A 200 pound person burns about 150 calories during an average brisk walk of 2 km on a level path for 25 minutes. These are a lot of numbers to keep track of but if you did this daily for just 6 weeks (a month and a half) you would get 1050 minutes of exercise during that time and burn over 6000 calories at least. Now most walks over 2 km will have some hills involved, big or small so it is possible that this calorie estimate could be higher. Regardless of the debate of how many calories it takes to really burn a pound of fat (often quoted as 3500 calories), I defy you to do this for 6 weeks and only be down 2 pounds. The number of pounds dropped after this type of simple regimen will often exceed this significantly. Keep in mind it’s best to check with your doctor if you have chronic medical conditions before doing this.

In fact, before you start, ask your physician to take a baseline reading of a few simple biomarkers (blood pressure, cholesterol, blood glucose, and total body weight). By the way, we can do all of these numbers including body fat percent and hydration at Stone’s Drug Store. With the weather improving this plan can be achieved better now than 2 weeks ago. This will bring you into the second half of April, a time close to May 1st, a date that we start thinking, “why didn’t I follow through on that New Year’s resolution” or “why didn’t I make that New Year’s resolution” and “wow the Summer is coming and I am out of shape again this year.” Imagine the motivation in saying, “I’m glad I started this back in March.” Imagine the momentum that is in motion at that point, all from just walking for less than 1/2 hour a day, especially when you revisit the biomarker numbers above and realize how much of a change results from such a small effort.

There is one catch. Preventative results like cancer prevention click in only when this increase in physical activity is combined with a diet of five fruits and vegetables daily. So do that. This is not rocket science. In fact you can walk to the grocery store, get your healthy food and carry it home. In regards to other disease states like arthritis, parkinsons, psychological symptoms, diabetes, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, sexual dysfunction, stress, hormone issues, sleep apnea, and and many chronic diseases all have been shown to respond favourably to this type of activity level. Do any of these describe you?

So, before your six week window runs into next Fall, start tomorrow. Just 25 minutes of walking, even if it’s just on your lunch break, for just six weeks. We’ll see you on April 22nd, just before May starts your Summer panic to be in shape for your summer clothes. If the way you look during the Summer isn’t a motivating factor, how about adding years onto your life as a motivator?

Remember: 25 minutes per day, every day, for six weeks. This gives you 1050 minutes of exercise. Perhaps 1000 more minutes of exorcise more than you had planned for the next six weeks. That’s it. If you’re really half serious about this, then get your five fruits and vegetables daily and really just watch what you eat. Take water with you on your walk. NO fruit juice, pop, or vitamin water - ever. If you need a friend to accomplish this then get one that you want to see live longer and extend their life as well. Good luck and keep us up to date on your progress over the next month and a half (graham@stonespharmasave.com or Stone’s Drug Store on Facebook) and we’ll share it with everyone to help motivate them!!