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Walk For Your Life

BY EDEL JARBOE

There is a common misconception that walking is not exercise.

A lot of people believe that in order to be healthy and to lose weight, you need to do high impact exercise. Luckily, this is not the case. Studies have shown that walking provides great overall cardiovascular fitness, reduces the risk of cancer and heart disease, lowers cholesterol levels, lowers blood pressure, helps alleviate lower back pain, and reduces the risk of arthritis and osteoporosis. Walking also alleviates stress and depression and improves your immunity as well.

Additional benefits of walking include stimulating creativity and problem solving skills, as well as being used as a form of meditation. Walking gives you the opportunity to be outdoors in the fresh air and the chance to watch the seasons change. It is also the perfect way to get away from phones, pagers, faxes, e-mail, and other interruptions. And, in addition to all these great benefits, walking is safe, easy, and cheap. What more can you ask for? Get out there and start walking!

Getting Started

(Consult your doctor prior to starting any exercise program if you are sedentary, a 40+ male, or a 50+ female.)

Stretch first to warm up your muscles. You should concentrate on stretching your torso, quadriceps, hamstring, gluteal muscles (buttocks), calves, and Achilles' tendon (heel). Hold each stretch for 15 to 30 seconds each, repeating at least once for each muscle group and being careful not to bounce.

1. Wear loose fitting garments

2. Always carry water when you walk.

3. For beginners, walk 30 minutes a day 3 days a week,

gradually increasing to 5 days a week.

How to Walk

1. Start slow and easy, at your own pace.

2. Push off from your back foot.

3. Walk heel to toe with a rolling motion of the foot.

4. Keep arms close to body and bent at an almost 90 degree

angle to your body.

5. Hold your head high, keep shoulders down and relaxed, chest should be out, and eyes looking straight ahead.

6. Concentrate on breathing evenly and swinging your arms naturally.

Walking Gear

Shoes- Choose a comfortable, lightweight shoe that has shock absorbers in the heel and in the ball of the shoe. It should also bend at the widest part of the shoe. The back of the shoe should be soft and contoured to help your foot roll forward.

Socks- Wear white synthetic socks or white synthetic/cotton

blend socks because colored dyes can aggravate athlete's foot. The heel and toe should be padded and, to prevent blisters, there should be no toe seams. The center of the sock should also have a tight weave to prevent bunching and slippage.

Hat/Visor - Wear a hat in the early morning hours to keep warm and a visor on hot days to protect your face from the sun and to allow the heat from your head to escape, keeping you cool.

Pedometer- for keeping track of how many miles you are walking.

Calorie Burn Counter- to help keep you motivated if you are

trying to achieve weight loss.

10 Walking Tips

1. If you don't have a solid block of time, break your walking into smaller chunks. For example, instead of walking 1 hour, walk for 30 minutes twice a day. Studies have shown that this is as beneficial as walking for 1 hour at one time.

2. Wear reflective clothing at night and, if you must walk on a road or street that does not have a sidewalk, always walk

facing traffic.

3. Incorporate hills into your walking route. This adds variety and challenge to your workout and raises your metabolism by at least 10%.

4. Interval train to get more out of your workout. Increase your walking speed for 1 or 2 blocks and then slow back down to your regular pace for the next 1 or 2 blocks. Continue to alternate between walking and speed walking.

5. If you are walking solo, listen to music or an audio book but always make sure that you can still hear what is going on

around you.

6. Find a walking partner. In addition to the companionship provided, it will help keep you motivated as well.

7. Alternate your route to prevent boredom. Take one route every other day and another one in between. In addition to neighborhoods try the beach, a park, or a trail.

8. Another way to get more out of your walking routine is to swing your arms more. This helps burn more energy and helps you to walk faster. See power walking below for more information.

9. Add push ups, sit ups, and weight training to your pre-walk

stretches to build muscle and strength.

10. Keep a log of your time, distance, and calories burned for motivation.

____________________________________

Edel Jarboe is the founder of Self Help for Her.com (http://www.selfhelpforher.com), an online self-help

magazine helping you create your better life. She also

publishes a free weekly newsletter, which features advice on

goal setting, stress management, coping with difficult people, and overcoming obstacles: Subscribe (mailto:subscribe@selfhelpforher.com) and receive a FREE stress report.

