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Walking Works! Start Today!

Feb16

This is just a quick comment to say once again that walking works. This isn’t about food addiction, but it is about being overweight and losing weight.

I had lunch with a friend of mine the other day. We taught in the same classroom a few years ago and we still meet for lunch from time to time, less often than we did when we taught in the same school.

Debby is retiring from teaching this year, along with her husband who is also a teacher. After more than thirty years in the school system, they will be moving into their retirement home in North Carolina is just a few months.

I was thrilled to see her, as usual. She looked fabulous. As we looked at pictures of their new home in progress, she told me she had lost more than forty pounds.

She said that she and her husband walk together every day and that he had lost over thirty pounds himself . Obviously, the walking is working. I envied her having a constant walking buddy.

I see retirees out walking all the time. I used to think about how they have all the time in the world to walk, but it’s really about making the commitment and sticking to it.

Even though the semi-retired and working folks have other things to do, getting out there and moving is very important. The discipline of taking thirty or forty-five minutes out of your busy day to go for a walk will be greatly rewarded.

As we age, we gain weight. Our bodies shift and respond differently to our lifestyles. We have to be more diligent in the way we take care of ourselves.

Things get harder to do when we get older. Walking is something most everyone can do, but you have to make time for it.

Regular people–short and tall, thin and thick, old and young–benefit from daily walks. The sooner you start, the stronger you will be when age tries to slow you down.

Add walking to your to-do list every day, and start working on your own success story.

It’s Never Too Late to Be Great!

Walk Away From Fat

Feb14

Sometimes you just have to walk away. Easy to say, hard to do. Many if not most food addicts are fat. The problem with that is that we have a hard time walking away from food.

You have a food addiction, you get stressed, you get upset, and you eat. There is no walking away from food when you’re a food addict. If you could do that, food addiction wouldn’t be a problem.

Still, that doesn’t mean you can’t fight the good fight against fat, one of the “side effects” of food addiction. And you can walk away from fat.

In fact, walking is the easiest way to take off those extra pounds. I don’t mean speed walking or pounding the pavement so hard that you fall to the ground grabbing your gut after 30 seconds.

I mean easy, slow at first, constant paced walking while breathing in through your nose for four steps–it makes your stomach stick out when you do it–and out through your mouth for two steps–you’ll feel your stomach tighten. It’s a good feeling.

Don’t worry about how many calories you are burning. Just walk, and focus on your breathing.

Walk every day if you can. If you can’t walk outside, use a treadmill if possible. Most of all, be consistent so walking will become a habit.

Start with five or ten minutes if that’s all you can do. Don’t overdo, especially at first. You want your daily walk to become a habit so you will do it every day.

Start small and work your way up to 45 minutes or an hour. That’s all it takes, but if you want the best results, you have to do it every day.

Not to worry, though, because as your body gets used to this new invigorating activity, you will feel better, sleep better, and have more energy. Pretty soon, you’ll want to walk every day.

Measure your progress in inches, not pounds. You will be amazed at how this simple activity, when done consistently and thoughtfully, will change your life.

Walking is great for coping with stress, and when you breathe properly, walking will be an aerobic activity which burns fat rather than an anaerobic activity which burns sugar.

You want to burn fat. So lace up your most comfortable and supportive athletic shoes and hit  the road.

It’s Never Too Late to Be Great!