• I have stepped up my Wii Fit jogging! Yes now I do a daily Step Plus for warming up and then jog around the island for a total of 15 minutes. Finish off with a few stretches.
• I do that first thing and then a shower on the cool side helps lower my blood pressure.  See Walking in Summer to Lose Weight.
• The Wii keeps track of how much energy I put into that run. I now pass lots of other joggers, and really enjoy it as long as I put music on to accompany the jog.
• I’m reintroducing the distance pedometer rather than the pedometer steps counter only.
• I then walk later in the day. Usually I do two short walks of about 15 minutes each followed by some exercises in front of the TV at night.
• Pedometer steps has become a great way to ensure balance in my daily ‘at home’ working life. The routine has added extra discipline that has successfully helped me keep perspective and gain insights at times. Walking is a type of meditation for me, and I gain stress relief and other health benefits that can also be achieved with meditation.
• Having come through a period of injury that did not fortunately restrict all types of exercise I did find I regained some weight.
• This is why pedometer steps and walking for weight loss are ongoing. I am now revising some of my diet habits to focus on ways to improve these. This is such an individual thing that it really requires each of us to fine tune our own ‘diet’.

Technorati Tags: pedometer steps, running, walking, walking for weight loss, Wii

You will start to notice some change in Pedals and Pedometer Steps. I have not been able to get into bikes so far and to my surprise have developed a belated interest in  light running. Just as I’ve decided to take a simpler way to ’step up’ I’ve simplified the theme and am in the process of blogging on my experiences with the Start Walking Get Running Lose Weight program.

Over the last few weeks I’ve made so many changes in many areas of my life it is taking a little time to integrate them all into a cohesive whole. I had just decided that I (and some other enthusiasts who’ve signed up!) would enter the City2Surf 14 km run in August 2011. I was anticipating that all or most of that ‘run’ would be walked. The group had asked me to put together a program for us (all walkers) to get up to speed-after all we have 12 months to prepare! I looked at some good YouTube videos I found (view on walking versus running including the one that decided me on trying these Dunlop Volleys – originally a tennis shoe) and Start Walking Get Running Lose Weight.

Pedals & Pedometer Steps was  originally designed to be my transition blog from Walking to Lose Weight into a more intense exercise such as cycling. Somehow it never happened unless the cycle of a perfected routine counting pedometer steps and then something (injury/illness/away time) causing a disturbance to the routine and then building up to the perfected routine again.

My feeling now is that cycling, which I have never done before so it is a big change for me at my time of life, was too big a jump for my self view to accept.

The strategy to move on from simply walking for weight loss has always been one in which I introduced something new. The gym, dvds, workout sessions with friends have been a part of my agenda for years whenever I have been attending to my ‘weight’.

Walking itself and using a pedometer, counting pedometer steps and recording those steps and targets etc. was a new discipline and technique for me I started when I got serious with walking to lose weight as a lifestyle.

As I wrote in the last post this was one of the best things I’ve ever done!

The technique though for weight loss is a continual process of upgrading my exercise to maintain or increase my calorie expenditure. Over time the same level of exercise is accommodated by the body and calorie or kilojoules used decreases unless the exercise is intensified.

So as I continue on my weight loss journey I am preparing to include some running within my walking routine. Stay with me as I start preparing for this change.

Technorati Tags: calories, dunlop volleys, pedometer, pedometer running, pedometer steps, running, walking, walking for weight loss, walking to lose weight, weight loss

I’ve been walking for many years as my exercise of choice for a weight loss lifestyle.

Finding creative ways to include activity and pedometer steps into my daily life is a hobby now.

It is a natural and rewarding part of every day.

Speaking (or writing) as someone who lives this lifestyle of consciously choosing to be active every day with the combined targets of losing weight and maintaining weight loss, it has become such an accepted and pleasurable practice that I am concerned when it is challenged in any way.

