Since I’m urging you to get out and walk this week, I figured I’d give you a walking joke to make you smile a bit while you’re doing it.
A blonde goes out for a walk. She got down to the river and cannot see a bridge anywhere to get across. She sees another blonde on the other side of the river and yells over to her “How can I get to the other side?” The other blonde looks up and down the river then shouts back, “You’re already on the other side!”
TODAY: TAKE A WALK DOWN BY THE RIVER AND HELP THE FIRST BLONDE YOU SEE.
We’re through that “in like a lion” part of March. So, now we can make use of the improving weather and start doing some marching of our own. I know I nag about this. But hey… it’s my job.
The shocking truth is that less than half of us do enough exercise to get any health or fitness benefits from it. So walking is maybe the easiest and best place to start. I know, I know, you’ve heard this before. Well… you’ll hear it again. Each day in the coming week I’ll talk about our march to better health.
TODAY: CHECK YOUR CLOSET FOR WALKING SHOES. I’M SURE YOU HAVE A PAIR YOU CAN DUST OFF.
It’s cold so it sems that we may be able to burn more calories just by keeping warm. Because youre body has to work to stay warm it’s putting in more effort and burning more calories. As long as you refrain from those hearty carb laden comfort foods you can use it to your advantage. You can take it one step further it seems with cold drinks as well. I found a statistical analysis of the calories it takes to melt an ounce of ice. It seems that it’s the same amount as forty push-ups. For a cup of ice that’s 347 push-ups! Of course you could do the push-ups and then cool off with the ice.
TODAY: DO SOME PUSH-UPS. WELL… AT LEAST TRY TO!
If you can do a good thirty minute walk you can get more exercise value out of it by adding some different speed to your routine. Walk in intervals of slow and fast and push yourself a bit. Speed walking has as much aerobic value as jogging, and is a lot easier on your joints. Here’s how.
- Walk at your usual pace for three minutes.
- Increase the speed for one minute.
- Go back to your normal speed for three minutes.
- Repeat this till you hit your 30 minutes.
As you get more fit increase the fast time and decrease the slow. Of course ask your doctor about pushing yourself to a faster pace. I think you’ll find that your doctor is pleased with your efforts. They don’t hear that a lot.
TODAY: TRY AT LEAST ONE FASTER INTERVAL OF WALKING.
You may have one of those pedometers and really don’t know what the numbers can mean to you. Well, 2,000 to 4,000 steps equals 1 to 2 miles. Do that and nothing else and you can still expect to lose about five pounds per year. Combine it with reduced calories to make those numbers really count.
TODAY: WALK 2,000 STEPS.
I’ve told you about setting small goals. It starts you on your way to success and feeds your self esteem without feeding your belly. With the weekend here, take an hour today and go to the park. Any park will do, but maybe try one you haven’t been to in a long time… or ever. It will be good exercise and good for your brain as well. Explore, exercise and enjoy. It’s good for you in more ways than one.
TODAY: GO TO A PARK AND WALK.
Researchers have found out that walking slow can actually burn slightly more calories than mid-speed walking. Evidently when they looked at the motion of your body they found that you are basically stopping and starting with each step and momentum isn’t helping you along. At the other end of the spectrum, at very high walking speeds you use more muscle groups with arm motion and with a long stride. That burns extra calories. Running has lots of up and down motion that may burn more calories lifting your weight up off the ground and moving forward. Of course the aerobic exercise of a quicker pace has many benefits as well.
The big thing is that all walking will benefit your diet. Just do it! (Hey that’s catchy.)
TODAY: TAKE A WALK
Daily Nag, Exercise | Diet Nag | 
March 10, 2010 6:34 am | 
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