Walking for Weight Loss: A Small Book for Big Results
Published by Joshua Duggan At Smashwords
Copyright 2011 Joshua Duggan
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter One- Introduction to Walking for Weight Loss
Chapter Two- Weighing The Hard Work With The Payoff
Chapter Three- Understand that Walking Works
Chapter Four- Practical Methods of Walking for Weight Loss
Chapter One- Introduction to Walking for Weight Loss
“A Journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.” Lao Tzu
“After a days walk, everything has twice it’s usual value” George Macauley
“Walking is man’s best medicine.” Hippocrates
“Of all exercises walking is the best.” Thomas Jefferson
35 pounds is a lot of weight. Just try carrying around three 24 packs of diet coke. Or lug around six gallons of milk. Or strap a few cinder blocks to your waist for a day. 35 pounds is about how much weight my wife put on for her first pregnancy. If you don’t have the miracle of life in your tummy, 35 pounds is enough weight to make you uncomfortable, unhappy, and unwilling to do what life beckons you to do. Essentially, it can keep you from being happy, perusing goals, or even helping others. Let's be glad we that we all are not forced to lug around an extra 35 pounds against our will. However, some of us chose to do so. I did.
After six long hard months of eating, drinking, and being “merry“, I had put on an extra 35 pounds. The 170-pound frame I had previously boasted grew into a slightly larger than life 203-pound obese guy. I gained the weight so rapidly that it tore stretch marks into the sides of my belly and my inner thigh, once again, not unlike a pregnant woman.
A combination of alcohol, sugar, greasy foods, and self-loathing inactivity had ensured that the top two buttons of my trousers would no longer fasten. My uniforms from work no longer fit properly, and I was teetering on the edge of being reprimanded for exceeding the acceptable height and weight standards for my organization. This was a far cry from the healthy, in shape, lean individual I was only six months prior. This is who I had become, a worsened version of myself.
A fortunate chain of circumstances led me to the point where I was forced to do something about my weight. That fortune came in the form of a six-month business trip, where no driving was allowed. I was forced to walk to every destination. Walk I did, a minimum of six miles a day, just to get to work, and get food. It took me a while to get used to all of this walking, but my weight gain had actually stopped. Then, after a few weeks of this, I actually began to lose weight. By the end of the six months, I had lost all 35 pounds.
People who did not know me when I was heavy do not realize the impact that losing a lot of weight can have on a person. The experience certainly penetrates beyond the surface. Having extra weight weighs noticeably on the body, but also weighs heavily on the unseen parts of the mind and the heart. A person who carrying unsightly body weight for all to see is undoubtedly carrying those pounds confidentially as well. When you find a way to shed those pounds off of your body, it can be greatly beneficial. It enhances the quality of your life mentally, physically, emotionally, and most important of all; relationally. You may not be overly concerned with how well I feel minus 35 pounds. Nevertheless, I would like to express to you how I did it, so you might take some pointers from me and do the same.
If ever there was a single most prominent mechanism for weight loss, it is walking. Homo erectus they call us, and for good reason. I lost all of my weight by walking.
In this book, we will talk about the benefits of walking, why walking actually works for weight loss, and the practical methods that you can employ to begin your walking career. This not so commonly practiced skill is what can get you into shape, and aid you in managing your weight for life.
By the end of this book I expect you to be able to make an educated decision on whether or not embarking on a walking adventure is a good idea for you. You will gain a basic understanding of why walking actually works for weight loss. Most importantly, you will learn practical ways to add walking into your life to begin reaping the reward of this great activity. This book is designed to be short and to the point, that way you can get all of the pertinent information and immediately begin to apply it. Let’s get started by weighing the benefits against the difficulties of walking.
Chapter Two- Weighing The Hard Work With The Payoff
Firstly, check with your health care provider to make sure your body is ready for the physical demands of a walking journey. Walking seems like an elementary exercise, but some may need rehabilitation or a more gradual approach to fitness. It is best to get advice from a doctor on your specific situation, before taking advice that is written in general for a broad group of people.
Walking can be hard work. It is an amazingly universal exercise, which most can participate in, but that does not make it an easy one. From my experience losing the 35 pounds, there were many aches and sores. Chafing under the arms and the inner thighs, sore back, and blisters on the feet were the norm starting out. This should be the standard expectation for a person who goes from being completely sedentary to walking a lot. Some simple consideration regarding wardrobe, shoes, and socks can alleviate some of this burden. However, it is best to assume that there will be a measure of discomfort in the process. This is especially true if you have engaged in ZERO physical activity in recent memory. Do not feel bad about it; just know that now it is time to pay for all of that slack time.