Often the limits to pedometer steps or other activity is ‘unreal’ that is it is a byproduct of another ‘activity’ that limits physical movement such as attending a conference. It is only the physical restrictions caused from injury that have a significant dampening effect on my attitude.

In my past I have mainly been sedentary from both occupations and choice. I existed with certain physical limitations without any awareness or concern of this loss.

Now having lived with the enormous freedom generated from the well being and physical capacity regular exercise brings, I am acutely aware of the ‘down’ sides of not being able to walk freely.

This hasn’t always been the case. When I took on exercise again after a limiting illness the process was not easy. The surge of enthusiasm that got me started also meant that I tried to do too much and was incapacitated mentally as well as physically by the pain resulting from ‘overdoing’ it. I didn’t ‘understand’ exercise or that walking was exercise. It is getting to the other side of any injuries or other restrictions on my ability to choose to walk that feels like a real achievement. My confidence comes from living both sides of this issue. I know the doubts and I know that being on this side, of relying on walking as a destressor and weight control tool, is a fantastic way to live.

It has been some time since I have caused myself a physical strain or exercise related injury and so falling and hurting my ribs was a shock mentally and physically.

I now rely on the mental and physical, as well as weight loss, benefits of walking. It is standard to the process that someone who has struggled with weight loss has a certain routine up and down gain and loss effect within their weight loss lifestyle. Injury has the added frustration of probably meaning weight gain for the time it affects me unless I adjust my eating levels to compensate for the lack of activity.

These frustrations are part of the pedometer steps process. Or weight loss or diet or exercise program.

The advantage of this injury for me has been to highlight the benefits of pedometer steps and walking.

The attitude for life around making activity an easy part of every day is the basis of this blog. If you like the idea of keeping in touch with us, you can follow on Twitter (link on top right) or ‘like’ the Walking to Lose Weight page on Facebook (top right). Thanks for visiting Pedals and Pedometer Steps.

Technorati Tags: activity, activity based weight loss, exercise, injury, pedometer steps, walking, weight loss

How do you think about your life? Where does your health and well being fit?

If exercising and perhaps modifying your diet is a new or unsuccessful life tactic, then perhaps you haven’t thought about how to make it practical in your life.

Anyone who has ample pleasurable activity in their lives already may be challenged by the requirement to change unless they substitute one pleasure for another i.e. make pedometer steps part of life’s pleasures.

Pedometer Steps is one way of fixing the importance of your actions into your mind with daily  monitoring.

In many case studies of my own I am aware that doing exercise for the purpose of satisfying a medical direction or as a recovery phase, means that it is overlaid on your lifestyle.  Say suddenly a dog is brought into the household and all the associated tasks and pleasures are unexpected and coped with rather than planned and formalized. There is a certain amount of immediate action to satisfy what is necessary with a jumble of understanding and misunderstanding unless you have another dog already, or have had sufficient experience of dog ownership to understand what’s required.

There is a demanding and unwanted intrusion which can’t be ignored but you wish it could be. Gradually there is a certain amount of rallying of the troops and some semblance of order, discipline and care is established. Over time as the pleasures associated with dog ownership come to the fore, then appropriate care is tailored to suit your environment.

Walking and activity for weight loss is a strategy that worked for me and many others. Using a pedometer enables you to make allowances for changes in your exercise throughout a period without abandoning the program of counting pedometer steps because you’ve got behind.

It pays off to be organized yet flexible. The same rules apply negotiating with yourself for pedometer steps as in negotiating a deal. The number of steps needed to meet a daily target can be offset over an extended period. So putting steps ‘in the bank’ will accrue ‘interest’.

Using your personal step bank you can provide options for eating and activity at any time. This inbuilt flexibility is the charm of pedometer steps. It provides an easy system to keep track and stay motivated. This is an ongoing program tailored for success.

Read my latest walking article here.

