of a sudden black clouds appeared and a little while later a drenching shower made me very, very wet! Unable to do much about it and without an umbrella or rain gear, I simply walked quickly along my walking route. I reasoned that as it was not cold, and I had on my Goretex trainers (I highly recommend these for wet ground) it was better that I simply accept the conditions and get the most out of my walking circumstances.
This is it folks! By accepting the challenges of walking for weight loss it really works. The answer to how to make it work is to make it joyful work.
When walking to lose weight it is well to remember that generally you should walk each day unless you are exhausted from the continued exercise and it affects your abilities during the day. Then you should take up to two days off a week.
If your results go the other way and even with a regular daily walking to lose weight schedule your weight loss has plateaued then you need to shake up your schedule in another way. The energy (calories) used from any particular exercise changes over time as the body’s muscles adapts to the process and economizes on the number of calories burned. Initially this is compensated for by increasing the amount of time and distance of walking. Total calories burned increases.
Eventually, however, you will meet the maximum time commitment you are able to make and at this stage when your walking for weight loss schedule needs intensifying then several options are available to you.
Increase the intensity of the walking you do by adding hills, steps, weights or intermittent running. Another way to increase the intensity of an hour’s walking to lose weight would be to do a high intensity walking DVD such as those from Leslie Sansone or Kathy Smith’s Power Walk.
Break up your standard program with exercise groups such as aerobic step classes.
Use an activity monitor which measures not only steps throughout the day but also the level of exertion during those steps. This enables you to increase the number of movements done at the higher level intensity rather than the lower end of your walking to lose weight.
Have a ‘bootcamp’ period of one or two weeks when you try different forms of exercise, such as boxing, aerobic dance, etc.
Remember that walking to lose weight on a smooth surface such as a path can allow you to walk at a brisker pace. Walking on natural terrain can increase the calorie burn though if your feet must grip, divert directions, go up and down inclines, change balance etc. Walking on a treadmill does not require the natural push off needed when walking normally. However you can walk faster, increase the incline and run for intervals.
Walking to lose weight becomes a part of the planning process for me when I am consumed with the details of a fully committed calendar over several days.
Normally I would have written something for this blog but I probably won’t be posting again until next week.
I’m away for a 4 day business seminar and have been generally busy for the last few days. Sometimes working can seem to get in the way of my committed walking for weight loss lifestyle, but also, sometimes it is normal for priorities to be reordered for a little while. This is one of the reasons for making walking to lose weight a lifestyle.
As preparation I have been making walking and weight loss through dieting a priority for a limited time. Not as a one off diet but at an increased intensity, returning to the previous sedate program afterwards. By allowing for the normal flow of priorities, by anticipating that changes are coming, give thought to new ways of keeping weight loss a primary commitment.
Eat less when uncertain as to exercise options.
Be discreet about cutting down if food and drink are important with this organisation’s culture. You can still do it but leave the table often, or be going somewhere after, preventing over indulgence.
Planning for business trips or seminars, budget and review times, can be stressful. Walking is a great de-stressor; walk and meet with associates at the same time. Others may be tired of sitting. They do not have to know this is a part of your walking to lose weight program.
Less eating more talking. Network, make friends by concentrating on this aspect rather than the food.
Fill up your time with relaxing small talk not high pressure interviews. Think of this as a game where you are carefully assessing these other people.
Wear a pedometer and count steps to get a better idea of how much walking you have managed that day. It is easy to run up and down stairs a few times to get papers or other things and add effectively to the day’s steps.
If you are staying at a hotel use the facilities such as a treadmill or you may find taking your Walk Away the Pounds DVD the easiest way to walk.
Spring time and walking go together! What happens when the summer heat kicks in when walking to lose weight?
Summer is the only time I enjoy using a gym. It is a fantastic back up for when I don’t feel cool enough to vigorously exercise. The best walking for weight loss in summer is my favourite DVD in the air conditioning at home.
Some tips for walking to lose weight when the weather is hot or humid:
Hydrate carefully. Too much is not a good thing either but do make sure you’re sipping small amounts regularly. If you do vigorous exercise in the heat try the old trick of weighing yourself before and after, replacing the difference in your weight with its equivalent in water.
Avoid the heat of midday for exercising outside. Use sunscreen. Wear a hat and cover up in light weight clothing appropriate for exercise.
Even when exercising in air conditioning, if the temperature or humidity generally is high, your body temperature will go up more quickly than it would in winter. This is because your body is already working harder to keep your median temperature low.