Copyright © 1999 by Edel Jarboe. All Rights Reserved.

____________________________________

Fran, what a true blessing you are! Always thoughtful of so many. Let us pamper you silly as you recover. We love and miss you so very much! I cannot wait to see your post letting us know that all is well. My prayers are with you, God is sooooo faithful! I thank Him for giving us another day with you, my friend!

Yes, I would try for more lettuces, baby spinach and do radishes again.

(((((SeldiesGirl))))

Happy Movin'

I'm praying. How sad for your community yet somehow I know ya'll must be so proud at the same time. Bittersweet.

We have a friend that has been in Iraq for over a year now, with hopes of coming home in October. We are so proud of the sacrifices he is making. This war does not make much sense but these service men and women being sent to Iraq, deserve our deepest respect and gratitude. God bless them.

Thank you for sharing your link of business. Welcome to Mrs. Survival and please do share your introduction in the Sunporch as Snowmom suggested.

Hi Friend! Nice to see your friendly face!

I see you are putting that digital camara to good use

me, too!

God bless our dear Fran and make her well again soon!

(((((MountainMommy)))))))

I live in beautiful scenic Northern Michigan; 3 hours North of Detroit

Sadly Nancy R lost Ronald a long time ago due to alziemers. During my 2 years of home-nursing, I got to see firsthand the tradgedy this disease does to a family. My patient was 93 then, now she's 96 and her family still endures the pain of her not knowing them. It is very sad.

A Wife's Job

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It's a wife's job to listen to her husband...There was a man who had worked all of his life and had saved all of his money. He was a real miser when it came to his money. He loved money more than just about anything, and just before he died, he said to his wife, "Now listen, when I die, I want you to take all of my

money and place it in the casket with me. I wanna take my money to the afterlife."

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So he got his wife to promise him with all her heart that when he died, she would put all the money in the casket with him.

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Well, one day he actually died. At the funeral parlor, he was stretched out in his casket, and his wife was sitting there, dressed all in black, next to her closest friend. When the ceremony was finished, just before the undertakers got ready to close the casket, the wife said "Wait just a minute!"

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She had a small shoebox with her. She approached her husband's casket and gently placed the shoebox into the casket with him. Then the undertakers locked

the casket down and rolled it away.

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The widow's friend said, "I hope you weren't crazy enough to put all that money in there."

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To which the widow replied, "Yes, I promised. I'm a good Christian, and I can't lie. I promised him that I was going to put that money in that casket with him."

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"You mean to tell me you put every cent of his money in your husband's casket?"

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"I sure did," said the widow. "I got it all together, put it into my checking account, and wrote him a check."

Thank you, Mare, for sharing your thoughts on this time of grief for America. As I watch the news of late, I am moved to tears at the amount of honor and respect towards a president of the United States. Truly God Bless America! No other words can express how I feel about the honor I've I've seen in our country.

((((Theyd)))))

Thanks all for places/ideas I can look for pinenuts! We don't have a healthfood store but I may have to go out of town. I have scoured the 2 grocery stores with no avail..

Mare, thanks for the lowcarb recipe link...I'll be sure to spend some time there!

The spinach salad my favorite restaurant makes is simply a bed of tender baby spinach topped with pinenuts and feta cheese. They have a home-made bacon dressing that they lather all over it. But I think any favorite dressing would be just as good.

Yummy! Sounds like the perfect low-carb desert for very special occasions. I'll make some real soon! Thanks Mare!

Happy Birthday Caveman!!! Hope you are having fun wherever you are today

Blessings!

Famous Celebrity Passes Away

It is with the saddest heart that we must pass on the following news. Please join us in remembering a great icon of the entertainment community. The Pillsbury Doughboy died yesterday of a yeast infection and complications from repeated pokes in the belly. He was 71. Doughboy was buried in a lightly greased coffin. Dozens of celebrities turned out to pay their respects, including Mrs. Butterworth, Hungry Jack, the California Raisins, Betty Crocker, the Hostess Twinkies, and Cap'n Crunch.

