Five Strategies for Walking Success
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4. Track Your Progress
It may sound simple, but keeping track of how far, long and often you walk can give you a real sense of achievement. Experts advise starting with attainable goals – say, walking from your house to the next corner, or walking around the block – and then, once you achieve those goals, setting new ones.
Whaley says it’s important to document your achievements by keeping a log or journal. “Don’t just write what you have done, but what you feel about it – even one sentence, so you can start to look for patterns of what’s working and what’s not,” she says. “Then you’ll know how to stay motivated.”
One of the best motivational tools Whaley has found is an inexpensive pedometer that gives you immediate feedback on your efforts. (Just make sure to reset your pedometer each night, and log your steps or miles in your journal, she says.)
• Give yourself an assignment. Start with a one-month goal you know you can reach. Then set another goal for the next month, and keep going.
• Post it and be proud. Keep your walking log where you can see it every day, whether it’s on the wall, in a journal by your bed or on your computer screen.
• Reward yourself. Celebrate your achievement with a new purchase or by going to a movie. (Just don’t reward yourself with food.)
5. Ditch the Excuses
No doubt, there are countless other demands on your time and energy. “I like to call them barriers,” says Whaley. Time – or the lack of it – is the No. 1 barrier to exercise.
Yet, people who make exercise a priority find the time. “They have no more hours in the day than the rest of us. They just make walking a priority and look for ways to fit it into their day,” she says.
Wilson, for example, treks with friends at lunch and walks frequently on the campus of the VA Medical Center in Bonham, Texas, where she works as a physician assistant.
Try making your walk do double duty. Walk to a nearby friend’s house for a visit, or do nearby errands on foot. The Bays sometimes walk to a restaurant, have dinner and then pick up groceries on the way home, for example. “No one says you have to concentrate on walking just as exercise,” says Whaley.
Come up with an alternate plan for getting around other barriers: If the weather is bad, walk at the mall or on an indoor track at the gym. On days when your joints ache or you’re really tired, take a shorter walk. But keep moving – a brief walk may end up giving you enough energy for a longer one.
Of course, there will be times when you can’t walk – so accept it. “For many people, walking tends to be an all-or-nothing phenomenon,” says Whaley. “But it’s important sometimes to be able to say, ‘I wasn’t able to do it, but that doesn’t mean I can’t get back out there and start again next week.’” That’s what a habit is all about.
• Schedule it in. Set aside time for your walk, just as you would a business meeting.
• Always be prepared. Keep a pair of walking shoes in your car, and walk whenever you can.
• Have a “Plan B.” If you miss a day, know exactly how you’re going to get back on track.
Download our 12-Week Walking Plan
