LIVING HEALTHY: Walking Off Weight

Walking at a moderate pace for 30-60 minutes burns stored fat and can build muscle to speed up your metabolism. Walking an hour a day is also associated with cutting your risk of heart disease, breast cancer, colon cancer, diabetes and stroke. Isn’t it time to work on hour walks into your busy lifestyle?

Calories and Weight

A pound of fat equals 3,500 calories. To lose one pound a week you will need to expend 3,500 more calories than you eat that week, whether through increased activity or decreased eating or both. Losing one to two pounds of fat a week is a sensible goal, and so you will want to use the combination of increased activity and eating less to result in a loss of 3,500 calories every seven days.

The Best Way to Burn More Calories: Walk Further

Build up to walking more miles/kilometers. Concentrate your training on building distance before you build speed, and walking five or six days a week. The calories burned by an extra few minutes of walking far overweigh any other changes you can make.

Burn Calories While You Sleep

You can burn more calories, every hour, every day, even while sleeping by building up muscle. When you add muscle to your body, you are increasing your basal metabolic rate – the number of calories you burn each day at rest.

The speed at which to walk for optimal fat-burning is a ‘determined’ pace.

At this rate, you should be breathing noticeably but able to carry on a conversation in full sentences.

Heart rate should be at 60 to 70 percent of your maximum heart rate.

Think as if you are on your way to an appointment, or as much as 10 minutes late for an appointment.

Walk at this speed for 30 minutes at a time, then add minutes as you progress.

Raising your Metabolism

Good work, you’ve tricked your body into dipping into your fat stores for energy. You are also building muscle and raising your basal metabolic rate so you are burning more calories all day long.

How to Keep Active in Your Daily Live

It all adds up!

Work:

• Exercise before or after work
• Book exercise time into your daily calendar
• Arrange for a fitness instructor to visit your office and share the cost with co-workers.
• Walk around your building at break times
• Use the stairs instead of the elevator
• Stand when using the telephone

Home:

• Children learn from their parents: Let them see you exercise at home
• Go for short walks before or after meals
• Do housework and gardening
• Walk to a local shop
• Sit don’t lie down when watching television
• Cycle on a bike while watching television
• Walk the dog

Play:

• Very important for great health! Look for things that are active and fun for you and the family
• Visit a local park and fly a kite
• Play your favorite music at home and dance
• Try cycling
• Visit your nearest swimming pool
• Play a game of volleyball with family and friends
• Play golf, basketball, football, baseball, tennis, etc.
• Play kids’ games outside. Think hopscotch, hide and seek, tag