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.

Technorati Tags: burning calories, exercise, Leslie Sansone, walking, walking dvd, walking to lose weight

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.

1. 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.
2. Break up your standard program with exercise groups such as aerobic step classes.
3. 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.
4. 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.

Technorati Tags: burning calories, calories burned, exercise, treadmill, walk, walking, walking dvd, walking for weight loss, walking to lose weight

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.

Technorati Tags: Business Trips, diet, Dieting, Food And Drink, Lifestyle, pedometer, treadmills, walking, walking dvd, walking for weight loss, walking to lose weight, weight loss

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.

Walking to lose weight in summer is cool!

Technorati Tags: beach walking, benefits of walking, gym, recreation, tips for weight loss, walk, walking dvd, walking for weight loss, walking to lose weight

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 Pounds series 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.

Walk Away the Pounds with Leslie Sansone

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.

Technorati Tags: walk away the pounds, walking dvd, walking for weight loss, walking to lose weight, weight loss tips

Sometimes when coming across an article or blog which really fits within my own walking to lose weight attitude to successful weight loss it becomes a great opportunity to improve what I’m doing. I like the idea behind this research: find out what is successful (or not) for a lot of people (over 22,000). Even with the normal biases from self-responding survey results this is impressive because we can think about what a large number of people have found effective and ineffective in weight control.

Most of what appears in my blog is based on my personal weight issues and success or failures. This stems from decades of frustration with an incomplete approach for what is a lifestyle choice rather than a one-off treatment.

My issues, in hindsight and summary form, have been:

poor eating habits
no exercise habit
situational eating.

What I want now is to use all that I now know to create an easy, healthy lifestyle where weight is not an issue, and my life is active because I want it to be.

Back to some of the findings from the Consumer Reports survey. I agree from personal experience with their findings that you need to get back up each time you “fail”,  it takes more than one go to lose weight. For the other keys to weight loss, and this may relate back to the first point, that more than one effort to lose weight is necessary, there are levels at which certain “rules” apply. Some of the stricter requirements are too “heavy” for beginner losers who are not mentally prepared for the discipline and positive attitude required for continued success.

Dieting and Exercise are Both Necessary: I agree with this. It produces a quicker and more attractive result.

However for those with low current exercise levels particularly through illness, long term or disability from overweight, weight loss can start from increasing movement without adjusting diet at first. It is better to moderate what you eat, get into walking and move through any difficulties you encounter initially, and then add stricter calorie monitoring. Calorie intake needs adjustment as your body weight decreases also because a lighter load uses less calories to move around. At the same time muscle maintenance uses more calories than fat so this lower calorie usage may not be as important if only a little weight needs to be lost in the first place. This is part of why you have to be prepared to fail and start over if you can’t take on all the necessary changes at once i.e. making time for exercise, doing it, shopping differently, preparing food instead of eating take away, solving problems as they arise, etc.

Self-Monitor:

I prefer keeping track of my exercise program e.g. pedometer or minutes/distance etc., and to keep noticing how clothes fit better etc. than to constantly weigh myself…except when I’m on target (i.e. I am the weight/size I want) when regular weight checks remind me if I start to stray.

Today after hopping on my Wii Fit to check my weight it confirmed what I had suspected: weight gain of 0.7 kgs! Of course I knew that I had been allowing myself some additional treats over Easter and doing less distance in my walking, consequently I’m not disappointed but I’m not happy. I now need to get back into my regular routine of counting steps and make good choices. And the scales help focus that intention.

But again if I’m in the beginning stages weight measurement can be misleading or de-motivating, when the results aren’t what you want or expected to see.

Use new information to revise some aspects of your weight loss program if it seems like a good idea.

My decision: I’m quitting my gym and using the various tools and walking to lose weight routines I’ve already put in place, to bolster my program.

Why? The gym has been my fall back position. Whenever I feel frustration I want to charge in to the gym and do some dynamite exercise to quickly lose inches. It has been useful but I wonder if my other resources are enough. There are other options to gym-style resources or walking dvds at home and through casual attendance at other exercise classes.

Technorati Tags: counting steps, gym, w, walking dvd, walking for weight loss, walking to lose weight

The most important aspect of an ongoing walking for weight loss lifestyle is to feel good about it!

