Day 30 Give the Gift of Fitness and Health!

Day 30  Walking every day helps you cope with the holiday stress!

It is time again to challenge myself to 30 days of walking 30 minutes a day. 
Tomorrow is December 1st and we are entering the most difficult month for sticking to our healthy goals ... am I alone here? ... I don't think so.  I have a little trick or two that can really help to keep me on track and I hope you will join me in The Walk30 Challenge for December 2014!

Trick number one is really quite simple ... just get out the door once or twice a day and walk ... the goal is 30 minutes a day because it makes a difference to your body and your mind and it gives you a goal. Please come and join me in the Walk30 Challenge this month.

Trick number two is to create a goal even farther down the road that will get you walking all winter. It doesn't matter whether you are walking inside or out you just need something to motivate you and I can't think of anything better than the ONLY walking race in Canada for walkers of all shape, sizes and speeds ... The Minds In Motion K W Walking Classic ... and is all set to go for May 10, 2015.  
You can join in on the Fiddleheads 5K, the CMHA 10K or the Waterloo Regional Homes 21K Half Marathon events ... every distance is within reach if you just start walking today.

Check out our new website and get more information about the race and our mental health cause. My husband Dave and I are the founders of the event and you can hear our story on the home page of our website at: www.mimiwalks.com  ... or just check it our on the last walk30 blog post.

The 2015 Minds in Motion KW Walking Classic is now open for registration, just in time for the Gift Giving season.
Register Here Right Now!  for the SUPER EARLY BIRD PRICES

Give someone you love the gift of fitness and a goal to walk toward for the New Year!

We are working hard to make this year bigger and better than ever! A lot has changed; our logo, our website and our registration platform, so click the link below to get a new perspective of our mission, race and future. 

Let me know if you are up for the Walk30 Challenge in December ... a great way to greet the New Year and walk off a few chocolates ... I know I'm going to!
Hey,  how about tweeting your daily walks with #walk30withmimi

Walk On Strong!
Sue

Walk30 and walk in the Minds In Motion KW Walking Classic

Hey there World!
Walking Can be cool especially when you are walking for a really good cause ... everyone's mental health!
Please take a few minutes to look at this video that explains what we are trying to accomplish with the Minds In Motion Initiative and the K W Walking Classic ... you might just be moved to move your body to change your mind ... we are hoping that you will walk along with us!

Walk On Strong  ... and please share this video.

 Sue

P.S. why not tweet about YOUR Walk today  #walk30withmimi
Check out the website at www.mimiwalks.com

Walking Thankfully

The fall is color (Owen Sound)... enjoy it this weekend!

Day 13 Walking30 Thankfully

I was looking through old posts and found this one that I wrote a few years ago when I was in Owen Sound on a Thanksgiving weekend.  We are at home this Thanksgiving and it is the first time in many years that we are all here at home.  It has been a tradition to go up north and enjoy the hospitality of friends. In addition to visiting we have had the opportunity to walk down a portion of the Bruce Trail ... which is incredibly beautiful this time of year. 

No matter where you are it is always possible to take a little time to get out in nature for a walk ... today on my walk30 I will be thinking about all of those beautiful walks in Owen Sound and how thankful I am for friends and family ... and my favorite time of year for walking30 ... the FALL!

 Day 7  2013 My very favorite time of year is the autumn.  There is no better time to appreciate the fall than the next few weeks while the colors are so vibrant.  If you haven't had the chance you should make a date with yourself to go out into the country and check out the color.  We were lucky these past few days to get a chance to visit with friends and family and just walk in the woods.  There is nothing better than the fresh air and beautiful scenery.  

Thanksgiving weekend gives us the gift of another day to just relax and enjoy a walk ... hope you had a good one today!

Walk On Strong!

Sue

Day 17 The Walking 30 Committment

Day 17 The Walking Habit is Not Easily Cultivated

The picture says it all!

Day 17  We want to be as fit as we can be ... we know it's good for us  ... we start going out for a few days but there always seems to be something in the way of that walk. All I can say is "I HEAR YA!".   Creating 'a walking 30 minutes a day' habit in my life took ... starting a daily blog where I wrote about all things walking  and my daily adventures for an entire year. That was a bit out there but there were more than a few days that the thought of writing a blog about not walking was just a lot harder to face than a 30 minute walk.   So if you are half way through the month and you are off track ... you are in good company and the group is called ... drum roll ... The Majority.  If you walk everyday or jump, hop, skip or run. You are in a very small ( healthy) minority. 
 I guess the question is always going to be "which group do I want to belong too? 