It may be that the same amount of exercise you always do is actually more tiring at this time of year.
It is important to get your heated body back to normal as quickly as possible if you have done too much. Use a towel or washer wrung out in iced water on the top of the head. Repeat until a lower or normal temperature is achieved. Or tip a bottle of water over your head.
Dehydration means thicker blood, which requires the heart to work harder to push it around your body. Keep the water up!
Try some strengthening exercises to insure against injury if you’ve just sat through winter and spring. Walking is the best way to start back into exercise without over doing it but even then some parts of your body may need some special attention.
E.g.
ankles-use a step to stretch the tendons by standing with your toes on the step and allowing your heels to go back over and down below the step a few inches. Hold for 10. Repeat 10 times. Stand normally then rise onto your toes for a count of 10. Repeat.
toes- pick up marbles or other small objects with your bare toes to strengthen them.
calves -stretches will alleviate tightness.
thighs- these muscles can be strengthened by lifting the knee towards the chest while standing. In the meantime try walking up steep steps slowly.
It’s raining too much to go comfortably walking to lose weight outside and this means walking inside because I’m also not going out to a shopping centre today. I have a few back ups for when I don’t want to walk outside but my favourite is to use Walk Away the Pounds.
I get out the Leslie Sansone’ DVD, pop it in the Mac, pull out the weights and my step, and away we go. Every time I do it again after a while away I am surprised anew how tired my body feels. It is harder than doing the equivalent time walking. Also I have added in the step when I am short of space so when she walks forward for four steps, I go up and down on the step.
When walking to lose weight there are a few additions which enhance the likelihood of doing the required walking. An essential is a way to measure your activity. Using your watch is the simplest. Eventually you need to modify this to ensure that the requisite energy is being used. Then a pedometer becomes a good companion for walking outside or counting steps. Over time as you become acquainted with how much walking is needed for you to get the results you want, you will get to know how much distance is necessary. With Leslie’s DVD the 3 programs are divided into 1,2 and 3 mile distances. This makes it easy to add in an extra mile if you need that distance to bring your step count up for the day.
There are lots of good exercise DVDs available but every one has different space, time, equipment requirements. I’ve bought and not used more than once the Billy Blanks’ and Jillian Michaels’ DVDs even though these are good. Recently Jillian was quoted as saying that the weight loss lifestyle is hard but at least “Walk your lunch hour. Do a video in your living room for 30 minutes.”
There are some special aspects of the walking series which make me return to Leslie Sansone. She makes it seem easy, to get what you need from her simple routines. If you need extra such as a competitive element, or challenge (other than losing weight) -even a mental one- than the more complex systems are probably for you. The beauty of walking to lose weight is it’s simplicity. It can genuinely add value by providing more than weight loss.
The benefits of walking for health and general well being are numerous.
Leslie is friendly, inclusive and not intimidating, for either beginner or advanced. She explains really easily what she is doing and why it helps to do it this way.
Walking is easy, everyone can do it, but there is a learning component when doing it to lose weight and once you understand the significance of some of the moves and changes she recommends it is easy to modify what you are doing when walking in general. This way you get a higher calorie burn.
Her DVDs are a good demonstration of how walking can have a significant weight loss impact.
She adds weights and other accessories which are all well designed and explained. I have hand weights which I used before I got around to filling her Walk Away Weights with water. I really like these new type of weight-they’re easy to hold but require a different action, balancing the ball and keeping the fingers outstretched rather than gripping. The disc style weights are usually too big for me to hold comfortably and gripping the handle of the dumb bells can aggravate any arthritic problems.
The Walk Away the Poundsseries is a real workout without being intimidating and requiring intricate techniques. If you have a preferred weight obviously you can use that and it can be modified in any number of ways, to suit your situation, such as my addition of the step.
Lots of people use DVDs for their regular way to walk or like me, supplement their normal daily activity when necessary. Either way it is a pleasure to walk with Leslie.
NOTE: The link to Amazon is for U.S. and Canadian purchasers only, because they work with North American DVD players or multi-format players only. For International purchasers this can be determined by checking your player manual.
Step Up to a New LifeThe One You’ve Always Wanted Where Weight is Not an Issue!
But do you have a plan in place, a strategy to follow?
Its time to stop following the latest trend in fitness or dieting.
You need a plan that is simple, straightforward, and sustainable. The type of plan that you can enjoy and continue to follow for years and years because you love your new life!
