walking

Can you believe this is the final day of the 4 Week Walk for Weight Loss?!

In one way, those 28 days seemed to take forever… but in another way, they just flew by! And I like it that the program ends with a good long steady walk.

It was a wonderful hour on the woodland trails, birdwatching and admiring the colorful autumn leaves and thinking about what’s been accomplished here this month.

Here’s what walking has done for me:

First, it has been empowering!

For whatever reason, I normally find it hard to sustain any daily program for any length of time — so the fact that I was able to follow through on this entire walking program is a real accomplishment for me. It’s good to feel like a winner!

Second, there are the physical benefits.

I’ve dropped more than 10 pounds just by going for a walk 6 days a week. I’ve had to start buckling my favourite belt on one knotch tighter, with more than an inch off my waistline… And there’s just a lot less “jiggling” all around, if you know what I mean!

There’s no doubt that my overall fitness level has improved. I find that I can keep up a physical activity for longer without getting tired or out of breath — whether that activity is raking leaves or walking the dogs or cleaning the house, whatever.

Third, I’ve found that regular exercise is a brilliant stress reduction method, and helps me to “stay on the sunny side” when Life starts throwing up obstacles and frustrations and worries…
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  Today was, if anything, more busy than yesterday — but I learned my lesson from yesterday, and made sure to get my walk in today before the sun went…

Today I had to go into town to a meeting, starting a new contract, and this was also a hospital visiting day with the therapy dogs. Busy, busy! Long story…

Wow, this morning’s fitness walk has got to be the most intense on the program yet!

I’ve never had a big problem with shin splints — wasn’t even sure what a shin splint felt like, in fact — but I think I’m feeling it firsthand today.

Wikipedia says that shin splints have a couple of possible causes. As I understand it, one cause is a tendency to overstride so the foot slaps down on the ground too hard, stressing the muscle that serves to flex the large toe.

Yes, yes, I know that it’s important not to lengthen your stride when you pick up the pace — but it’s hard to remember to take short quick steps. And it feels like taking short fast steps would look like a speed-walking duck…
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So close to the end of the four weeks of walking to which we’ve committed, it can be all too easy to figure that “it won’t hurt to skip a day” or tempting to just take a quick stroll around the block…

Today’s program calls for a short walk — it’s no more than half an hour, including the warm-up and cool-down stroll along at a gentle pace — so I’m going to suggest just taking a few minutes today to read up on all the good things that walking can do for your body and your health — and how to get the most benefits out of the exercise program.

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It's hard to believe that this is the first day of autumn, already — and it's even harder to believe that I actually forgot to weigh myself on Friday! After…

We had just about the whole family here for lunch today — no time for walking! Fortunately, this is another rest day. The concept behind a day of rest in…