Week 5 Challenge – Go The Extra Mile!

 

This weeks challenge is all about going that extra mile. You know, the mile that you never want to endure? Yeah – that one. 🙂 It’s time to park as far away from any entrance to work, the grocery store, shopping mall entrances, and anywhere else you visit throughout your week – every day (without compromising safety, of course).

If you’ve been following with our weekly challenges, then by now, you should be drinking plenty of water throughout your day (week 1), reading every nutrition label of what you consume (week2), toning your body with daily at home exercises that are easily fit into a busy schedule (week 3), and not eating anything before bed except for a very select few food items with very limited quantity (week 4).

Week 5 is about expanding on these habits that you’ve (hopefully) formed by adding a little more cardio exercise to your day.

Here’s some examples of how to be successful with this weeks challenge:

  • Park as far away as you can from the entry of:
    • Your workplace
    • Your grocery store
    • Your mall
    • Your children’s school (this might mean getting up earlier!)
    • A restaurant (you’re making healthy choices, right??)
    • any anywhere else you park your car at
  • Take the STAIRS instead of the ELEVATOR or ESCALATOR!
  • Plan events around walking, like:
    • Meeting someone for coffee in a park
    • Strolling through a mall
    • Getting lunch for the office (and walk!)
  • Get off the bus an exit before your usual stop
  • Use the restroom, break room, coffee machine, etc. that is farthest from you
  • After grocery shopping, return the shopping cart back inside the store rather than leaving it in the parking lot
  • Take a 10-minute walk before eating lunch and dinner
  • Form a workplace walking group for before, during (break) or after work
  • Form a family walking session daily
  • Participate in charity walk
  • Visit local parks and enjoy the trails – mark them off a list as you complete them
  • Don’t drive through – park and get out when visiting the bank, drug store, or coffee shop (no fast food, though!)

For this challenge, I highly recommend having a pedometer handy so you know exactly how much you’re walking daily. This particular Omron pedometer is one of the best out there: it has dual axis technology which means it counts steps both vertically (stairs) and horizontally (walking, running, etc.).

It also stores 7 days of information, resets every day at midnight automatically, and has six different step tracking modes for the most accurate measurement of walking distance. This pedometer comes highly recommended – it is the highest rated pedometer on the market, and Amazon sells it for 35% cheaper than any sport store retailer.

By increasing your cardio exercise daily, you are not only going to burn fat and lose weight, but you’ll better condition your heart, joints, bones, lungs and leg muscles, enjoy better moods, have more energy, slow aging, and you’ll become much more motivated throughout the week. For those of you who either already do these things or get to the gym or workout at home regularly, then your challenge this week is to add 10 more minutes to your existing cardio routine. Don’t forget to hydrate with plenty of water, and stretch those legs out before starting your walking or cardio routines.

To wrap it up, here are some fun facts about simple walking:

  • There are approximately 2100 steps in 1 mile
  • There are approximately 200 steps in 1 block
  • There are approximately 1200 steps in 10 minutes of walking

Let me know how you do with this weeks challenge! If you need any help or have any questions, come ask me on Facebook – I am here to help you succeed. 🙂