The Weight-Loss Walkout
Walking is crucial to every diet plan DR JAMES RIPPE AND ANN WARD
Exercise Physiology & Nutritional Laboratory, University of Massachusetts
A recent report said that half of all men in Britain are now overweight compared with 39 per cent in 1980 and the proportion of overweight women has increased from 32 per cent to 40 per cent. London Underground trains are being fitted with larger seats to cope with larger people changes in their products Again, the experts are blaming our sedentary lifestyle and the high fat content in our national diet.
The answer? To eat a low-fat, high-fibre diet based on the healthy food pyramid guidelines suggested by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) latest advice for healthy eating, and to do moderate exercise at least three times a week for 20 to 30 minutes. And the easiest aerobic exercise suggested by all the experts? Walking.
GETTING STARTED- A STEP BY STEP GUIDE
Walking works because it is a low-stress, moderate exercise. Provided you start slowly and gradually build up your strength and stamina, it is the easiest way to get fit and lose weight.
Research has shown that when you combine a diet with a calorie-burning exercise like aerobic walking you get much better weight loss result. But to keep things simple, all we are asking you do in the beginning is to walk.
It is much easier to start out exercising and then begin the diet, because walking will get you motivated and keep you motivated. Aerobic exercise gives you more energy and vitality. Remember what the walkers said who followed The Walking Diet:
‘You wanted to get in the mornings and get going.’- Teresa
‘I loved the walking. I had great energy.’ – tulie
‘I have more energy now than I’ve ever had.’ – tan
The only equipment you need is a pair of well-cushioned shoes that give you good support. A training shoe will do the job, either a ‘cross-trainer’ which is suitable for several sports activities, including walking, or a specialist ‘fitness-walking trainer’ (see How to select a Walking Shoe). Alternatively, there are now several manufacturers who include cushioning in their shoes similar to that included in a sports training shoe, their shoes similar to that included in a sports training shoe, and styles are available for smart business wear as well as leisure wear. In the USA it’s not unusual to see men and women walking briskly from one meeting to another in smart ‘business trainers’.
Now you are ready- so let’s get out and walk. To begin with you are not going to think about losing weight, technique, or target heart rate. You are not going to worry about your stride or how fast you are going during these first few days. Your first objective is simply to walk.
The easiest way to start walking regularly is simply to walk out your own front door and do a circuit or a number of circuits round the block and back, or around the local park or another route that is known to you. It is also the easiest way to keep yourself motivated.
You should walk to suit your physical condition. If you are unfit, pregnant or have a diagnosed medical problem which ‘will affect your ability to exercise, then check with your doctor before starting to walk briskly.
If you are a minimum of 20 minutes without getting out of breath or becoming tired. Stepping out with a normal stride in 20 minutes you will cover about a mile (assuming you are walking at 3). Over one week increase your walking speed as you feel comfortable, working towards a goal of a 15-minute mile (4 mph) and increasing your time a few minutes each day until you can walk for 30 minutes comfort-ably. An easy way to measure walking speed is to count how many steps you take per minute (see Table 1). Use this simple conversion table to calculate your speed per hour, which is based on three to common stride lengths.
Brisk aerobic walking feels good. Although you are walking faster, once you get into a comfortable stride, the continuous, rhythmic motion of brisk walking is actually easier and less tiring than strolling or slow walking.
Over the next 30 days we are going to convince you just how easy it is to build up a fitness and weight loss programme
Steps per minute
2.0 Ft/stride 2.5 Ft/stride 3.0 Ft/stride Minutes Per mile Miles per hour
90 70 60 30 2
110 90 75 24 2.5
130 105 90 20 3
155 120 105 17 3.5
175 140 120 15 4
200 160 135 13 4.5
220 175 145 12 5
That works, is fun and that you can do for rest of your life. Compared with other exercise activities, you are starting out at an advanced level. After all, you have been an accomplished walker since you were a year old.
Walking aerobically helps you slim, burning off around 200 calories every 30 minutes. It speeds up your metabolic rate-the time taken to burn calories-and your raised metabolic rate will continue to burn off calories when exercising is over, helping you to eat well while remaining slim and fit. Combined with a low-fat, high-fiber diet- The Walk Slim Diet- walking is the perfect weight management system.
So step out and speed up. What have you got to lose?
YOUR 30-DAY WEIGHT LOSS WALKOUT
Fourteen pounds. You may have more or you may have less to lose. If you’re like most people ypu have tried many times to lose weight and failed. Now within 30 days you will feel fitter, leaner, more toned up, have more energy than you have ever had and those awkward extra pounds are going to just fall away-they will be history.
Combined with The Walk Slim Diet plan, you will have the motivation you need to get going and keep going, not only for 30 days, but for the rest of your life. You are in charge of this weight loss plan. You discover where you are today, then set out to achieve your own goals of fitness weight loss.
To begin with you need to weight yourself and measure your height if you don’t know it. Then check yourself against the Height/Weight Chart (see Table 2). For each height there is an acceptable weight range covering small to large frames. If you are a woman your goal weight should be nearer the lower figure; for men, depending on build, it should be towards the higher end of scale. This gives you a goal to aim for.
By now you will have been out on several motivating walks and you will be ready to get started with your 30-day plan.
So step out, step it up and walk off those troublesome pounds with your weight loss walkout.
IDEAL HEIGHT/WEIGHT CHART
HEIGHT WEIGHT
Ft in
Without Shoes Cm lbs Kg
Women over 25 years
4 10 147.3 96-107 43.5-48.5
4 11 149.9 98-110 44.5-49.9
5 0 152.4 101-113 45.8-51.3
5 1 154.9 104-116 47.2-52.6
5 2 157.5 107-119 48.5-54.0
5 3 160.0 110-122 49.9-55.3
5 4 162.6 113-126 51.3-57.2
5 5 165.1 116-130 52.6-59.0
5 6 167.6 120-135 54.4-61.2
5 7 170.2 124-139 56.2-63.0
5 8 172.7 128-143 58.1-64.9
5 9 175.3 132-147 59.9-66.7
5 10 177.8 136-151 61.7-68.5
5 11 180.3 140-155 63.5-70.3
6 0 182.9 144-159 65.3-72.0
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