walking for fitness and weight loss

I love to walk and have successfully walked 2300 miles in the last 20 months and reaped the benefits of weight loss, stress relief and fitness. A Dulce Zamora article appearing at WebMD, “Step by Step: Walking for Fitness,” this article on getting fit and using walking as the primary method to get back into shape.

Need to start exercising? What could be easier than walking? Fitness walking reaps as many rewards as other physical activities, and you don’t need special equipment or training.

If I could fall
Into the sky
Do you think time
Would pass me by
‘Cause you know I’d walk
A thousand miles
If I could
Just see you
Tonight

The lyrics hail from Vanessa Carlton’s 2002 Top 40 song, “A Thousand Miles.” The mileage, of course, is figurative, but what if someone did decide to walk a tiny fraction of that distance for love, for charity, for errands, or for exercise? Whatever the reason, it would probably delight many health professionals who having been touting physical activity as one way to trim the nation’s burgeoning waistline.

More than 60% of American adults are overweight, and about one out of three is obese, according to the CDC. In the kid department, 15% of 6- to 19-year-olds are also overweight — almost double what it was two decades ago.

Sedentary lifestyles have repeatedly been held partially responsible for the excessive poundage. This is why many groups, including the American Heart Association (AHA), the National Association for Sport & Physical Education (NASPE), and AARP, are now promoting campaigns on how to incorporate physical activity into daily life. And since these organizations recognize the challenge of getting people moving, many have included fitness walking into their recommendations.

“Something is better than nothing,” says Melane Kinney Hoffmann, director of health campaigns at AARP. “Everyone, even people who are totally sedentary, if they get up and do something, that’s better than sitting in a recliner chair.”

Besides, traveling by foot is something most people arguably know how to do, usually without requiring expensive equipment (except for maybe the shoes, but that’s another story). It can be done for any length of time, and the intensity can be adjusted according to age, health status, and fitness goal. Plus, there are so many kinds of fitness walking, from strolling to brisk walking to marathon walking to volkssporting (more on this later).

Walking is the most perfect exercise and is one of sources of fitness that can be enjoyed for a lifetime. Get those shoes on and make your way to the front and take a walk every day for bring your body back into shape and keeping it there.

MikeZume_walking step by step for fitness.

Please consult your physician before starting any exercise or weight loss program.
Your physician is your very best resource.