This month my exercise is running using the Start Walking Get Running Lose Weight program. I’m advising you as I go what I think of this program for an ongoing way to even out the life stage effects on our bodies and in particular our weight.
This post today will give you my background relative to the author’s of the program.
David Tiefenthaler in Start Walking Get Running Lose Weight describes his own and his wife’s history of running and his decision to make a program that would work for him, essentially someone who once ran, still in his mind was able to run easily with just a little practice only to find that not to be the case and that he required a complete program to take him from the start.
The start for most people is not running even in the past and walking or even counting pedometer steps can be a mental as well as physical, trial. I’ve written extensively on why pedometer steps’ counting is a great walking for weight loss tactic particularly for anyone who is recovering from illness and inactivity.
My history includes a period over several years of almost complete inactivity. I know how low those pedometer steps can go when you do not function normally on a daily basis.
I have become an avid walker over the last few years not only for weight loss but also for health and wellness. With the extensive inaction I wasn’t always overweight yet I was weak and unable to fully function. Using the pedometer steps’ method I was not only able to get an idea of what was necessary for weight loss but also what ‘average’ and ‘active’ categories meant. This gave me a better understanding of the benefits associated with different levels of daily activity associated just with living as well as the associated benefits of exercising for health or weight loss.
For me then Start Walking Get Running Lose Weight is about making an exciting new step on my way to a lifestyle that supports my ideal weight and health. Even considering running is a major change of expectation on my behalf. Sometimes stepping out of your comfort zone is a good way to tell if your changes are real. This is not a spontaneous decision but one that developed over a period of a few days. I realized I was still on the automatic ‘I do not run’ mindset. It has become a rite of passage for me now to be taking this on.
So far I have concentrated on preparing. I’m already walking, I’m looking at the ‘get running’ part. I just started with Wii jogging on Mondays. I’ve now added some strength and conditioning exercises to prepare my body for the unusual use of my muscles. I’m strictly adhering to the calorie equation and reducing calories while intensifying my exercise as running burns more calories than walking, in particular as an addition to normal daily activity.
Once I have created a base of core muscle strength I can and will increase the intensity of my running exercise.
Technorati Tags: activity, calories, calories burned walking, counting pedometer steps, exercise, health, pedometer steps, running, walking, weight loss, Wii
There was a time in my life when I lost muscle mass. My weight on the scales was exactly where I ‘d always wanted it to be. Although my frame was soft and I was weak from lack of well being, I was excited to ‘finally’ be at a weight I had dreamed of as ‘ideal’. As an estimate I’d say my pedometer steps at the time would have rarely exceeded 1000 steps most days.
If you’re into pedometer steps then you know that this is almost the lifestyle of an invalid.
Diet for weight loss, alone, particularly reducing calories severely, when successful, often results in poor health, weakness and looking unhealthy. Most serious weight loss processes in 2010 talk about lifestyle change (good food, healthy habits including exercise, rest, stress reduction) and that having reserves of good health protects you against the everyday body ‘attacks’ that most of our bodies deal with automatically and easily. Health enables us to do all sorts of things without affect. Small things should not take you down i.e. succumb to frequent viruses, injury or sleep deprivation.
When counting pedometer steps specifically for weight loss it is imperative that you experiment with your diet for the best balance between achieving a calorie deficit (to lose weight) and empowering your body to increase exercise. A well fed body responds best to exercise increase. However it is certainly viable to increase exercise gradually while decreasing the calories eaten.
It takes a little experimenting to obtain the best balance for you but it is worth it! The results speak for themselves.
Now my idea of an ‘ideal’ weight for me has changed significantly. For a start it is much higher than I would have previously envisioned and higher than many popular indexes. Fat is very light by comparison but has a bigger volume than muscle mass. Many lists of ideal weights for a certain height assume relative inactivity. Walking or running use the large muscles of the lower body extensively and so a consistent lifestyle of this type of activity can develop strong muscles in these areas. For this reason I have also replaced constant weight reviews on the scales as it is misleading in many ways, with checking the fit of clothes and in particular keeping waist and hip belts for comparison purposes.
Keeping track in easy ways such as with a pedometer steps log and the fit of clothes enables easy monitoring of your lifestyle success in keeping weight gain away or weight loss happening. I am following the Start Walking Get Running Lose Weight program as I introduce running into my lifestyle to increase weight loss and to keep it interesting. Keeping motivated is one of the keys and it is better to associate with people who tell you that you’re losing weight than those who don’t-even if ‘the scales’ tell you otherwise.
Technorati Tags: calories, diet, exercise, health, pedometer steps, pedometer steps counting, running, steps, walking, weight loss
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
