Start Walking, Here's How!

I recently went on vacation. I didn't get to write as much as I had hoped, but I did get to walk. And that's a good thing because I ate a lot, and the things I ate included bread and desserts. I also drank a bit of alcohol every now and then during the week.

 Those things can definitely put on the calories. Fortunately I didn't gain any weight. Why? Because walking is one of the best exercises. Unfortunately, we don't usually do enough of it. The proof is all around. More Americans are fat, even obese, and more of us every year have associated health problems, such as high blood pressure and diabetes.

Think you know how many steps you walk daily? If you are like many Americans, working at a job where you sit all day, you walk 2,000 or 3,000 steps each day. Maybe you're a little more active and you walk 3,000 to 5,000 steps a day.

 Are most of your steps from your chair in front of the TV to the refrigerator? If that's you, it's not too late to change. But you have to admit that that's you. Then you have to want to change. If you have been really sedentary, see your doctor first. Make sure that increasing your activity will not dangerously affect your health.

Next, count your daily steps. You can't go around counting your steps in your head all day, so you will have to buy a pedometer or some activity tracking device.

Don't get the cheapest pedometer you see. You will give up quickly when it breaks or just stops working.

Set up your new pedometer. You may have to install the battery. Many come ready to start counting steps. If you want to know the distance you are walking, you will have to enter your stride length.

 For now, you don't need to bother with that if you aren't interested, or think it is too complicated. Just get used to wearing the pedometer or carrying it around. Keep track of your steps for a week or two. See what your average daily step count is. Write it down.

Once you have some idea of your usual number, you can work on increasing it. So how will you do that? You won't get far if you usually walk 4,000 steps a day, and you set yourself up to walk 10,000 steps tomorrow. You won't be ready physically or psychologically. You will have to be patient and realistic.

You need a plan. Try to increase your average number of daily steps by 200 to 300 each week. Maybe your weekly increase will only be 100 steps a day. That's okay. But try not to go backwards. Some days you will be more active than other days. That's normal, but in general you want to become more active than you are now... every day.

What are you working toward? Would you like to decrease your risk of death? Then walk 6,000 steps a day. Want to get into overall good health and lose weight? Walk 8,000 to 10,000 steps. Don't feel badly if you're starting out at a very low daily number. Most people find that they don't walk anywhere near as much as they think they do, so you're in good company. The difference is that you are choosing to make this change, and make yourself healthier.

Wearing the pedometer and counting your steps will serve as motivation. You will start consciously looking for opportunities to increase your steps. You can walk up stairs. You can park your car further from the mall entrance. Get a group together and walk at lunchtime. Take a walk around your neighborhood in the morning, evening, or both. I'm sure you can think of more ways to get your step count up. Leave a comment and share your ideas.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/7943143

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The Greatest Weight Loss Secret

What is the greatest weight loss secret?

       Is it lowering your food intake?

       Is it increasing your exercise?

       Is it a new magic pill or diet drink?

There is a fellow down the hall from my office. For several months now he has been trying to convince everyone he sees that this new magic, all-natural pill has helped him lose 30 pounds in less than 2 months. He claimed he has lost over 90 pounds total. What he fails to say is that over 60 of that came from lap-band surgery. Then he gained some of the weight back and now uses these pills to help him go on a starvation-like diet.

Another friend of mine and his wife are telling everyone that together they lost a combined 105 pounds in 3 months. He lost 55 and she lost 45. They found a doctor that gave them some kind of injection and they lived on a 500 calorie a day diet... another form of starvation.

Of course you don't have to watch much TV or listen to the radio very long before an advertisement for some new and miraculous cure for obesity comes on. The irony is that none of those magic ingredients are nearly as powerful as one simple reality:

What is the greatest secret to weight loss? It is this simple... "if you can see it you can be it"

Do you remember the old story about putting fleas in a jar? The story goes that if you put a bunch of fleas in a glass jar and screw the lid on they will start trying to jump out. Now, fleas are supposed to be extraordinary jumpers and could normally jump right out of the jar were it not for the lid. After a day or so, you can remove the lid and the fleas will jump but only to the top of the jar and not beyond. That's because they have become conditioned to only jump so high and, I suppose, prevent themselves from being injured by hitting the lid (which has now been removed).

We do that exact same thing. Over the years we have created imaginary barriers that we perceive to be limits to our success. Unfortunately, many of these barriers were put in place before we were 6 years old. But the point is, they are imaginary... not real. But, just like the fleas, we perceive them to be real and thus they limit our ability to move past them.

So, what does this have to do with your losing weight? It's everything! One of the most neglected elements in weight loss is actually seeing yourself at your ideal weight. When you can paint a mental picture of yourself at your ideal weight, you will have essentially won the battle.

Why do people buy magic pills and potions and spend millions of dollars on gimmicks to lose weight? It's because these things promise to break the barriers that are keeping you from losing. And, they work, at least temporarily. However, when you can break your own barriers when you remove you own "lid". You will reach your ideal weight, without the aid of pills and potions and can you can maintain it forever! See it, be it.

How do you paint the picture and destroy your mental barriers?

I am going to share a technique used by Natalie Ledwell as part of her MindMovies.

1. You sit down in a comfortable place. You close your eyes and begin to take deep, relaxing breaths.


2. Get as relaxed as you possibly can. Your arms and legs feel warm and a bit heavy.


3. With your eyes still closed begin mentally counting backwards from 10 to 1. As you count down, feel yourself relaxing deeper with every number.


4. Now, picture yourself in a beautiful place. Maybe on a beach or in a meadow. Wherever you can feel nature. You feel safe and totally at ease. You notice your surrounds. What are you hearing? What do you smell? Is it warm? Is there a breeze gently blowing? Just savor the peace and beauty of this place.


5. Now as you are in your safe and beautiful place, imagine 2 pictures appearing in front of you. One is very large and positioned directly in front of you. The other is much smaller and positioned in the upper left hand corner of your view.


6. Stare at the larger picture. It is you at your current weight. As hard as you try, you can't lose weight. You try to eat less. You try to exercise. You try to do all the right things but you are still heavy and can't seem to do anything about it. You are a failure. You feel all alone and not even worthy to be slender. Feel this pain. Feel this heartbreak. Face this picture head on.


7. Now, notice the smaller picture. It is up in the left hand corner and much smaller than the one in front of you. But it's different. It is a picture of you and you are at your perfect weight. You are happy. You feel younger than you have in years. Your friends are showering you with compliments. You are active, doing the exciting things you have always wanted to do. You look incredible.


8. Now, in an instant, switch the pictures with a snap. The picture of you at your ideal weight is now in front of you and the "old you" is in the background.


9. The old picture keeps trying to come back and dominate your view but every time it does, snap it back so that the "new you" remains in front of you. Keep snapping the "new you" picture to the foreground until it is all that you are conscious of.


10. This is you. Feel yourself smiling as you feel so alive and happy. It's a beautiful picture.


11. With this picture firmly planted in your minds eye, start wiggling your toes and fingers. Bring yourself back to consciousness, alive and feeling refreshed.

Try spending 10 minutes a day painting your own mental picture of yourself at your dream weight. I think you will be very impressed with the result.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/7853804

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5 Tips to Stay Fit and Healthy

Everybody wants to stay fit and healthy, or at least most people do, no matter how young or old they are. Whether you need to be fit and healthy because you are a world known athlete, or because it makes you feel good about yourself, bear in mind that it is never too late until it is.

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