Quite often when we are out with our walking group on a bad weather Saturday morning at 8 a.m. starting a 10 K walk I think about the statistics... what percentage of the population is getting up at 7 a.m. to walk their butts off on a Saturday morning? I like being a part of that group!

I know that getting up and putting the effort into that walk will always be a challenge ... but I think that the benefits just make it worthwhile. We have to keep on trying.

That's it for the pep talk ... if you are off track just start over and ... Walk On Strong!
Sue

Day 1 Walking into September ... 30 minutes at a time!

Day 1 Join the September Walk30!

Getting your foot out the door is the trick for a good walk. There are lots of ways to help make this happen and if you look through old posts on this blog (over 400 of them) you will see that I have used all the tricks in the book. 

It has been almost three years, coming up in a month or so, that I have been attempting to walk 30 minutes a day for 30 days in a row and then I start again the next month.  Some months it's 31 days and others 28 days but it's always in these doable monthly amounts. 

Every month is a chance to recommit.
Pretty simple but it really does work to create goals for yourself ... a month is a lot more doable than forever!

Whether you are trying to be as fit as you can be, introduce healthy habits, lose weight or just improve your mood you probably know that it is not easy to break old habits. The only way toward success is to keep 'starting again'. Have a plan and if it doesn't work the first time ... start again. 

 I have started exercise and diet regimes so many times I can't remember.  There is fitness equipment, exercise DVD's gathering dust in the basement. and, of course, gym memberships in my past that were never used ... but paid for for about 12 months :)
The bottom line is that I have never given up.  I think that we all just want to be the best humans we can be and honor these bodies that we have been given. 
It turns out that a 30 minute walk a day can truly make a difference.
You just have to take a step out the door ... give it a try and join me walking30 this month!

Walk On Strong!

Sue

Day 18 How to Walk Faster ...Using Arm Power

 

Look at those arms in action!

Day 18  Walking technique to move you faster ... I was doing some personal training last week and reviewing the importance of posture and core strength in power walking. The next piece of advice for aspiring power walkers is about how to use the arms to your best advantage.

Looking through past blogs and I decided to give a little more information regarding the use of your arms as a technique toward faster and stronger walking style ... here goes. 

Using Arm Power!

Now you are ready to get those arms up and helping you to power along.  
For some unknown reason it seems that people have a difficult time lifting up there arms in support of and strengthening their forward movement.  Let's just say that "it looks a little goofy" to see a walker powering along with their arms pumping. The bottom line here is that you will have to get over feeling 'goofy' if you want to add upper body strength and momentum to your walk... and walk faster as a result!

Lifting your arms to a 90 degree angle and moving your hands from your hip to the center chest height will engage muscles in the back of the arms (triceps) and it also activates the back muscles (lats) that will fire in support of your upper body.
The strength with which you pull your arm back using those triceps has a direct connection to momentum forward. The faster you move those arms the faster you feet will follow.

For the next few weeks try getting those arms up and in action. Keep your elbows in close to your body.  What does it feel like? Probably a bit weird ... you're are right on track!  Remember it will take weeks of consistent practice to begin to feel natural walking along with your arms up and in place.
You are going to get more bang for your walk30 effort by using those extra muscles every time you head out the door!

More to come ... in the meantime ...Walk on Strong with your head high and your arms in place.
Sue

Day 14 Summer walking tips

Day 14 Here is a great video from Dr. Oz

Between our grand daughter and our dog Annie ... life has been rather busy. Our grand baby left for the next leg of the family visit and our dog Annie went for surgery today. She has a ligament in her knee that is disconnected.  We got the news that her surgery went well so all is good. 
I am still trying to keep moving in spite of all the excitement and moving helps to deal with the drama in life.
In the meantime here is a little help from another source.
I am always on the look out for advice around walking.  Here are some suggestions around how to make your walk an even more beneficial experience! Walking made better ... here are 3 ways to maximize your walk ... the Dr. Oz way! Check out this link from www.realage.com
Walk On Strong!
Sue