Technorati Tags: activity, exercise, mentors, pedometer, pedometer steps

There is a flaw in the logic of this approach because pedometer steps, when used correctly, do lead to weight loss, however, it requires ongoing commitment to the walking and activity, with eating moderation, for successful weight loss; any pressure to perform perfectly, whether this is a self expectation or of others, can take away some positive results.

Have you ever felt really excited about something, a new opportunity, a new weight loss diet, a new trainer? And to start it is just as magical as you hoped. You seem to be more capable of whatever it is you’re trying to achieve. Then something like a letdown happens and it seems it wasn’t magical and the results or gains you achieved went away and you think you imagined them in the first place.

I’m someone who has done that -a lot!

Now I know that was a wrong approach. My doubt was what killed the success.

This is similar to a new relationship which starts on a high-high hopes, high enthusiasm, high agreeability-and then becomes a work-in-progress!

Perfecting your pedometer steps process is not part of a walking to lose weight lifestyle. Using a pedometer is how to monitor action. The acceptance of your lifestyle changes become the main factor promoting success.

The advantage of a new system or approach to your fitness, health or weight loss is the change it brings into your attitude.

Pedometer steps encourages you to routinely exercise, makes it easy to remember to do it, and gives you  motivating results, as you see the steps total rise and your body trim.

Enthusiasm is a great precursor of weight loss success. Enthusiasm for the process. Maintaining enthusiasm is a key to your success.

Tips for maintaining enthusiasm with Pedometer Steps:

1. Take heart from all the others who successfully and routinely use a pedometer as their focuser.
2. Work it! Use the system as best you can. Anytime you question it say to yourself:’it works-I know it works.’
3. Avoid discussing it with anyone who wants you to justify its ability to work for you. People who might say discouraging things are not the best people to share your enthusiasm with-they can take it away and it is the loss of enthusiasm that damages your weight loss not the system’s lack.
4. Find the ways you most enjoy using it. This is important because wearing a pedometer is a commitment, like a relationship and you have to put good feeling into it. The best way is to discover how you enjoy it and focus on making that even more fun or rewarding than ever before.
5. Share it with others-but not too much!
6. Learn that the responsibility is yours for enjoying the process. Don’t rely on others to make it special for you. Any interaction with others such as on the web is a weight loss tool. Use it when it is to your advantage but don’t if it takes you away from your goals.
7. Be solution oriented!

Technorati Tags: activity, exercise, fitness, health, pedometer, pedometer steps, walking, walking to lose weight, weight loss

Plan for your summer months of pedometer steps. You know your climate and if it includes hot and humid then  unless you’re experienced at walking and being active in the heat it is a good idea to think of alternative ways to exercise in comfort and with limited heat exposure.

Consider your options: a gym or indoor activity center, preferably air conditioned if you live in a hot or humid  climate is perfect for those times when you must exercise in the heat. Alternatives such as air conditioned  corridors of hospitals or office buildings, shopping malls and airports may suit your circumstances. An obvious  option which I use is to walk at cooler times of the day. This is not always viable because of personal circustances  or because the weather just never gets cool!

Wear your pedometer! With less clothing in summer it is more important to have a safe, secure and attractive,  pedometer. This is important more to some than others.

Walking shoes-protection for your feet combined with temperature control, is an important combination. “Good”  old fashioned walking shoes can be heavy and hot, leading to the popularity of the new style walking sandals or  slides. It can take a while to get accustomed to a walking slide so don’t be turned off before trying if you can afford  to test them.

Pedometer steps walking done on a beach can be beautiful at the right time, but generally not in the middle of the day when the sun is burning at its maximum and the sand is both hotter and reflects more heat. If this is something you can do a bit of for your regular pedometer walks then use and take sun screen, protective clothing and hat, sunglasses and flip flops, as well as replacing water lost through sweating regularly. Walking in soft sand or shallow water is fantastic exercise so do this as much as you can if you have the option.

Carry sun screen at all times. I prefer the roll on types (with maximum SPF) because they are easier to use when juggling bags etc.

