If you’re looking for something that will help you to lose weight and doesn’t cost a fortune, then walking is just the thing. Walking and weight loss are made for each other. It’s cheap, easy, very low impact and it can increase fitness and make you healthier. What more could you want?
Some experts suggest that activities such as walking are essential to losing weight and increasing health and fitness levels. If you don’t want to go to the gym, or sign up for an exercise class, just walk to places that you’d usually use the car for. I have a friend who stopped using his car and walked everywhere that he could. To say that he was overweight when he started was a major understatement.. I hadn’t seen him for a few months and the change was, to say the least, remarkable. He lost close to 50 pounds in around six months. He was walking a good few miles a day, but it was obviously working for him. So if you follow these ‘steps’ (no pun intended..) you can be walking your way to fitness :
1. Get yourself a pedometer. You’ll be able to count how many steps you take per day and with some, how many calories you’ve burned. The recommendation is 10,000 steps and to be honest, that isn’t as difficult as you’d think.
2. Walk briskly but not so fast that you’re easily out of breath. You should be able to hold a conversation whilst you walk, if you can’t then slow down. You’ll find that it gets easier the more you do it.
3. Control how much you eat. If you are maintaining your current weight, walking will burn more calories and help your body to use up those reserves of fat that your body has stored away. If you want to lose weight more quickly, adjust your diet accordingly.
4. If you can, carry a backpack or rucksack for extra weight. Your body will have to work harder to move and so will burn more calories. Be careful though, take care of your posture and remember it will put some extra strain on you.
5. You could always get yourself a dog if you need a reason to walk..
By following these tips and controlling what you eat, you’ll be fitter, healthier, you’ll have more stamina and you will be on your way to your ideal weight.
