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.
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.
Great news recently for anyone interested in leading a healthy yet socially normal life! Those of us who are wanting to live healthy yet still enjoy popular culture are being provided with encouragement and support. Now many theaters in New York and California will provide ‘healthy’ options at least for weight control.This snack will also include a pedometer. This tool and activity (counting pedometer steps) has become a popular ‘easy’ option for commercial interests to involve themselves in health for the general population.
“100 Cal Packs come with a portion-controlled amount of popcorn to provide a 100 calorie snack. Guests may choose either Coke Zero(R) or Sprite Zero(R) for their soft drink. A pedometer is included which patrons can use to measure the number of steps they take in a day. The pack also includes a fitness card with advice from the Will Rogers Institute. Regal Entertainment Group is a proud supporter of the Will Rogers Institute which promotes and engages in medical research pertaining to cardio-pulmonary diseases and educating the general public on topics of health and fitness.”
Pedals, Running and Pedometer Steps is happy to see that main stream commerce is prepared to cater for socially responsible change. After all movies can be inspiring for those wishing to self improve such as taking up running-when was the last time you saw a sexy main character out ‘walking’ for fitness?-and the general prevalence of well toned and honed bodies does create the desire for some of the benefits of fitness and health.
Any way that increasing the use of your body can become ‘normal’ is an improvement overall. For many, especially men, using a pedometer and counting pedometer steps is a motivating and target oriented way to increase their willingness to commit to exercise.
The advantages of being a really good walker are so huge that a recent period of restriction on my activity level (from injury) contributed to a decision not to attend a meeting in another town. The reason I’m talking about this in a blog post on pedometer steps is to confide my realization of the immense impact taking on a pedometers steps’ counting lifestyle has had.
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.
Pedometer Steps wants to ask you a question or two which are fundamental to successfully implementing pedometer steps as your lifestyle activity.
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.
Do you want to do your pedometer steps perfectly and assume that means successful weight loss?
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:
Take heart from all the others who successfully and routinely use a pedometer as their focuser.
Work it! Use the system as best you can. Anytime you question it say to yourself:’it works-I know it works.’
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.
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.
Share it with others-but not too much!
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.
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.
Walking and counting pedometer steps is the new wave of lifestyle management for busy overweight people. Tip 1 at the end of this post will start you on your way. Return to this blog for regular tips to help sustain this process.
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!
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.
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.
Ever had that feeling of being in control of something, like your pedometer steps, and then ‘life’ gets in the way? Say you normally go to the gym at 6.30 am as its the only time you can fit it in. Something happens, or you just can’t get yourself out of bed, and you miss it. That’s it for that day. which is OK because it is normal to have a few mishaps which affect your schedule, unless you fall into that downward spiral where it can seem bigger than it is.
This is where a commitment to exercise can add to the pressure and keep us focused. Independence is great because the only one who can get you exercising the rest of your life is you but an independent person chooses the companions and systems which most help him or her to succeed.
When you participate in a group event that is put together with compatible goals in mind, there is an energy and synergy which can lift you over hurdles and remind you of the bright side of what you are doing. Far better than needing to persuade a loved one!
Walking every day is fabulous. It is something I really look forward to, and gives me a buzz, when I get the combination right. When I do it just enough to reach my goal pedometer steps, it acts as a catalyst then I am motivated and energized to do other things that day!
Your exercise program should add to your overall activity not be a substitute for it. For women with busy family commitments, the tiredness from starting a new exercise program, often becomes an excuse for not participating. The activity based 10000 steps a day weight loss program excels in this instance providing a format for individual needs to be met.
Pedometer steps counting is an exercise tool which perfectly suits men by taking the focus off weight loss, or health issues, and onto increasing the number of steps walked over time. This challenges and stimulates their competitive nature in a good way.
There is a freedom when joining a group especially designed to help reach a shared goal. Structure enough to achieve, freedom to meet your own schedule-
Start Walking, Get Running, and Lose Weightis filled with common sense strategies for managing the food you eat and simple but very effective exercise plans that ease you into shape.
A Proven Walking or Running Plan For All Ages and Experience Levels...
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.
