Weight Loss by Walking For Women
“Lose weight and exercise.” Your blood pressure, diabetes, or heart disease is getting worse and your doctor has just laid it on the line for you. Lose the pounds and get moving. “Oh, great!” you say, unenthusiastically. You may have kids, you have a job, maybe caring for a parent, you are tired and overwhelmed. Time to exercise isn’t in the schedule.
Let’s rethink this situation. Your health is the most important issue. If you don’t have your health, you have lost everything. Besides, who can take care of you? Nobody can care for you, like you can. The first thing you need to do is put yourself on the list and up near the top.
Let’s look at the benefits of exercise. Exercise boosts your metabolism so you burn more calories. It decreases your hunger and desire for unhealthy snacks. Exercise works the entire body including the heart and blood vessels, muscles, joints, bones, chemistry and hormones of the body, the lungs as it clears the mind. Regular exercise will increase your endurance, flexibility and agility. That means it helps your body be in shape, more stable and minimizes the chance for falls.
What is the easiest way to add in exercise? Walking. If you walk 20 minutes a day, 5 days per week, you can lose 10 pounds or more in a year, without dieting. Get a walking buddy and go for a 20 minute walk on your lunch hour.
I had gotten away from walking and exercise during a stressful relocation a couple of years ago. It seemed like I gained weight every month for about 18 months. I tried dieting, eating on very small plates, and diet supplements to no avail. I made it a goal to walk 3 miles several times a week.
The benefits of walking for me included more energy, clearer thinking, losing 15 pounds in 6 months and peace of mind. It also gives me the chance to review my day and pray.
Walking can cause problems with hips, knees, ankles and feet. Be sure to consult your doctor before starting any exercise program. Get a good pair of walking shoes or sneakers and good socks. If you need to, start slowly. Walk for 10 minutes every day. If the weather is bad, walk in a mall. Many malls have mall walker groups and the malls are marked for distance.
If you need some more support, there are excellent magazines about walking. These magazines will provide beginner and experience walkers with advice on shoes, clothes, walking sticks, tails, diet and more. They also will have stories about real people like you and I that have lost weight and gained health by walking.
Take twenty minutes every day to walk with a friend. Enjoy your friend, solve problems, tone your body, become healthier, clear you thinking…. priceless.
