Melanie Toye’s walking for health

Image by Steve Buissinne from Pixabay So I had this brainstorm moment. I have put on weight and I need to lose weight. I have had a gut full. (Mind the pun). Walking is becoming hard to fit into my schedule. Because I basically have to walk 1-2 hours a day and I just can’t fit that time in. It’s also swooping bird season, which I dread.  So I did some brainstorming.  1. Ask ChatGPT for a fitness plan  First, I went into chatGPT and asked for an exercise program to lose weight over a year. It was pretty standard, nothing fancy. However, I was still impressed it did give me a fitness workout. But it was boring and not something I really wanted to do. Maybe if I was a bit more detailed in my question, maybe I would have got a different answer.  2. Find a local gym  Then I went to look for local gyms but seriously the price a week was just out of my price range and again I would face the “time” problem. I leave early in the morning and get home late most nights so ...

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 ...

Image by Jan Vašek from Pixabay It’s one thing to walk to lose weight or keep your weight or just walk for your mental health. But I’m finding the struggle to walk because of time.  Time is so precious in our lives and sometimes finding time is difficult. So it’s about getting savvy with finding time to walk for your health. Here are 6 ways to fit in time to walk for your health: 1. If you have children and they play a sport, while they are at training, walk laps around the soccer field or walk around the outside of a basketball indoor court. Find a way to move your body like walking when taking your child/children to training. That way you aren’t just sitting for an hour or longer and then go home cook dinner and prepare for bed. You are utilising that hour to benefit you for walking for health. 2. Get up thirty minutes before your normal alarm and walk on a treadmill or go for a walk. The benefits to waking up early before you normally start the day, is impressive. First you wil...

Image by simardfrancois from Pixabay So most of us know about what goals are but do you know how to make them work and achieve them?  As I have blogged about before, I lost 14 kilos just by walking. The goal walk about 9,000 steps a day and not miss a day and you will lose weight without changing what you eat. Impressive huh?!  That’s why I created this blog to share with you my journey and help you achieve your walking for health goals. So whatever your goal is, you have chosen to walk daily to try and achieve your goal.  When setting up a goal it’s important to create a start date and if you are competitive with yourself you can set an end date or if you are more laid back and want this to be a lifestyle choice, then you don’t need to set an end date. But setting a start date is very important. And it’s really important to set it within the week of setting your goal. Because that’s when you are most motivated to try to achieve your goal. So you have your walking for he...