How can you evaluate if you are hydrated after a walking exercise? You will want to acquaint yourself with the signs of dehydration, such as: feeling nausea after your walk; a dry, sticky mouth; dry eyes; diarrhea; vomiting; fever or excessive sweating and you may have dark yellow urine or no urine at all to expel after your walk.
Dehydration occurs when you lose more fluid than you take in, and your body doesn’t have enough water and other fluids to carry out its normal functions. Inadequate intake of water during hot weather or exercise also may cause dehydration. Anyone may become dehydrated, but young children, older adults and people with chronic illnesses are most at risk. Continue Reading »
Most of us have learned the healthy benefits of everyday walking. You can expand your experiences by creating a fun activity of walking to any place on this continent you would love to visit. You can choose a place and get the facts on the mileage from your house to your dream vacation site. At this time set that mileage as your goal. To track the miles you walk, invest in a pedometer to keep track of your steps and translate your steps into mileage. Keep a map journal of the miles you walk each day and when you reach your goal – celebrate! This will give you a real sense of accomplishment.
I’m making plans to walk from Indiana to Maine without leaving my community. I’ll be picking out historical places and favorite cities/sites in each state. Continue Reading »
There was a lady who walked most of her life. She even walked in high heels around her community everyday when she was younger. When she lost her son, she would walk to the cemetery to visit his grave. It was a small community and every one knew ‘Helen, the High Heel Walker’. Of course, I do not ever recommend women walking in high heels. That was Helen: she put her make-up on; her fine walking clothes; dangling earrings; bright red lipstick and her high heels and walked around her community feeling very proud.
When she was in her late 70’s she was diagnosis with Parkinson’s disease. She took her medicines and continued to walk every day. As the years continued, she would shake so badly and her head would move around on her shoulders. The doctor’s recommend she get in a wheelchair so she would not fall and hurt herself. She refused. She finally did give up the high heel shoes. One day I said “Helen, aren’t you afraid you are going to fall and hurt yourself badly. Maybe it is time to consider a wheelchair.” She said, “Rosie if I sit down in a wheelchair I will not get back up. I have to keep moving and walking”. Her life ended at the age of 87 and the last two weeks of her life were the only time she was not up, moving and walking. Do you think she held the secret?
Most of us go to our local drugstore and buy sunscreen protection so we won’t get sunburn when we are out in the hot sun. Who wants to intentionally get sunburn? We like to look beautiful with a suntan; however, most of us burn, hurt, peel and look strange when we sport around our sunburn. There are other ways we can protect ourselves from the sun with clothing and head coverings. We must make sure we are not setting ourselves up for any type of skin cancer when it is so easy to protect our skin from getting too much exposure to the sun.
Have you discovered the clothing options for sun-sensitive people? There are several companies that now sell shirts, pants, hats and other clothing items which have sun-protection fabrics. They are lightweight; they breathe and they are comfortable to wear. I was surprised to learn that a tightly woven fabric in dark colors offers the most protection. I was taught to wear light color clothes in the summer because it doesn’t draw the sun’s attention to your body. This is just not true. I read that a green cotton T-shirt has a sun protection factor of 10 and a long-sleeved dark demin shirt protection is at 1,700. Continue Reading »
Many of you have asked me what kind of socks to buy since I instructed you not to wear “cotton” socks. Cotton socks have a hard time letting your feet breath. You can get blisters because the cotton socks does not keep your feet dry during your walk. My preference, and I am NOT affiliated with this company at this time, is from http://www.TheWalkingCompany.com. The socks are called the “Coolmax Comfort”. Keeping feet dry and comfortable is key to the ultimate comfort and better performance. I’m going to quote from the back of the sleeve the socks came in:
- “CoolMax (r) technology with mesh ventilation moves excess heat and wicks excess moisture away.
- The unique Wick Dry (r) construction moves moisture away from the skin, keeping feet dry, healthy and comfortable under a variety of conditions.
- Spandex knit throughout for a memory fit.
- Arch brace holds sock in place and provides support.
- Cushioned sole absorbs shock, it’s reinforced for long life.
- Smooth, flatt toe seam reduce toe irritation.”
You may want to give these socks a try. I would love to wear them all of the time because of their comfort and fit. Protect your feet by selecting proper fitting shoes and socks.
When you prepare to start a weight loss program, it is the same as starting and finishing an important business project:
1) Setting your goals;
2) Track your progress and
3) Securing your motivation.
Setting your goals
Make sure the weight loss goals you create make sense. If you weight 200 pounds and you want to weigh 125 pounds, it is unrealistic to say you will accomplish this in 3 months. Ask yourself “why so fast”? Unfortunately, most people think if they hurry and lose weight they can move on to other projects. However, the weight comes back on. Based on many health surveys it is wise to set a realistic goal of losing 3-5 pounds a month for the purpose of keeping the weight off. In consideration of this data, it could take 15 months to reach your goal of losing 75 pounds (as illustrated above). Make no mistake it takes both healthy eating and exercise to get and keep the weight off. In the distance, I can hear all of us crying together – 15 months – that’s too long.
However, when it comes to a business project 15 months is a realistic goal in getting an information products created, written, produced and marketed to success. When I gain weight I immediately set my goals realistically and worked on them everyday. Continue Reading »
Charlie Chaplin’s magical line “I love walking in rain, because no body can see me crying” gets me outside to walk even if the sun is hidden for the day. Everyone has their heartaches which comes and goes in our lives. We have learned that the world is not going to stop because we have a painful heart. We continually look for ways to get through our sadness, hurt and pain. Most of us just want to cry and we do; however, we cry alone. When you experience one of those painful days, I hope it is raining in your neighborhood. Once you step outside your door into the rain there is a feeling that the whole neighborhood shares your tears and that is a good feeling. If you hear thunder or see lightning that means this is not the time to venture outside.
It rained in my neighborhood yesterday and it was a happy day for me so I decided to walk on my treadmill. As I ventured out to the mailbox I was shocked at the number of walkers with their umbrellas walking in the rain. I wonder if they were crying with the rain.
There are many people who do not like to exercise! However, they love to take their daily walk. Some people are outdoor people and they love to observe and be a part of nature.
There is something peaceful about seeing a sunrise early in the morning and being a part of a sunset in the evening. The sky colors of the red, orange, yellow, white and blue are energizing to people. When your eyes meet the sky and soak in the colors, the words come out of your mouth and all that is said is “wow”. Have you ever experienced that feeling? Whether you are alone or with someone else, everyone rejoices of the miracles of nature and colors. Continue Reading »
As I was taking my daily walk, my thoughts turned to all the people who could not walk. What would you and I do if we could not stand or put one foot in front of the other? What would life be like for us? I can only imagine that life would be fine because our minds adapt to our circumstances.
Christopher Reeves, an active and vibrate man, who in the prime of his life lost his physical abilities, due to a horses throwing him, to spending the rest of his life in a wheelchair. He became an advocate for people with disabilities and pointing out the insurance company’s coverage is inadequate. Christopher kept his enthusiasm for life very much alive. He would often talk about his desire to walk again. Continue Reading »
Linda Carol Berry has just completed her goal of walking 1,000 miles. What an accomplishment! Linda we are all so proud of you. You have inspired us to set goals get up and move our bodies by walking. You have to be smiling now and feeling great inside and outside. What an example you are for us walkers. Thank you Linda for sharing this great news. Linda is a member of our Facebook Group “Live Healthy by Walking”…you are invited to join us enthusiastic walkers.
