September 2007 calendar One week down, and three left to go in the 4-Week Walk for Weight Loss… and today’s plan just calls for the same simple cardio walk as yesterday.

After all, what good is a svelte and toned body if you don’t have the heart-and-lung health to let it have some fun?!

Pat Yourself on the Back!

With 25% of the weight-loss walking program completed, this seems like a good time to give ourselves a small gift for sticking with it. Rewards are an important tool in keeping motivated — but let’s not make it a food reward, okay? (I’m stilll struggling with those peppermint cravings.)

Day 6:
5 minute warm-up
35 – 50 minutes at level 6
5 minute cool-down
stretching

A new wardrobe item… Hiring a babysitter so you can go play hooky for the afternoon… Tickets to the theatre… A wadge of glossy magazines you normally wouldn’t indulge in? Whatever feels like a positive reinforcement to you — that’s what will work the best.

And it does help to pick out a little prize for yourself in advance, and dangle the promise of it ahead of you like the proverbial carrot as you stride out along the walking trail, looking slimmer and feeling fitter with every day that passes!

I went with a new pair of cute and sporty shoes (suitable for walking or just hanging out on a weekend), tan suede Windriver low-cut hikers that I found on sale for $20 at Mark’s Work Warehouse.

What’s your reward going to be?

Read the whole 4-Week Walk series!

This Post Has 6 Comments

  1. domestika

    Whoa, wait a second — you said you lost 80 pounds once? Impressive! Okay, better if the diet’s something where you can keep it off, but still… wow.

  2. domestika

    @Neena, go for the stroller, I say! My dogs are complaining about having to walk more quickly than usual — not enough time to stop and smell the, er, roses — too bad my guys are waaaay too big for those little strollers you see the Paris Hilton types wheeling their frou-frou Poms around in.

    @Jeri, thanks for explaining — and that does make good sense. I’ve got absolutely no self-discipline when it comes to food — not if it means going hungry!! — so usually just try to muddle through some kind of approximation of Canada’s Food Guide to Healthy Eating, with the aid of exercise to balance out all those temptations!

    Veggies are my friend, my friends… but no matter what Neena says, broccoli ain’t chocolate.

  3. Jeri

    Hmm… South Beach is like a cross between low carb and standard low-fat heart healthy eating.

    The first two weeks are quite low carb, no grains, fruits or starchy vegs. But it also focuses on reduced saturated fat, so, white meat, reduced fat cheese, etc.

    After that, the main agenda for the diet is careful carbs and moderate healthy fats. It adds small portions of fruit and high-fiber complex grains back in. The only portion control focus is on carbs, the rest is just a general moderation approach. I am also MSG – and maybe nitrite – sensitive, so by avoiding processed meats and shelf goods it ends up a super healthy eating plan.

    It just strikes me as a long term healthy eating approach, something that I could (and should) live with for the rest of my life.

    Four or five years ago I successfully lost 80 lbs on a pure low carb/Atkins approach, but I didn’t keep it off because it’s not an approach that’s very easy to sustain in the long term. I think this will be.

  4. domestika

    Jeri, I’m totally chuffed to hear you’re walking along! (Did someone say, “misery loves company“? Nah, really, it’s fun!)

    Okay, now, I really need someone to explain the South Beach diet to me. From what I hear, it’s one of the few popular diet plans that the family doctor would give a thumbs-up — what’s the basic concept?

  5. Jeri

    I started this week, too, along with a mostly South Beach approach to eating. Airline seats are getting too small – and I need more energy!

    Thanks for the inspiration!

  6. Neena

    Wow, Jen, 2 1/2 pound already – impressive! I need to step up the pace. The weather has been great here so I have been taking my youngest out in the stroller (she’s a bit big for it but she doesn’t seem to mind). I am really enjoying the fresh air but I haven’t lost any weight. The chocolate is winning over the broccoli.

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