Burn more calories than you eat or drink to lose weight.  Once the diet part is planned, get to walking.  This should include seven days a week, 30 minutes a day of aerobic exercise.  It can be running on a treadmill, swimming, or even walking to lose weight.  Walking is a tolerable, low impact way to accomplish this goal and more importantly to stick with it for a long time.  With a few tips in mind it can be even better.

Walking for 30 minutes a day every day of the week is a great start.  In fact, it’s much better than the five day, or even three day,  plan that many gurus recommend.  30 minutes of exercise 3-5 times a week just isn’t enough.  The body needs work every day.  That means seven days a week and if walking is the way to make that tolerable every day for the rest of your life, then walk.

But then more can be added.  Additional activity, outside that 30 minutes a day seven days a week, is easy.  Park the car further from the store or office, then walk.  Instead of gobbling a bagel while riding the elevator up to your floor, enjoy a some fruit while walking up the stairs.  When it’s time to rid the yard of leaves use the old fashioned hand rake rather than the leaf blower.  Muscle power is activity and that burns calories.  If you have kids get involved in their games of tag, or chase.  They’ll love it and so will your body.

Intervals can be added once the walking has been established.  Intervals are short bursts of increased activity sprinkled into a normal routine.  Start out by running for 30 seconds every 10 minutes of the walk.  Gradually increase this to a one minute run every five minutes, which goes like this.  You walk for the first four minutes, then run for the fifth, then walk the next four minutes, run the next minute, and so on for the duration of 30 minutes.  Keep in mind that a run is not a jog, it’s faster, like a sprint.  So if you have to work up to run with jog at first. After a short period of walking run, then walk again, then go back to running.  Start out running once or twice in a 30 minute walk, then up it to more often until you’re walking 4 minutes then running 1 minute  It’s not really difficult.

Make walking a whole family activity.  Walk the kids to school instead of driving them.  Walk to the store.  Get out and see the sights.  And no, don’t quit on a rainy day.  Wear a rain coat and some galoshes.