The Benefits of Walking

[Edwin]

Walking is an addiction, although a good addiction. Our weather got so severe, and then I had other things that hindered me from walking, so that today I was having trouble remember the last day that I walked. Since it has become so bitterly cold, and the wind blowing and drifting snow part of the time I stopped walking as it is not only unpleasant but it is dangerous when it gets that cold and the wind blows. Yesterday I thought to myself, "I am eating all this food and not getting enough activity. Well, today I pushed snow off from a travel trailer, hauled water for our house, and I walk with the doggies 6.5 miles, and it felt so good! I can eat my supper this evening with a clear conscience!

[Edwin]

Early in the winter I missed very few days of walking. Later in the winter the weather seemed to be more severe more of the days, so I missed a number of days of walking because of severe weather. Earlier in the winter I walked when it was really miserably cold. I made it okay by keeping scarf over my face, and I would warm the scarf with my breath, and then when I would inhail the air I was breathing in was warmed by the scarf. Very frigid air can damage your lungs, so it is good to take the precautions. I have a friend who will not walk outside when it is cold. Years ago we had over 100 head of cattle that got their lungs frosted, and you could hear them breathing from a long ways away ever after that. Late in the winter I had other things that hindered my walking, like taking our daughter to appointments, but now she is moved to town, so she is close to all her appointments now. Yesterday we had some cold wind, so I decided not to walk. There was a cloud burst, so I would have gotten quite wet if I had walked. During the night we got several inches of snow, but during the day it melted. The road was wet, but most of it was solid, so the walking was good today!

[Smiley]

I love walking.Its as simple as that.I must walk well over 5 miles a day,sometimes much more.About a year and a half ago I noticed that I was getting lazy and fat, two things that I did not want to be.Since then by not drinking pop and getting back to walking I have dropped over 85 pounds. I`m a fairly tall guy, 6'3" , a year and a half ago I wore a 42" waist on my jeans. Since then I have dropped a full 8"on my waistline. A 34" pair of jeans are now less tight than the 42" were then.At the age of 59 I have the same waistline as when I was 21. Never again will I let myself go like that. I feel much better than I have for years to the point where I can outwork a lot of guys in their 30`s.

[Edwin]

Over a year ago I was walking multiple times between our house and the mailbox, and putting in anywhere from one hour to one and one half hours. Our daughter got upset with me because my dogs were peeing on the snow bank as they went along. That is not the only thing she has been upset about, but that is another story, and much too long to tell here. We had this ugly little fight, and she forbid me to walk my dogs, and I didn't for over 3 months! I decided that she could not stop me from walking my dogs out on the country road as it is not her property. I walked out through the field to the county road to avoid having them pee on the snow banks! Then when she found out I was walking the dogs again, she was madder than a hornet, but she decided finally she would let me walk them, but she wanted me to walk out to the mailbox on the road because she was afraid the dogs would tear up her pasture grass with their toe nails! By this time the snow was gone, so no more peeing on the snow banks to upset her. She thought I was sneaking out, and informed me that she knew I was walking my dogs. I told her that I wasn't trying to keep it from her, only trying to avoid the snow banks. Well, she didn't like it, but she let me go out the lane and then walk the dogs on the county road. I metered it with the car and I am walking exactly 6.5 miles each day that I walk. I am 6 feet tall, and I have lost 8 pounds from June to December. I didn't really need to lose weight, but it is okay with me. I wear size 33 waist pants, and when I was in the 9th grade I wore size 32, so I am an inch larger than I was then. I didn't think I weighed much, but then I discovered the scales I was using was giving me a reading that was 10 pounds light, so I actually weighed more than I thought I did, but then I lost 8 pounds, so I am okay. I am like you, Smiley, in that I feel really good about walking. It just does nothing but good for a person.

[red]

It worn me out walking on mall. But brisk walking as exercise wont hurt.