When walking outside consider the surface you are on. White concrete can be very hot. Grass paths and shady routes are great at this time of year.

Pedometer steps is an activity based program so it relies on you choosing active options throughout your day. Your pedometer steps tally will be constantly increasing as you choose to take the ‘harder’ options such as walking to work, the bus stop or church. This often works better in some seasons then others so again look for inside options including the Nintendo Wii or exercise DVD. The local gym can supply classes or a treadmill.

Gym membership can be a real asset although casual use of a gym is also a good back up for those days when consistent hot weather means you need easy alternatives to prevent the “excuse creep of bad weather” causing decreased average pedometer steps. Don’t let the weather stop you from living your weight loss dreams!

It is worthwhile finding the right gym for your current circumstances. Membership options and flexibility changes all the time. I have found over the years that regularly checking what is new or changes to the options often reveals other alternatives to try. Your needs may change or the gym may have become more attuned to your unique requirements.  Maybe suggest changes to the structure which might benefit a pedometer steps approach.

Be prepared for summer as walking for weight loss is a lifestyle and as such needs consistent availability of real pedometer steps counting options.

Technorati Tags: exercise, pedometer, pedometer steps

Too much to do and too much on your mind? Neglecting your diet and exercise needs is by far the easiest strategy and the one you have applied for most of your adult life. Perhaps you keep yourself going by eating favorite foods?

While those counting pedometer steps includes all sorts of people there is a special attraction for the mature and long under-exercised, struggling in some way to live that wonderful life they once dreamed about. It may be that there is a higher force such as a doctor or spouse directing the decision but on the whole this program worked because, your commitment to change over rode the past.

This means being willing to give up those past lifestyle choices that seemed indisputably the ‘best’ or the only possible ways of doing things.

There ’s a clear path for living an active fulfilling life. Pedometer steps counting becomes an established habit in your life, encourages you to take up active options during every day, rewards you with a success mentality when you achieve the targets, and increases your fitness and weight loss.

It is a path because depending upon where you start as in the regular exercise you do and the diet you eat daily, will be the speed of both your walking and your trimming and weight drop.

The series of small successes such as achieving your daily pedometers steps’ target helps with the motivation you need to keep on the program.

Tip 1:

Look for the greatest personal character traits which have supported you in your most successful moments in your life.

For instance, if one of those is the birth of your child, transfer the best aspects to your own re-birth as an active vital person. Pregnancy was required before that baby arrived. Some sail through these 40 weeks and some don’t. Either way it is necessary. Then the work really started but it was a love process.

The positive expectation you felt looking forward to the birth of your child is needed for this activity and pedometer steps process that leads to a fabulous lifestyle.

Pedals & Pedometer Steps is an advocate of the new wave of greater expectations for a better life based on activity and weight loss. We will continue featuring the techniques, tools and systems which enable most of us to find ‘more’ in our lives!

Technorati Tags: calories burned walking, counting pedometer steps, exercise, fitness, pedometer steps, pedometer steps counting, weight loss

We talk often about the necessity to include walking  and other regular types of activity into your day. Blend it and your other commitments into your lifestyle so the easier it is to meet your goals as a whole, the more likely it is that ongoing weight loss and well being will be achieved.

This can take some persistence. Pedometer steps counting is not every one’s favorite topic. Do yourself a favor and don’t make others who aren’t interested endure your enthusiastic monitoring of steps and activity. Just don’t talk about it unless they are also doing it or like to encourage and support you with increasing your pedometer steps.

As walking or activity based weight loss or management is an ongoing and vital part of your life strategy it has to be as important as other well being tactics. If this is not a shared interest with other family members or loved ones, simply don’t share it with them! It doesn’t need to be intrusive in that sense. There are other ways for you to talk, blog, forum, tweet about your walking and weight loss experiences.

Volunteering is one way of bringing activity and walking into your life without forcing it on your family and friends.

