Health Tips

Walking For Weight Loss in the New Year

January 6, 2010
By Peter Stockwell

If we want to get fit and lose weight we must start somewhere. The New Year is thought to be a good time and most of us make resolutions. Sadly most of them have been broken by February. So there are a few things to remember if you want your weight loss resolutions to stick.

Be realistic. Do not try to lose 40 pounds in a month. You are likely to fail, lose heart and, after telling everybody you just cannot lose weight, give up. But decide to lose 4 pounds in a month, lose 5 and you are a star.

Consider your timing. If you mean to start a walking for weight loss program in January it may not be the best time to begin. In the Northern Hemisphere it is cold out there and motivation can slip rather quickly. Maybe your New Year Resolution can be to begin walking in March or even April. Or to spend a couple of months in a gym before hitting the great outdoors. Whatever you decide upon remember that diet and exercise must go together. If you just diet for a couple of months you will not lose as much as you expect. This will be bad for your motivation and you may not even start a walking for weight loss program.

Visualise. This can work but visualisation must be realistic. A 45 year old can imagine having the body of an 18 year old – but sadly it will not happen. Think of something you can achieve. Visualise what it would be like to wear the clothes you now cannot get into. To run for a bus without getting breathless. Imagine the compliments of your friends when they see you on the beach. Keep these things as your aim and you will achieve them.

Be positive. Do not pine over giving up chocolates. Rejoice that you are on your way to becoming fit and slim as a result. You do not need chocolate anyway. Do not complain about wanting a cigarette. Celebrate that your clothes no longer smell and that you have taken steps to prolong your life.

Do not accept failure. If you relapse one day and have a bar of chocolate or a pizza. this does not mean you have failed in your weight loss program. It only means that one day you ate a bar of chocolate or a pizza. Forget about it and continue your healthy diet and your walking for weight loss program the next day. Just remind yourself not to relapse too often.

Have goals and rewards. Put the goals in a diary – ‘Lose 4 pounds between 1 March and 1 April.’ Reward yourself when you achieve it, but please not with food.

So by taking things gently, having achievable goals and not expecting too much too quickly you can become fit and skim in the New Year. You can lose those 40 pounds, you really can. Aim to do it in time for the summer holiday.

Peter Stockwell is a writer, walker and author of the Senior Walking Fitness Blog, helping all ages to walk for weight loss and to achieve lifetime fitness. For more articles, tips and help on any aspect of diet and fitness visit http://www.seniorwalkingfitnessblog.com

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