[Edwin]

One person on here and I haven't seen her on here for some time. She was/is in the process of getting the fiancee visa to come to the USA, so maybe she is still in that process. Anyway she said that she did not like to walk. That is like my wife, Carol, as she does not like to walk either, but she promises to get back to walking when the weather is better. Her diebetic nurse told her that she had to walk fast enough to make her heart beat faster and breath harder in order for it to help her. In our part of the country where it is cold, people do go to the indoor malls, and they walk for their exercise. We don't live close enough to a mall, and it would be too expensive to drive to town to walk through Walmart for exercise. Walking becomes addictive, and it makes you feel better, improving your outlook on life. I love it!

[red]

I find dancing also as good exercise. Two hours of dancing daily can lose weight within 2 weeks and it shape up the hips and waistline.

[jadegil6]

That is a good way to get excercise and to lose weight, but most of us don't have the time or energy to do it. My daughter gained weight during her first year away at college, and she asked me to get her the Zumba DVD, which is a popular dance video. I don't know if she ever uses it much, but I try to encourage her to excercise as much as she can. The school that she attends has got an awesome gym which is free to all the students. They have every workout machine imaginable in that place including treadmills with TV's attached. lol Sounds luxurious! They also have an indoor and an outdoor swimming pool with a full-time life guard on duty, and tennis and handball courts. They also provide full time instructors for all the equipment which are equivalent to having a personal trainer in a private gym. My dayghter goes there several times each week with a group of girls from her dorm to play volleyball. They never had things like that available when I was a student.

I used to walk more than I do now. I have a collapsed arch on my left foot, and that caused me to stop walking for the past 3 months. I started walking again yesterday, and stayed out for half an hour, and today for about 40 minutes. I don't want to overdo it so that my foot will hurt too much coz I still need to work when I can find it, and I have to be able to be on my feet to do that. I did start excercising about 3 weeks ago at home. I do stuff like crunches and pushups, and some free weights. I was getting so fat that I was disgusted with myself, but I think I am back on the right track now coz I have lost about 15 pounds since I started with my excercises and diet. I still want to lose another 20 pounds by May 19th so I can fit into my suit to walk my daughter down the aisle. She is getting married at the end of the semester.

[Edwin]

Yes, Sir Michael, I know what you are talking about with reference to the body holding up. I had trouble with a knee about 5 years ago, and when it feels like it might hurt, I think, "Oh, no, will my knee give out and stop me from walking?" We had a neighbor's hired man who told me that he used to jog every day where I am walking, and he had to quit because his knees started giving him problems. He is quite a bit younger than I am. When I was in my 20s I sprained both both feet at different times. I have also sprained knees and ankles, but everything seems to be fairly good now. From walking in the soft snow and mud with flexible snow boots I did something to my right foot. It doesn't hurt badly enough to stop me from walking, but enough to scare me thinking I might have to. But then today it didn't bother me at all, so I was very happy about that. A person can only do what his/her body will allow. I walk 6.5 miles every day that I don't have to do something else, and I feel really good about it! As long as I can walk without injuring myself I will. For many years I had no worries about weight gain. When I did start gaining weight it was so gradual that it didn't bother me. But one day I looked in the mirror after a shower without any clothes on, and I knew right then that something had to change. This was about 6 years ago. My scales were weighing 10 pounds too light, so I was even heavier than I thought I was. I have been coming down with the weight ever since, and now I have no weight worries, but I did lose 8 pounds from June to December of last year. The first year after we moved here, I was coming down in my weight, not walking yet, and winter came on with holiday meals, and less activity because of cold and snow, and I can't believe how fast I started gaining weight! Someone, one of my so called friends actually made fun of me, because he noticed my weight gain, and no one has ever made fun of me for being heavy, so things changed right then, and of course since I have started walking, being careful about my eating, and I have been doing this for several years now, and I am doing fine. I wear pants that I could not wear before. I am about one inch larger around the waist than I was when I was 14 years old. I wore size 32 then, and now I wear 33, so that is okay.

[red]

Best Wishes for Sir Michael's daughter.
(One of my friends always say to newlyweds "go to the world and multiply!" ha ha! that is why we are here for anyway )