Initially when walking and counting pedometer steps becomes a focus for you it is often attractive to other people, friends or acquaintances. Spontaneous suggestions for joint walks or outings are made with the idea that both or several people can enjoy walking with you.  As with many things in life one person’s walk is not always the same as another person’s idea of a walk.

A friend had the embarrassment of watching a new female neighbor struggling to keep up with the friend’s fast walking husband as he took off  for an extended walk, much longer than the woman had expected. It was a good lesson because his ‘walking’ routine has become a shared joke, and the neighbor was discouraged without offense from wanting to join the man on his daily walks.

One way to find companionship or interest while counting pedometer steps can be to become a volunteer for events which need walking related tasks performed. Often walking events themselves can need volunteers to walk between checkpoints or be of general assistance and this activity of course registers on the pedometer. Prior to the event leaflet distribution around relevant neighborhoods can be required and obviously this can be a fun walking opportunity.

This sort of activity-related volunteering requires some ‘out of the box’ thinking if you have only thought of volunteer work as helping the infirm or baby sitting. On the other hand some types of traditional volunteer work can involve action. How many pedometer steps would register for an action packed fete or other fund raiser? Instead of cooking get involved with selling tickets or setting up. Part of your weight problem may be that your normal choices in these situations add to your problem not your solution!

Technorati Tags: activity based weight loss, calories burned walking, charity walk, pedometer, pedometer steps, walking, walking for weight loss, weight loss

Calories burned walking when you walk 100 kms adds up to a significant calorie deficit and weight loss! This video is indicative of a fun attitude from these women doing the Oxfam Trail Walking Sydney for 2010. This fundraising program operates in several Oxfam countries around the world and exemplifies an opportunity for serious walking to lose weight people to combine fun, team work and philanthropy.

Pedals and Pedometer Steps recommends including activities to enhance your pedometer steps counting and to keep your interest alive for your pedometer steps program. This example of a special event walk demonstrates the opportunity to build pedometer steps and a walking to lose weight lifestyle.

Why is this such a good idea?

Pedometer steps counting is a great example of the tried and true method to not only losing weight but keeping the weight off once the activity level developed through walking for weight loss is continued as a lifestyle.

To develop your exercise or activity into a lifestyle choice requires building interest and variety, and friendships or family relationships into it. The charity or fun walk is a perfect opportunity to do this. What is appealing to me in this video is the fun attitude the girls have taken when recording the promotion. This Sydney event is in August.

How Did It Begin?

The event began in 1981 as a military exercise for the elite Queen’s Gurkha Signals Regiment in Hong Kong, and has since grown into one of the world’s leading sporting challenges. Oxfam TRAILWALKER is a global event, taking place annually in New Zealand, UK, Hong Kong and Japan.

Technorati Tags: charity walk, exercise, oxfam, pedometer steps, pedometer steps counting, trailwalker, walk, walking for weight loss, walking to lose weight, weight loss

I was very excited to hear that the Gruve was developed with the help of the Mayo clinic. Reviews of differing programs and weight loss systems are everywhere. Readers of Pedals & Pedometer Steps blog will know I am always looking for an activity based lifestyle program for those who want a full and satisfying (long lived) life.

I”m a fan of the pedometer steps system because it is so versatile and is a lifestyle rather than an exercise program.

When this system is practiced the individual’s targets become independent of the accepted 10000+ pedometer steps daily for weight loss, and can alter according to the weight loss or well being status of each person.

Another aspect that appeals about Gruve is that the depth of the system is attractive for use beyond the required weight loss itself.

Again, regular readers will know that I consider an essential part of permanent weight loss is the continuation of a modified form of the lifestyle (and exercise or pedometer steps counting) which achieved the weight loss.

Pedometer steps activity is a natural as it is easily integrated into most lifestyles.

Technorati Tags: activity based weight loss, calories burned walking, gruve, pedometer, pedometer steps, weight loss, wellbeing