For a fit person, walking will be natural and painless. That is the benefit of having the appropriate amount of weight on your body, corresponding perfectly with your body type. For those of us who need to lose pounds, and who chose walking as a primary method for weight loss, walking will pose a challenge at first. My important piece of guidance is; do not expect for it to be trouble-free in the beginning. This underestimation could lead to an early disintegration of your walking career. Legs will be sore. Feet will hurt. At times, even your mind will get bored. However, do not be overly disconcerted about all of this, because there are significant benefits to overcoming the odds.
Carrying extra weight while you are walking is the culprit for most of the discomfort you will experience in the beginning. As the pounds come off, so will the discomfort. Once the weight is gone, the aches and pains will go with it. Your body is designed to carry a certain amount of weight effectively. Once you achieve this weight, a long walk will not deter you a bit. In fact, if you walk with someone else, they will probably start asking you to slow down the pace.
Just be aware that the amount of people, who have achieved tremendous weight loss from walking, goes beyond just me. That is why walking is just so outstanding. The best advice to give a person that needs to lose a lot of weight is: walk, walk, and walk. Nothing helps more to clear your head, lift your spirit, and eliminate your gut, than a good walk.
The Mental
An essential step to enjoying the full benefit of walking is to change your mind about the process. To the person that needs to lose weight, efficiency is no longer the goal. The goal is to move your body, often. Period. Know that walking is not “below” you. You are not too good to walk. Take the viewpoint that life is no longer served to you on a platter, you now must go out and get it yourself. During this evolution, you are not confined to a vehicle. You are not confined to chair. You are not limited to a certain distance, a certain terrain, or a certain time of day. If your legs still work, consider yourself fortunate, and then go use them. That is why they are there.
In this we experience one of the true mental benefits of walking. Luxuries that were only available to royalty a few hundred years ago are now available to the common man. Love seats, drive thrus, free delivery, installation and assembly are all at our fingertips. They negate or need to learn, grow, and exercise our bodies. Eating a large pizza and chicken wings is bad for your body, but not having to leave your couch to get it is even worse. When we conscientiously choose to disconnect from some of these luxuries, at least for a designated period of time, we experience life on a special level. Gratitude comes naturally, with an authentic feeling of rich fullness. Not to mention, the extra activity will help you lose the gut.
Losing your gut could be the very best thing that ever happened to you. The connection is not hard to make. Losing unhealthy weight makes you look and feel more appealing. People unconsciously are more willing to interact with you and more willing to trust and respect you. After all, wouldn’t you expect that someone who treats him or herself well will also treat you well? It is not too much of a stretch. The bible says to love your neighbor as yourself, but you cannot love anyone effectively without first loving the person in the mirror.
There are many words associated with the cost of losing weight that will prove beneficial to add to your life. Here are a few for your consideration.
Gratitude - This expression occurs when what you have in the moment is enough for you to be happy, content, or at peace. Gratitude can encompass a full appreciation of one’s self, including the limited nature of one’s body and the limitlessness of one's soul. In this technological environment that we live in, unrest in the norm. Something newer, upgraded, or tastier could always make us happier. This cycle is never ending and harmful. Gratitude is less common, but far more important. For a person that walks, a simple as a glass of water can inspire gratitude. A rest on a cool evening with a light post-walk sweat can equal peace of mind and a good nights sleep.
Discipline- Born out of pure will power or necessity, discipline finds its maturity in skill. The discipline it takes to find time to walk, regardless of circumstance, requires discipline. The discipline will show up as a result of your own person will power (essentially you forcing yourself to do something that you do not want to do) or necessity (you have no choice but to walk, someone or something made the choice for you, or you made the choice yourself, but you did so out of an overwhelming feeling of anger, guilt, passion, inspiration, etc..). Discipline is not always difficult. As personal discipline matures, it gives way to skill. When you become skilled at the different aspects of walking, like finding the time to walk, it will undoubtedly become easier. This is when its time to start teaching others.
Health Habit- Healthy Habit is something that you have programmed yourself to do on a specified interval that is great for your mental, emotional, and bodily function. It is something that you know is beneficial to you, so you put it on autopilot. It becomes routine enough that your actual focused effort can be shifted to a more difficult task at hand. Of course Health Habit can be applied to many things in life, but it is something that is certainly can be learned from walking.
Health- The ultimate goal, health is an all-encompassing word. From the proper functioning of your digestive system, to the clarity and energy of your mind, health means being the best you that you can be. It might be best to view health in terms of limitations. What bodily limitations do you have in the moment? Are you too overweight to play with your kids or grand kids? Health to you means losing the weight and removing the limitation. Are you groggy in mind when you long for clarity and energy? Health for you means revamping your fuel intake and your activity level and removing the limitation. A new level of health can be experienced from walking, that will spill over into everyday life.