A few years ago one of the biggest fitness trends was the walking trend. Today, it’s still going strong, allowing people to lose inches, achieve and stick to a healthy diet, and boost their overall energy and confidence. What’s not to love? Keep reading to learn all about it—and just what it can do for you!
The Walking Diet (in a Snapshot)
The walking diet is essentially that – an intelligent form of exercise that is based around walking with the correct posture, stance and speed. In other words, if you want to lose weight by walking, don’t count on simply ‘walking’ in a casual or slow pace which you might do throughout a typical day. Most people walk by incorrectly placing their entire foot on the ground at once (instead of rolling from heel to toe).
By picking up your speed, and correcting your stance, you can lose weight (up to ten pounds in a month, at two sessions per week.) Walking will also kick start your fat burning workout routine (so don’t just walk, but get 2-3 weight lifting session in as well), lowers blood pressure, is great for overall brain health and functionality, and can even lessen the discomfort that comes with arthritis.
Walking With Purpose
One of the biggest goals of walking to lose weight is to get your daily steps in between 7,500-10,000 (by the way, if you’re walking less than 5,000 steps a day, you can consider yourself having a sedentary lifestyle).
The goal of your walking diet shouldn’t be to lose weight right away, but what you’ll find when you walk with a longer stride, a straighter posture and increase the frequency of your step is, you’ll feel happy—and without even dripping with sweat (like perhaps you’ve experienced when running on the treadmill). Here’s how to walk with purpose, and lose weight (like you never thought possible):
· Wear a tracking device. By getting a pedometer (or splurge and get a Fitbit), you can easily keep track of how far you walked, and how many calories you burned.
· Set SMART goals. Smart goals stand for: specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and timely. Make sure whatever your goals may be that that are reachable. So, for every 3,500 calories burned, you can lose one pound. Don’t set your goal for losing ten pounds in two weeks’ time—unless you want to walk for six hours a day for the next fourteen days.
· Set a walking schedule. If you’re brand new to exercise, start walking for 30 minutes a day, at three times a week. After a few weeks’ time, move the frequency up (to four or five times a week) at 30-60 minute sessions. Before long, you’ll find that you enjoy walking so much that your focus will be on the activity—not the weight loss.
The walking diet doesn’t just allow you to flatten your belly or raise your metabolism. It also allows you to boost your mood (release endorphins from the first step you take!)and gives you a sense of empowerment you’ll become addicted to. Get all the benefits without feeling the burn—it’s a win/win all around.
