I am a fan of having the right shoes. Walking and counting pedometer steps over long distances does require comfortable shoes and I have my favorites-for wet weather, hot weather, messy tracks, etc. I’m not a hiker so I like urban wear and even like to wear comfortable heels for light walking or dancing as I love the shaping effect on the calf muscles. Pedometer steps is often just activity (10000 steps) from a normal day and in these cases my shoes are chosen to enable that.
I am trying Dunlop Volleys, a light flexible sports shoe for running although I prefer Ecco brand walking shoes. I appreciate the approach in the following video. The expert here says that running style and technique is more important than the shoe you wear. Adjust your style to prevent injury.
Now that I have added pedometer running to my pedometer steps exercise routine I would also like to have the best shoes for me to enjoy an injury free introduction to running techniques. Ideally this would be simple.
Experts differ. Preparation is important when starting running and finding the right shoes for you is part of that.
It is important to take the time to develop a proper foot support appropriate for you. Everyone’s requirements are different so allow for this when judging suggestions.
The idea of participating in the City2Surf in August 2011 has an exciting influence on me. Let you in on a secret…
The motivation and enthusiasm that comes from such an idea is a tremendous force that can be harnessed for weight loss success!
But that’s not the secret. The secret is that the excitement factor of imagining, discussing and feeling good about this decision is enough to generate a surge in your pedometer steps running, walking or weight loss. Actually doing the event is less important.
Getting excited, acting on that excitement, using the momentum, enjoying the push, reinspiring yourself, energizes your program to start walking then running.
Why am I excited?
This is the first time I can see myself participating in a fun run event-as a runner! Huge progress for me-I’m a runner!
Others are gradually coming to see the possibility as well and are considering joining me.
There is no downside! Walking is always an option and i am already good at that.
It gives me a motivating influence. it doesn’t over commit me. It is an option.
Any preparation I do for this race is an advance on my walking to lose weightpedometer steps progress.
The trick to this is not to make this a do or die commitment.Take what it offers you. A reason to get excited and try something new.
I am doing theStart Walking Get Running Lose Weight program. Adding running carefully and progressively from a walking start is brilliant! Having a sort of public event to prepare for also acts as motivation. Using pedometer steps is the best way to start adding walking into an already full life. Once you’ve got that concept underway then focus on opening into other areas.
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 new routine for introducing running with pedometer steps has required some change of emphasis on old tools. I’ve written about my use of the Wii previously however I’ve found that it fits even better with running, than with walking for weight loss.
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.
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’.
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.
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.
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.
Pedals & Pedometer Steps has lots of ideas for making pedometer steps a regular part of a health conscious and active life. The level of activity will depend a lot upon your expectations and the time available in your life.
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!
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...