Find a way of lifting your mood or changing your position on something. For example if you always do a particular route, time, class or profile- change it. The adage that change is as good as a holiday has lots of good thinking behind it. Added to that is the recognised benefit of walking to lift one’s spirits.

What could you make different about walking to lose weight today?

Some ways to do this and break a cycle that is getting you down:

Go to the shops and walk around to ger prices etc. instead of phoning or doing an internet search. Remember it is the time saving technologies which in many instances have taken out exercise from our daily lives. Add some of these opportunities for activity back into your life. So if you are a shopaholic use this!

Play with the kids at that next family party by participating or creating active games which they love. Or if they’re older go to a game and take every opportunity to jump up and cheer, do a victory dance-for both sides!

Take your walking dvd to a friend’s place, babysitting or when traveling.

Cultivate a level of indifference to what others might see as normal. After all anything you put time and effort into is important to you-don’t take advice from others to whom it isn’t important.

All the little accumulated successes enhance your confidence in the walking to lose weight process. Notice that you are feeling better-that in itself is a success! Count them all.

Technorati Tags: walking, walking dvd, walking for weight loss, walking to lose weight

Stars Who Are Walking to Lose Weight

This article has great walking for weight loss tips and makes a lie of my recent post saying walking to lose weight would never be a favoured celebrity sport.

During the course of writing the Walking to Lose Weight blog some questions arise with more frequency and generally are incorporated as part of posts rather than as specific answers to a question. Today though some questions will be considered and answered directly.

What numbers are appropriate when walking on a treadmill?

W..ell! It depends. Subsequent to my previous suggestions for ramping up the interest or results for treadmill walking it is revealed that there are many fans for using the treadmill for weight loss and adding in increases to your program to avoid boredom. Generally gym treadmills are considered the most accurate and flexible, with walking dvds and other accessories best for at home use, although there are many fans for home treadmills.

Ideal speeds etc. depend very much on your experience, height, weight, age…in other words very much up to you. For instance, in kilometres/hour speeds of 5.5 to 5.9 (around 3.5 to 4 miles/hour) are considered beneficial without over stressing the system. You may want to start on a warm up speed, gradually increase to this or higher level and do short spurts of running or other interval type training e.g. increasing the gradient for 2 minutes. At 5 foot 2 inches I run at around 7.6 km/hr (4.7 m/h) but a taller or fitter person would run faster. Shorter steps done faster is generally the best way to increase speed. Experiment with the gradient levels until you know what suits you. Remember that how you feel on the day will affect your capacity-so a tired body, or one that has sore back of the legs from hill walking may not be up to as high a level of gradient today as yesterday.

When starting walking the numbers on the dashboard can be confusing. A basic understanding of the meaning of the treadmill display information is helpful. In particular note that calorie burning information requires at a minimum input of weight information for any chance of accuracy.

Is walking in a shopping mall really an option?

Skeptics abound apparently about the feasibility of walking seriously in shopping complexes and achieving a decent walking to lose weight workout. Perhaps we can point out what is not a walking to lose weight mall experience. It is not strolling down aisles stopping every few feet to look at a price, or pushing and leaning on a shopping cart, or pulling two children reluctantly behind you with frequent stops, or sitting whenever possible- if you have to wait when walking to lose weight then stand!

Your local shops may not be ideal for this exercise. If not, look for venues which are: undercover markets which are large and regularly laid out; one or two level malls with inside/outside and underground levels work well. Air conditioning is a major incentive when walking outside isn’t an option because of the weather.

Many communities have mall walking clubs which generally operate before the centres open for shopping, sometimes with set routes. The main purpose of the group may not suit you as some are aimed at the elderly and frail for instance, and consequently would be slower but many are weight loss or fitness oriented. This doesn’t have to be your main option but it is a great backup.

Once you realise the attractiveness of walking in a well lit, comfortable, flat environment look around your local area to see other options you haven’t considered previously.

