Melanie Toye’s walking for health

Image by Shelley Evans from Pixabay It’s interesting isn’t it. Today I sat on the couch and around the early afternoon, I felt absolutely exhausted. Sure, I went out in the morning but I barely walked. Under 1,000 steps.  And yet, here I am, exhausted.  It’s been a few months and I haven’t been able to achieve 10,000 steps a day. Some times I get close and then I have a cheat day, which never works and then I struggle to get back into it for a few more days. And I go up and down in steps.  When I was walking 10,000 steps for about four months straight, I was losing weight and I had more energy. I could feel it. So it’s frustrating, how do we get more energy when we are tired to begin with?  I feel like when you are starting or re-starting like me. You get moments of energy. So you may be laying on the couch for an hour and you will get up and go to the bathroom and realise you have this very small burst of energy. Don’t sit back down, just yet!  Use that little...

Image by Bill Bowler from Pixabay It may seem easy, you press the power button and you start walking. But here are five ways how to use a treadmill: 1. You can choose the pace  This may seem like the main way to use a treadmill but have you thought about interval walking. What I discovered while on my treadmill is I can go a certain speed say 4.5 or 5.0 and then after 20 minutes, I can do interval training which means going 6.0 or 6.5 for five minutes and then back to my original speed. I can repeat this every 20 minutes.  Not only does it make the walking more interesting. The fast interval of walking boosts my heart rate and boosts my stamina. So when you are on a treadmill you can create these games for interval training and even change the pace of the music when you enter the faster pace period.  It’s only for a short period so you can catch your breath when you go back to your original pace.  2. Watch a movie while on the treadmill So I walk with my mobile. Thi...

Image by 健恒 廖 from Pixabay It’s an interesting concept. We want to walk more for health benefits and yet walking can turn to a feeling of annoyance or frustration. Why? Because once we start to walk every day at least 10,000 steps. In your mind you will either love that you are succeeding. That your health is improving and you can start to see the results. But at the beginning of the transition from doing nothing to now walking a lot, every day. It can feel like exercise (which it is) and it can feel like it’s a drag to walk. We start to not really want to walk so we don’t and then our health and goals stop and not improve and then we get angry with ourselves for not looking after ourself and still being the same since you started. It can definitely be a mental game, you may give up before you even properly get started. You may also thrive. The point is to this is if you just focus on each day. One day at a time to meet your goal of 10,000 steps. Then by focusing on just the day, you ...