One mistake that many people make when they first begin any new weight loss plan is that they try to do too much too fast. What they do not take into account is that unless they have a very powerful motivation or someone constantly driving them, the result more often than not will be frustration, then giving up. This is especially true if the person is extremely obese or unused to exercise. The solution for many people is to start slow and lose weight walking before moving on to bigger challenges. Walking is a great way to ease into a new fitness plan if you are out of shape. It is a low impact, low intensity workout that most people can accomplish without too terribly much effort. It is easy to ease into and versatile in its implementation, allowing for infinite variety. It can be tailored for any lifestyle.
You can fit walking easily into your busy day. A fifteen minute walk around the block a few times before work or a ten minute walk at lunch can usually be fit into the day without too much trouble. Just look for little opportunities throughout the day to fit in some extra walking. Take the farthest parking spot from the store or the office, or even park a few blocks away. By breaking it up into chucks, you might be amazed at how much you can accomplish.
When you are trying to lose weight walking, it is very easy to increase the intensity as your fitness improves. When it becomes too easy, you can simply walk faster to increase the intensity. You can also change your route so that you are walking uphill for a larger portion of it. You can even attach ankle weights, carry small dumbbells in your hands, or even carry books in a backpack.
There are other potential benefits to walking exercise that may not be immediately apparent. It gives you the opportunity to explore the surrounding area in a much more intimate manner than by simply driving through it. It can give you quiet time to meditate and think and work through your day’s problems. If you walk with a partner and your family, it can give you a relaxed atmosphere to socialize and spend time together.
There are other benefits, of course, as well as infinite variability to the potential routines. Walking can often times give you an easy, slow start to a fitness plan that could forever change your life forever. Just believe in yourself and stick with it, and no goal is out of reach…