New to walking (in any predictable manner)...



D

Dan Birchall

Guest
I've been walking since I was about 13 months old, but other than periods where I lived close enough
to work (say, within 5 miles) to walk regularly, it's not been very scheduled or anything like that.

I'm almost 6' and about 220 these days, and although I'm "big-boned," I'd prefer to be a good bit
lighter than that. My schedule is such that I don't have the time to go walk for 10 miles, either.
My lungs are in pretty good shape, so I go hiking (crazy places, like by lava flows, and above
10,000 feet) when I can, but that's not regular enough to have an impact on weight.

So I used my bike to measure the distance around the block, which nicely turned out to be right
about a mile (1.01, minus a smidge due to my feet cornering tighter than my bike) and have decided
to walk around it in the morning and at night. This morning I walked with my wife and it took 15:08;
this evening before dinner I walked solo, went as fast as I could, and it took 13:20. (I'm not
"speedwalking," "racewalking" or whatever that I *know* of.)

I'll probably see what I can accomplish weight-wise with just walking for a while -- I really don't
want to subject my knees to running with this much excess weight.

Anyway, just figured I'd say hi and stuff.

--
Perfer et obdura; dolor hic tibi proderit olim. | http://dan.birchalls.net/
 
Dan,

Your thinking not to run at your current weight is good. I'm about 5'11" and about 200 lbs. at this
point but was about 220 4-5 months ago. Fortunately for me I was very active for a couple of months
and lost about 10-15 lbs. before I began to walk/run so I did begin to jog a little at first and
have increased the amount I jog slowly since then.

You will get most all of the same benefits from walking only. When you have lost some weight and
begin to feel a bit lighter then you can start to jog very short distances then gradually increase
the amount of jogging. I started with only a couple of 10 second jogs and now after a couple of
months I'm doing 11 - 1 min. 50 second jogs during my 60 minute workout.

Listen to your body and don't push it too fast. The most important thing is to develop a very
strong habit of walking and to stick with it. Sooner or later your weight will begin to drop
although it might not drop that much initially because you'll be gaining muscle while you are
losing fat. After a while though the muscle build up will lessen and the fat burning will continue
so you will lose weight.

Hang in there and don't do too much too soon. I doesn't matter if it takes you 6 months or 2 years
to get into shape. Once you get there, you'll be able to enjoy it for the rest of your life :).

Good luck!!

Doug Gilliam

"Dan Birchall" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I've been walking since I was about 13 months old, but other than periods where I lived close
> enough to work (say, within 5 miles) to walk
regularly,
> it's not been very scheduled or anything like that.
>
> I'm almost 6' and about 220 these days, and although I'm "big-boned," I'd prefer to be a good bit
> lighter than that. My schedule is such that I
don't
> have the time to go walk for 10 miles, either. My lungs are in pretty
good
> shape, so I go hiking (crazy places, like by lava flows, and above 10,000 feet) when I can, but
> that's not regular enough to have an impact on
weight.
>
> So I used my bike to measure the distance around the block, which nicely turned out to be right
> about a mile (1.01, minus a smidge due to my feet cornering tighter than my bike) and have decided
> to walk around it in the morning and at night. This morning I walked with my wife and it took
15:08;
> this evening before dinner I walked solo, went as fast as I could, and it took 13:20. (I'm not
> "speedwalking," "racewalking" or whatever that I *know* of.)
>
> I'll probably see what I can accomplish weight-wise with just walking for a while -- I really
> don't want to subject my knees to running with this much excess weight.
>
> Anyway, just figured I'd say hi and stuff.
>
> --
> Perfer et obdura; dolor hic tibi proderit olim. |
http://dan.birchalls.net/
 
That's a great way to get started with regular walking. I like to carry weights with me and pump
them as I go. You can see how I do it at my website.