Technorati Tags: burning calories, gym, tips for weight loss, treadmill, walking dvd, walking for weight loss, walking to lose weight

Before walking to lose weight, consider:

1. Your lifestyle- are you generally inactive (anywhere less than 8,000 steps daily);

2. How long you have been inactive;

3. Can you commit yourself to organising your life around walking for a time?

4. Can you ignore counter productive drives during this time?

Lifestyle

If you are active every day without adding specific walking to lose weight tasks then you may lose weight more easily by looking at other factors such as diet, but if you are with the majority and lead inactive lives of about 6,000 steps per day, then walking for weight loss will work for you.

How Long?

How much time it will take depends upon how many years of inactivity have deposited the fat into the muscles, then overlaid this with the fat under the skin. If you have just recently adopted a sedentary lifestyle through change of occupation or illness etc. going back to walking for weight loss should trim your body quickly. If you have many years of inactivity, initial losses could be huge as the body changes to cope with the sudden introduction of walking but overall trimming and weight loss will take longer while you build up lean strong muscles.

This personal trainer who decided to put on weight to understand how his overweight clients feel about their weight may not find it to be as helpful as if he understood the issues of long term overweight. His plan did not include inactivity but over eating meaning that by stopping excess eating or exercising more he will quickly return to his normal body weight.

Daily Life

Depending upon your need may be the time you will dedicate to walking on a daily basis. There are many people who walk hours daily for pleasure and the other benefits of walking regularly but when walking specifically as a weight loss program any amount of additional walking will contribute to the overall effect on weight loss. The more time devoted to the task he greater the result- say 1 hour daily for 2 weeks is very effective kick start, particularly combined with lowered calorie intake.

You need to fit regular walking into your schedule – twenty minutes can be made up of 2 ten minute walks morning and night. If someone is very inactive this will have a definite fat loss effect. A more active person needs to continually increase and vary the activity.

Someone like Madonna who with a personal trainer does a daily two to three hour exercise routine includes treadmill dancing, skipping and running backwards to continually challenge her body.

Be your own personal trainer. Make sure you are committed and encouraging, add in variety and intensity where necessary.

Focus

Make walking a priority. Make weight loss a priority. Don’t overcompensate for strenuous exercise by eating without restriction. Don’t pretend to do the exercise by not timing, measuring or counting what walking you have done today. Use a pedometer when walking outside or at a minimum time your walk, treadmills offer time and distance information and certain dvds such as Walk Away the Pounds offer a variety of walks by time and distance- one, two or three miles.

Be willing to find solutions if problems to your walking daily arise.

Technorati Tags: trainer, walking dvd, walking for weight loss, walking to lose weight, weight loss, weight loss tips

A Colorado State University study looked at the influence of overweight friends and states that friends, family and social groups are the main determinant when it comes to being overweight or successful in losing weight and particularly in maintaining weight loss. In other words if your friends are fat the chances you are also increases. If they lose weight so will you. In this study the results suggest that even normally weighted individuals will eventually put on weight if surrounded by others who are overweight.

There are many programs designed to utilise positive influence in weight loss. Just as with other systems or techniques buddying up has successes and failures. Weight loss friendships can provide needed motivation. The down side of this dependency is the lack of self discipline. Walking to lose weight does challenge us in some ways. For every negative there is a potential positive and vice versa. In the case of friendships, social influences, media and weight loss buddies what is ideally positive influence and role modeling behaviour, can be the reason a goal of walking for weight loss, or simply losing weight itself, is a failure.

Often the overweight feel vulnerable when exercising-this is one of the attractions of walking and exercise dvds which are relatively easy  and if occasionally you do look silly, or red in the face, or have to sit down and rest while others are still walking, it doesn’t matter. The advantage of at home solutions for exercising is the lack of public exposure, including no fear about what you’re wearing, or how you do it. The same can apply to looking for support in online groups or Twitter.

Happily you may find others with similar goals and approaches online who are there to encourage you and field questions. However even in weight loss chat rooms and forums some people are very specific about the way they believe weight loss works. Ignoring other people’s attitude to your weight loss method, unless it helps you keep doing what you need to do, is a skill necessary for success, whether online or not.

As you get the wanted result and start to look and feel fantastic the sensitivity about other’s opinions will matter less and less. The result is worth it.

Technorati Tags: walking dvd, walking for weight loss, walking forum, walking to lose weight