Am I walking to lose weight or playing?
Having fun helps! And remembering what it was like as a child. Or watch children at play. They play until exhausted because it is fun. And what is a major part of playing outside? Action! Pretend games! How do we get a child to do something they are resisting? We make it into a game!
A partner in play for walking is the pedometer. Certainly it is possible to walk happily without one as I have done for some time but in my usual pursuit of variety it seems a good time to reinvest in one. Why? There are 2 main reasons- 1. it makes keeping track of what you are doing easier; and 2. it enable you to build in upgrades to the intensity of your workout.
I am gearing up for a challenge game where you set a target for the month and then count down as you achieve it. There are many such games which encourage walking by adding in achievement or fun. The one I am going to do is a walking forum and there are a many variations. Another site for making walking a game is Walking With Attitude. And the beauty of these approaches is that the activity can be inside or outside. You can go from one to the other and it all counts.
So after several years of not using my pedometer I am about to start using one again. However, my first one has long gone having not survived it’s extensive use. Since then I have been able to convert to time as a measurement because I had used the pedometer enough to get an understanding of the various distances I was doing, and in what time. I also supplement my outside walking with the treadmill in the gym or walking away the pounds, when the weather discourages me.
Having used a pedometer in the past I know what I want it to do and why I want it. I will write about the process of getting and using a pedometer in the next post.