--
Want to learn a unique way to work out? I've created a well illustrated, non-commercial web site to
explain it. Visit

http://justjohn.4t.com/walkingwithweights.htm

On 11/26/03 10:27 PM, in article [email protected], "Dan Birchall"
<[email protected]> wrote:

> I've been walking since I was about 13 months old, but other than periods where I lived close
> enough to work (say, within 5 miles) to walk regularly, it's not been very scheduled or anything
> like that.
>
> I'm almost 6' and about 220 these days, and although I'm "big-boned," I'd prefer to be a good bit
> lighter than that. My schedule is such that I don't have the time to go walk for 10 miles, either.
> My lungs are in pretty good shape, so I go hiking (crazy places, like by lava flows, and above
> 10,000 feet) when I can, but that's not regular enough to have an impact on weight.
>
> So I used my bike to measure the distance around the block, which nicely turned out to be right
> about a mile (1.01, minus a smidge due to my feet cornering tighter than my bike) and have decided
> to walk around it in the morning and at night. This morning I walked with my wife and it took
> 15:08; this evening before dinner I walked solo, went as fast as I could, and it took 13:20. (I'm
> not "speedwalking," "racewalking" or whatever that I *know* of.)
>
> I'll probably see what I can accomplish weight-wise with just walking for a while -- I really
> don't want to subject my knees to running with this much excess weight.
>
> Anyway, just figured I'd say hi and stuff.
 
On Fri, 28 Nov 2003 13:26:43 GMT, "John G. Thomas" <[email protected]> wrote:

>That's a great way to get started with regular walking. I like to carry weights with me and pump
>them as I go. You can see how I do it at my website.

I know some people do favor using weights with walking, but I definitely do not. I want to walk free
and unemcumbered and enjoy the sheer zest of sailing along. I do my weight lifting in the gym. I
think walking should afford pleasure in the walk itself as well as good exercise. I always feel
sorry for those I see chugging along with weights, looking self absorbed rather than enjoying the
landscape.

Different strokes for different folks.
 
[email protected] (John G. Thomas) wrote:
> That's a great way to get started with regular walking. I like to carry weights with me and pump
> them as I go. You can see how I do it at my website.

Good idea, John. I've actually got a pair of small weights from a yard sale; I should start doing
that too. Where we used to live, there was a guy who was always walking around with weights, or
bouncing a tennis ball (I guess for coordination)... he'd walk for miles and miles. He wasn't a
sculpted adonis, but he wasn't way out of shape, either. Folks who'd lived there longer said he used
to be _seriously_ overweight, and had gotten back into good shape doing that.

--
Perfer et obdura; dolor hic tibi proderit olim. | http://dan.birchalls.net/
 
Hey Guys,

I have been walking 1 mile in the morning and 1 mile at night. I also go hiking in the mountains of
Colorado every weekend and sometimes during the week, weather and light permitting. I even hike in
the dark in the mountains using a head lamp ( very fun). But I just wanted to add that yes you can
lose weight by walking. I was 5'11" 190 9 months ago and now I'm at 155. Man can I hike the
mountains now, it's easy to do a 10 mile hike all above 8000 feet. And I also wanted to say that I
had been thinking about carrying weights when walking. I was glad to find this info. Thanks John the
videos are great. Good luck guys.......... "Dan Birchall" <[email protected]> wrote in
message news:[email protected]...
> [email protected] (John G. Thomas) wrote:
> > That's a great way to get started with regular walking. I like to
carry
> > weights with me and pump them as I go. You can see how I do it at my website.
>
> Good idea, John. I've actually got a pair of small weights from a yard sale; I should start doing
> that too. Where we used to live, there was a guy who was always walking around with weights, or
> bouncing a tennis ball (I guess for coordination)... he'd walk for miles and miles. He wasn't a
> sculpted adonis, but he wasn't way out of shape, either. Folks who'd
lived
> there longer said he used to be _seriously_ overweight, and had gotten
back
> into good shape doing that.
>
> --
> Perfer et obdura; dolor hic tibi proderit olim. |
http://dan.birchalls.net/
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom Back