Female, Age 59
Weight: 149 ( was 150)
Fitness Goal: lose 19 pounds in 8 months. (weight gained from taking a certain medicine and consuming too much Häagen-Dazs Belgian Chocolate ice cream).
It’s worked before and it will again– if I do it. The key to me losing weight and staying in shape is to walk 12,000 steps a day and to count my calories, trying to eat no more than a net 1500 calories a day.
I have two hi-tech devises to help me out. The first is a really good step counter called Omron which measures the steps I take (daily and weekly), the calories burned and the distance I’ve walked.
Research shows that walking is as effective in losing weight and keeping fit as running; walking just takes longer. I put the step counter in my bag as soon as I leave for work (I don’t count any steps I take in the house– only when I’m outside). The magic number of steps to maintain a healthy heart and muscle tone is 10,000 steps per day. To lose weight, you must walk at least 12,000 steps a day.
I don’t know why or how the experts reach that number, but it seems to be true. If I don’t do 12,000 a day, I don’t lose weight. That many steps per day comes out for me just less than four miles and amounts to about two hours of walking at my pace, which is probably slower than average.
I don’t do it all at once, which research also shows is not necessary to reach fitness goals. It’s the cumulative amount of exercise that’s significant. So I walk back and forth to work which takes up less than 6000 steps. That means that I have to take another walk in the evening to get to 12,000 steps. If I don’t do enough walking the work week, I try to do some extra walking on the weekend. Having a goal like errands or even some retail therapy helps motivate me.
The other device which helps me is the computer or mobile application called My Fitness Pal. It’s a relatively simple, but very effective calorie counter which helps you keep track of what you eat versus how many calories you burn during exercise.
So at the end of the day, if I’ve eaten 1800 calories and my step counter tells me that I’ve burned 300 calories, I subtract that and get a net of 1500 calories– my target.
I find that with the walking, I can eat a little more and I don’t feel deprived.
And there’s one thing I do every day of the week: Before I leave the house, I do 30 sit-ups and five minutes of stretching exercises. So at the age of 59, I can say–thanks G-d–that I can easily bend over while standing and touch my palms to the floor.
Not bad for an old lady.
Sources:
Omron Step Counters and Fitness Advice
My Fitness Pal application for computers, laptops, notebooks and mobile phones
