Look for Ways to Walk to Lose Weight

Part of a healthy lifestyle include looking for ways to walk to lose weight.  It is a mind shift.  Instead of taking the elevator, you don’t even bother and automatically look for the stairs.  Instead of driving around in a parking lot looking for the closest spot, your auto-pilot mindset is to look for the parking spot furthest away for more ways to walk to lose weight.  Even if you workout, you’re always on the look out for ways to walk to lose weight.  You’re not trying to look for ways to conserve energy, you’re looking for ways to walk to lose weight.

Why Walk?

Walking is a simple type of exercise.  It is fun, enjoyable and natural for us to move our bodies.  Walking is free and you can do it anytime.  Get outside and enjoy Mother Nature.  When you walk, you make all sorts of discoveries that you wouldn’t if you were driving your car.  Walking is a natural way to move our bodies.  Our bodies were meant to move.  Walking has all sorts of benefits – improves your physical fitness, substantially increases your health, improves your mood and naturally are ways to walk to lose weight.

Ways to Walk to Lose Weight:

1.  Ignore the elevator or escalator, take the stairs.

2.  At work, walk to talk with co-workers instead of emailing or calling by phone.

3.  While watching television, use commercials as your exercise break.  Walk around the house or walk in place.

4.  After you’ve unloaded your groceries in your car, walk the shopping cart back into the store.

5.  Don’t use drive-through’s for your bank, prescriptions or anything.  Park, get out and walk.

6.  Believe it or not, there was a time that televisions didn’t come with remotes.  Don’t use your remote, get up to adjust channels or volume.

7.  Before eating a meal or snack, take a 10 minute walk.  This will decrease your appetite and increase your activity – double bonus!

8.  Walk your dog(s).

9.  When taking your kids to school, music lessons or sport activities, spend 10-20 minutes walking around after dropping them off and/or arrive early to pick them up.

10.  When waiting at the airport (which is given these days!), secure your bags and talk a walk around the terminal area.  Sight see in the airport by walking.

11.  Get a walking buddy (or buddies) and meet regularly to take walks in the morning, during lunch or in the evening.

12.  Make a family date by creating a habit of taking a 15 minute (or more) walk together in the morning and/or after dinner.

13.  Check out all the local parks in your area and the conservation trails.  Make a goal to walk all of them within a certain period of time.

14.  Each season brings its own ways to enjoy walking.  Take a walk to visit flowers and gardens, nature trails, Holiday lights, festivals, State and local fairs, historical home tours, Fall leaves.  The seasons five you ways to walk to lose weight.

15.  Split your lunch break – 30 minutes to eat lunch, 30 minutes to take a walk.

16.  Look for vacations that require walking.  The best way to sight-see and enjoy new vacation locations are to look for ways to walk to lose weight and make discoveries from your walk.

17.  Commit to taking a trip to a sports game, the zoo, circus, aquarium, kids’ museum AND buy the tickets in advance to really commit!

18.  Download your fave songs and walk.

19.  Trigger your autopilot by an instant walk.  If you are bored, tired, stressed, angry, anxious or head hunger is calling your name – walk!  When you experience any of these, without thinking (autopilot), take a 5-10 minute walk.  Walking, even 5-10 minutes, is the perfect way to work out emotional and mental issues.

20.  Make walking a game.  Get a pedometer and track your steps.  Make it your goal to walk the  daily recommended 10,000 steps.  It is very motivating to watch the numbers increase as you navigate your day.  It doesn’t take much to make your number fly:

Walking Steps:

1 mile is 2,100 average steps.
1 block is 200 average steps
10 minutes of walking is around 1,200 steps on average

21.  You can also go to a gym or your local “Y” for a class, water aerobics in a warm heated pool, or brisk walk around their indoor track.

22.  Purchase many fun dvd’s that are interesting to you.  Tae Bo, Zumba, Walking/Running in place are among many favorites.  A dvd is available anytime you are.

23.  Purchase inexpensive hand-weights or invest in a treadmill for the whole family to use.

Walking, Obesity and You:

The obesity in America is greater than in other countries such as Europe.  American cities, in general, are less walking-friendly than European cities.  Distances, lack of sidewalks, and traffic make it more difficult to find good walking areas.  Don’t be discouraged, make this challenge work for you!  Look for tracks at schools, paths in parks, neighborhoods with flat streets and sidewalks, shopping malls, golf courses, or any open area.  In the mall, walking for exercise is more fun and more predictable than inclement weather.  Look for ways to get in some extra steps as a challenge or a game for yourself.  Weather can be a challenge but it doesn’t have to be.  Don’t let the weather beat you into a sedentary season.  There are options for exercise that you can turn to despite the season and weather.  Exercise and activity are not limited to a couple of seasons or certain weather conditions.

Exercise, activity, movement are all mindsets.  I watch people use the escalator while I’m walking up the stairs.  I get there faster and am more exhilarated by standing there waiting…….  It is fun to be already shopping while people are just getting off the escalator!

Weight loss and maintenance are more than about what you eat….they are about what you do (and don’t do) and your mindset.  Look for ways to walk and obtain activity.  Movement counts in weight loss.

When you exercise, there are no bad days!!  Always be on the look out for ways to walk to lose weight.