The graveside was piled high with flours. Aunt Jemima delivered the eulogy and lovingly described Doughboy as a man who never knew how much he was kneaded. Doughboy rose quickly in show business, but his later life was filled with turnovers. He was not considered a very 'smart' cookie, wasting much of his dough on half-baked schemes. Despite being a little flaky in his youth and a crusty old man, he was considered a roll model for millions.

Doughboy is survived by his wife, Play Dough; two children, John Dough and Jane Dough; plus the bun they had in the oven. He is also survived by his elderly father, Pop Tart.

The funeral was held at 3:50 for about 20 minutes.

Yes, what a wonderful and thoughtful idea!... And educational for the children, too. Most veterans tombstones list what wars they fought in. You and your mom sure had a special day...Thanks for sharing, I will certainly share this tradition.

Consider a vacation in your own backyard!!!

Are you feeling jittery about taking a family vacation

this summer? You're not alone. Whether it's your

family's safety abroad, the high cost of gasoline or a

thin bank account that has you unsettled, this might be

a great time to consider a dramatic alternative: a

stay-at-home vacation!

You can become tourists in your own town by

uncovering local gems and taking advantage of the

burgeoning number of children's activities offered by

state and county cultural and environmental

organizations. Contrary to what your kids and travel

agent may want you to think, the true definition of

vacation is to abandon your normal routine of life. Do

everything differently and you're on vacation. Here

are suggestions to help you get a new look at your old

environs without breaking the bank.

TOURIST BROCHURES: Stop by the lobby of the

nicest hotel in your city and pick up tourist brochures.

Don't assume you already know about everything there

is to do in your city. You may be pleasantly surprised.

TRAVEL GUIDES: Get the American Automobile

Association (AAA) Tour Book for your area. These

books are free to AAA members and contain

exhaustive tourist information about possible

attractions in every city, town and burg in the nation.

LOCAL EVENTS: Start paying attention to the

calendar of events in your local newspaper. Summer is

the time for festivals, shows, county fairs and

concerts in the park.

CHILDREN'S MUSEUMS: There are more than 250

children's museums in the United States, most of them

offering free admission on a certain day of each

week or month. The Association of Children's

Museums (www.childrensmuseums.org) will give you

information on a museum in your area. Make plans to

visit, even if you're not a kid.

FIELD TRIPS: Every city has a post office,

firehouse, police station, factory or manufacturing

business that offers a free tour. If you call ahead,

most of these community facilities will be thrilled to

take your family on a tour. Many of these tours will

send you home with samples or other souvenirs.

LIBRARIES: Some of kids' best summer memories are

of long, lazy days navigating through a stack of books.

Librarians can guide kids anywhere in the universe

through books. Libraries are a goldmine of children's

activities, frequently offering reading programs,

story hours and movies.

GET CREATIVE: There's no doubt that parents'

attitudes and moods set the tone for the family. Your

excitement about new kinds of adventures and

entertainment can become infectious. Consider new

possibilities: Camp in the backyard for a few nights

while taking a special local outing each day; sleep out

under the stars or in a tent and tell stories around the

barbecue; roast marshmallows and drink hot

chocolate; turn your home into a "hotel" -- offer room

service complete with menus; have an all-night movie

extravaganza. You can simply unplug the answering

machine and take the phone off the hook. Take lots of

pictures and put together a vacation photo album. The

possibilities are endless.

Whether planning a vacation of a few hours or several

weeks, at home or thousands of miles away, the most

important thing is that you and each member of your

family take an interlude from customary duties for a

special time of recreation and rest.

Mary Hunt is the creator of The

Cheapskate Monthly newsletter.

Lowie's Bee post has inspired me to write down my thoughts of things in life I'd like to accomplish before I die. Now that I am 39 and my children are nearly grown, I have been pondering on what *I* want to do with the rest of my life. All my interests, especially those creative ones, that I have put on the backburner while tending to my families needs and working are still very much a part of who *I* am as a woman. Once in awhile, a subject will come up and I'll think to myself, I am going to do/learn/accomplish that someday! When the kids are grown, when I have more free time, when I'm retired etc. etc.. Who knows maybe tomorrow if the opportunity arises....

Thank you, Lois!! Beautifully said!

I've always been interested in keeping bees. It's on my "to do list" in life. Keep us updated on how it goes and especially the honey harvests. Also thanks for the recomended reading on the subject. buzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz