The 5 Meal-A-Day Diet Plan

I understand the concept: Five small meals a day takes the edge off your appetite, evens out blood sugar levels, and keeps your energy steady. But I confess: Who has time to eat this way?

Although my fitness trainer encourages me to eat healthy food every few hours, my meals usually look like this: coffee, a bit more coffee, lunch at 3 p.m., dinner at 9 p.m. I start over again the next morning.

When I decided to change this habit, and the routine of eating the way you eat is just a habit that you can change, I found that doing these five things helped:

1. Plan ahead. Five meals a day equals breakfast, lunch, dinner, and two snacks. To do this right, you need to plan what you’ll eat every day for each “meal.” And you need to schedule eating every 2 to 3 hours.The trick is to even out the calories so you eat 300 calories each time your eat. All five meals should be the same size. Larger meals will elevate your blood sugars or glucose level and cause food cravings later. So whether it's a meal or a snack it needs to be the same size, the same amount of calories. 
2. Stock up. Face it: You’re going to grab whatever food is closest. So stock up on veggies, fruit, healthy carbs like whole grains, lean proteins, and low-fat dairy products such as milk, yogurt, and cottage cheese.
3. Go for taste. Choose snack foods that will sustain you and taste good. Remember, healthy food can be satisfying. Mixed nuts are my favorite but for a morning snack fruit or greek yogurt is better.
4. Whip up a smoothie. Blend fruit, milk, yogurt, powdered protein and a little honey for a sweet taste. It's a filling snack packed with vitamins, fiber, protein, and calcium. It  might sound crazy but I put peanut butter in and I don't use fruit, I use vegetables like spinach leaves and if I don't want milk, I'll put water. There's dozens of ways to make a protein shake, you can find recipes on the internet.
5. Combine carbs and protein to stay full longer. Try whole wheat toast with peanut butter or a hard-boiled egg; whole-grain pasta with olive oil and cheese; or oatmeal with fruit, milk, and honey. Or make yourself a big pot of soup that includes pasta, beans and chicken to heat up for lunches or snacks.

If your someone who starts the day very early you might want to do 6 meals a day. Make that first meal the first hour your up and finish eating 3 hours before bed. If you have to push the meals closer together, remember to cut the calories a little like 250 each instead of 300.

If you really want to lose the extra flab you can get help, I write 4 blogs and I’ve written two E-books. Read some of my other blog posts.

Gettingtoahealthyweight.wordpress.com

idropped40pounds.wordpress.com

howbaddoyouwanttoloseweight.blogspot.com

blogonweight.blogspot.com

E-books are the easiest and cheapest way to learn about any subject without groping through hundreds of websites looking for the material you want.

My first e-book is “HowBadDoYouWantToLoseWeight” and it sells for $2.99 on most online bookstores like Amazon.com, BN.com, iBook, Kobo.com, Scribd.com, and Gardner books in the U.K.

My second e-book is available in the same stores. And on smashwords.com.  Just type in the search line “getting to a healthy weight”.

There's No Magic Pill For Weight Loss

Everyone looks for the easy way to do everything. We look for the App to change the stations on the TV, you look for the App to open the garage door, the App to do your Taxes, but for losing weight, there’s no easy way. Did you ever do a search: "lose weight” and see all the different websites that have the answer for quick or fast weight loss; just buy this or eat this and the weight will melt away. It won’t happen and if you lose weight it usually comes right back.

I lost weight by changing my diet and I never went back. And if I’m on vacation or go to a family gathering and I do slip up and eat something that will add fat, if you go right back to your meal plan the next day, any extra fat you added will disappear fast. When I changed my diet and started to eat fresh, mostly vegetables and fruit for dessert or for a snack, eating more nuts and not eating that food I use to eat. Not eating that food that put the weight on in the first place. I’m not a vegetarian, I do eat meat, but I stick to white meat chicken or tuna or wild salmon.

 My trick to losing weight is to eat as little animal fat as possible. White meat chicken has some yellow fat on the outside of the meat and It’s easy to remove, so you are eating meat that’s 95% fat-free. Fat on a fish is almost the same, the fat lays outside the meat under the skin. The advantage to eating fish is you get the nutrients from the Omega-3 fatty oil in the fish and salmon and tuna are rich in Omega-3. Other seafood has fish oil and minerals but for my money, I’ll buy wild salmon and tuna. I think you get more nutrients for your money. Red meat and even pork contain animal fat marbled through the meat. Some red meat is leaner than others but all animal meat contains animal fat. It’s a good source of protein but you can’t avoid the animal fat and that’s the part your system doesn’t process very well and will turn most of it into Body fat and store it.

Yes, humans have always eaten animal meat, but throughout history, man has never had a very long lifespan. On average, we probably live longer today than humans have ever lived throughout history. Having said that, science has no idea how long humans could live if we could eliminate disease and illness. 

Now we all know the science can’t remove all disease and illness in the next century, but we can change our diet and become healthier and whether science knows that or not eating healthy is the answer to longevity. That and exercise for your body and your mind will definitely keep you fit and active for many years to come. 

It would be nice to avoid all those health problems our grandparents had. And by eating healthy, I know I’m going to live a better, longer life. 

If you really want to lose your body fat than look for my e-books at the websites listed below. You'll get information on Healthy eating, exercise, and diet. Instead of spending hours on the internet reading dozens of posts, you can save time by picking up one of my e-books. 

There are two e-books. “How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight?” is available at all the online bookstores selling for $1.99. Go to any of the websites below and search the title to find my e-book. This book gives you all you need to lose weight without spending money on gym memberships, diet plans or meal plans. Look for my book. at Amazon.com, B&N.com, iBooks, Kobo.com, Scribd.com, or Gardner Books in the U.K.

My new e-book is available on Smashwords.com, just type “getting to a Healthy Weight” in the search box at the top of the home page. 

Where Do I Start?

Losing weight isn't as hard as some might think. You want to start by changing the food your eating. This is a common mistake many people make. They think if they just cut back on calories by eating less they'll lose weight. Maybe if you just want to lose 2 or 3 pounds. It's your diet that put on your extra weight and by the way that's extra body fat, not just weight. You can gain healthy weight and that's okay. Pro-athletes will gain healthy weight by adding muscle, but if your gaining fat that's the stuff you want to lose.

Changing your diet and eating healthy will give you more energy to exercise and be more active. The extra activity will help your burn more calories and you'll lose fat. Now the hard part is to get your body to burn the stored fat.

Your body only processes or burn enough to give you the energy you need at that moment. The body works in real time. In other words when your resting your body burns very little calories. It will burn some because your heart is always working and your brain is always working and there is other body functions that have to work constantly. When I sit and type out the post, I'm burning some calories, more than just watching TV, but if I was standing I would burn twice the calories because of the work your muscles have to do just to hold you up. So watching TV burns more than sleeping, but write my post at my desk burns more than watching TV and walking burn even more and running burns even more.

So if a normal person doing normal activity might burn 2000 calories a day, some hours you might burn 50 calories and some hours you might burn 150 calories. For example, a person who works out 5 days a week for one hour a day does a walk and run routine can burn 300 to 350 calories during that workout. All these statistics are to give you an idea of how many calories you might burn.

If you go to the Mall or grocery store and watch people for a long period of time you'll notice people who have a hard time getting around and some moving at a very fast pace. The point I want to make is that someone who spends most of the day either sitting or laying may only be burning a minimal amount of calories like 1000. The person burning 1800 might be the average office worker who could be sitting or lying as much as 16 hours as day, and that's even if they workout. And some people who are very active, working all day on their feet and working out every day and then working around the house after they get home, may be burning 2500 calories a day.

You want to be one of those people who burn more than 2000 calories a day and you can do it. But first, you want to start by eating healthy and building your energy. Nex,t you want to start walking more. Try to walk in the morning, before work, and then again in the evening after dinner. A good way to begin exercising is to walk more. Now is not that easy to judge the amount you walk because of your speed. So I suggest getting a pedometer. There cheap, just go to a sporting goods store. The average person doing normal things all day walks about 5000 steps a day, but to lose body fat and build strength you want to walk 10,000 steps a day. The pedometer will count for you, just set it to zero in the morning and hook it on your belt. If your short steps after dinner you want to walk before bed and finish the 10,000.

I think changing your diet and sticking to it is the hardest part. You have to start eating 'clean', no processed foods. Which means eating 'fresh' foods. Fruits, vegetables, dairy and grains and some meat. I follow the 'food pyramid'.

I write several blogs and e-books, check out some of my other sites.

gettingtoahealthyweight.wordpress.com
idropped40pounds.wordpress.com
howbaddoyouwanttoloseweight.blogspot.com
blogonweight.blogspot.com

If you really want to lose your body fat than look for my e-books at the websites listed below. You'll get information on Healthy eating, exercise, and diet. Instead of spending hours on the internet reading dozens of posts, you can save time by picking up one of my e-books. 

There are two e-books. “How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight?” is available at all the online bookstores selling for $1.99. Go to any of the websites below and search the title to find my e-book. This book gives you all you need to lose weight without spending money on gym memberships, diet plans or meal plans. Look for my book. at Amazon.com, B&N.com, iBooks, Kobo.com, Scribd.com, or Gardner Books in the U.K.

My new e-book is available on Smashwords.com, just type “getting to a Healthy Weight” in the search box at the top of the home page. 

Getting Weight Loss Advice On TV

This post was on the AboutHealth website and where I think the shows have some good information, I also realize that it's a TV show that's trying to be informative but also entertaining. You can't bore people to death with all the science involved in medicine, they'd turn the channel, but you are trying to be informative and so you try and create a message that will hold the attention of the viewer. 

How many times have you saw a movie and said to yourself, "That wasn't like the book." And that happens. The story becomes condensed and changed a little to fit into the allotted time. That means things get left out, things that sometimes change the message. The doctors doing the show don't write the lines or decide on what is said. They have to follow the script.

If you are a fan of The Dr. Oz Show or The Doctors you don’t necessarily have to stop watching the shows if you are looking for weight loss advice. Remember that what you watch or what the program tells you has to be paid for somehow. Many of these shows want you to buy something so they want to prove to you that it works. What you have to remember is that for them to convince you it only has to work for a small group of people. Everyone won't benefit. The show doesn't always mention the negitives. "You don't have to spend money to lose weight".

Their diet tips can be fun and are often helpful. But if you use their recommendations to slim down, there are three critical tips you should keep in mind to make sure your weight loss program is successful. TV diet tips may be unbalanced:  The British Medical Journal research points out that the medical and diet advice provided on these popular shows is often presented without the balance needed to help viewers make fully informed decisions. The researchers also point out that conflicts of interests are often ignored. What the medical journal means by balance is that your only hearing one side of the story, which often happens on TV shows because they don’t have the time to do the pros and cons on everything. As a viewer, that means that you need to take weight loss tips with a grain of salt.  Understand that you may not be getting all the facts about an exciting new treatment, diet pill or weight loss supplement and that a featured expert who is recommending the pill may also benefit financially from selling it. If you are interested in a particular weight loss product mentioned on the show, discuss it with your own doctor or registered dietitian to get a more balanced perspective. TV weight loss advice is not personalized. Many of the diet tips or lifestyle recommendations provided by Dr. Oz and The Doctors may work for some television viewers, but may not be the healthiest suggestion for you.  Remember that every dieter’s health history, goals and lifestyle is different.  A great diet tip for your friend might be the worst diet tip for you. And if your under a Doctor’s care, consult the Doctor before you eat or drink anything. Even certain kinds of food can react with your medication. If the weight loss advice you see on television contradicts the personalized advice you’ve received from your own health care team – and especially if your weight loss program is already working – be very cautious before you change your program based on the TV show advice.  The BMJ researchers suggest that you get detailed information from your personal physician about the specific benefit, potential harms and real cost or inconvenience of any treatment before you incorporate it into your program. Medical shows provide entertainment.  Ultimately, daytime television shows provide entertainment to their viewing audience.  Diet tips are presented in a way that makes the viewing experience fun and interesting.  Unfortunately that may lead to confusion or misinterpretation. For example, on a recent episode of his show, Dr Oz recommended eating pine nuts before bed at night to curb nighttime snacking.  He said that dieters should eat two tablespoons of the fatty nut to help manage cravings. But as Dr. Oz explained his diet tip, he stood in front of a large bowl of pine nuts.  It would have been reasonable for a viewer who was not paying close attention to believe that eating a larger portion of pine nuts could help them lose weight.  But since pine nuts are high in fat, eating too many of them could cause that viewer to gain weight instead.

Diet tips from Dr Oz may help you slim down, but any weight loss advice whether it comes from television, magazines or online should be evaluated with a critical eye.  If it seems too easy or too good to be true, it probably is.  Use Dr Oz’s diet tips to get ideas, then discuss the specifics with your own health care provider or registered dietitian in order to stay safe and reach your goals. Everyone will not lose weight the same way. We can take suggestions or advice from others who have been successful, but that doesn't mean you can lose weight the same way. If your under a doctors care and taking medication always see you doctor before to discuss any new weight loss plan you want to try. 

If your someone with a serious amount of fat and are not use to working out see a doctor before you start any diet or exercise program. Exercise can put strain on your heart.

If you really want to lose your body fat than look for my e-books at the websites listed below. You'll get information on Healthy eating, exercise, and diet. Instead of spending hours on the internet reading dozens of posts, you can save time by picking up one of my e-books. There are two e-books. “How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight?” is available at all the online bookstores selling for $1.99. Go to any of the websites below and search the title to find my e-book. This book gives you all you need to lose weight without spending money on gym memberships, diet plans or meal plans. Look for my book. at Amazon.com, B&N.com, iBooks, Kobo.com, Scribd.com, or Gardner Books in the U.K.

My new e-book is available on Smashwords.com, just type “getting to a Healthy Weight” in the search box at the top of the home page. 

The Easiest Diet To Follow

Reblogged parts from VeryWell.com. This is one reason most people quit their diet. "It's too hard to follow". I don't care which diet you think might work for you and I don't care who is on the diet and how much someone else lost on the diet, "if you can't stick to a diet, it won't help you". This is a classic mistake that people make, they take advice from someone who likes this new diet and has had luck on the diet, but you have to look closely and read the fine print and if you can't stick to a cabbage soup diet, don't start it. I don't care how much your friend lost. The best diet ever created isn't going to work for you if you can't stick to it. 

When consumers look for a weight loss program, they usually look for the easiest diet to follow. After all, who wants to spend weeks learning a complicated system? But almost every program claims to be easy so it can be hard to choose the best plan.

3 Ways to Find the Easiest Diet

Everyone has a different lifestyle and different food preferences so the easiest diet for your co-worker or your neighbor might not be the easiest diet for you.

The key to getting sustainable weight loss results is to find the plan that works best with your specific skill set and your specific lifestyle.

Ask yourself a few important questions before you look for a diet:

How much time do I have to cook and prepare food?
Do I like to cook and spend time in the kitchen?
Do I like to try new tastes and flavors?
Do I have time to grocery shop?
How much weight do I have to lose?
How much money can I spend on a diet and for how long will I be able to maintain this budget?
Do I enjoy eating foods that are considered to be healthy, like fruits, vegetables, or lean meats?
Do I prefer comfort foods like pasta, bread, and baked goods?
If you find a diet that fits into your regular routine and satisfies your food preferences, you're more likely to stick to it long enough to see real weight loss results. In addition, if the plan is simple you're likely to maintain good eating habits after you've reached your goal weight, so weight maintenance becomes easier as well.

The maintenance is important, if you're not going to work on maintaining the weight loss then why bother losing weight?

Top Picks for the Easiest Diet to Follow

Easy diets fall into one of three categories. You'll notice that almost every easy diet has certain key characteristics in common. Portion control, for example, is essential for almost every diet to work. But there are some differences between top diets that may make one plan easier for you to follow.

Your answers to the questions above will help you find the best plan for you.

The Most Convenient Diet
Meal delivery plans are the easiest diets for people who have very little time to cook and prepare food. Often these plans provide small microwavable meals that you can heat up on the go, calorie-controlled shakes to drink, or small snack bars to nibble when you don't have time to sit and eat.

Top picks in this category include Nutrisystem, Jenny Craig, or Weight Watchers. My personal recommendation in this category is Weight Watchers simply because it provides the option of face-to-face support, which makes weight loss easier for many dieters, plus a new on-line program for those who can't do a face-to-face.

This is the best easy diet for people who can make a financial commitment to a diet program (depending on the amount of weight you have to lose, your total cost can run in the thousands) and people who don't like to or don't have time to prepare three meals each day. Keep in mind, however, that plans like Jenny Craig and Weight Watchers do encourage dieters to learn to cook for improved weight loss and weight maintenance.

This is not the easiest diet for people who enjoy large quantities of food (meals and snacks are usually quite small), people who enjoy cooking all of their meals, and people who don't want to invest too much money into their weight loss program.

The Quickest Diet to Learn
If you don't want to spend time and money learning a point system or setting up a food delivery, then you need a diet that is quick and easy to learn. There are some diets like Atkins, Mediterranean diet, or The South Beach Diet that provide simple food lists. If you eat the foods on the approved list and avoid other foods, you'll lose weight. But to really take advantage of these programs long term, you should read the books associated with the diets.

My pick for the big winner in this category is calorie counting. Why? Because counting calories simply requires basic math skills that you already know and there are free apps that make the process super simple.

Calorie counting is like budgeting. You take five minutes to use a calorie calculator and determine your daily calorie budget, then each day deduct calories from your budget as you eat. It's simple, but it takes consistent input, which is easy for some but overwhelming for others.

This is the best easy diet for someone on a budget who is willing to use tech devices (like a smartphone) to put forth small consistent efforts on a daily basis to slim down.
This is not the easiest diet for someone who isn't likely to be consistent with food tracking. This might include someone without access to their smartphone at mealtime or someone who isn't likely to be honest about what they eat and how much they eat.
The Most Accessible Diet
Sometimes the easiest weight loss plan is the one that is easiest to find. There are certain diet products you can find at your regular grocery store that will help you to slim down. They allow you to eat (at least some of) the foods that you normally eat. In this category, the Lean Cuisine diet or the SlimFast Diet plan are top picks.

You'll find frozen meals by brands like Lean Cuisine or Smart Ones in nearly every market in the country. The meals are relatively inexpensive, portion-controlled, and microwavable. For around 300 calories you can eat foods that you are familiar with, like meatloaf, pasta or turkey, and stuffing.

If you choose the SlimFast Diet, you simply consume two easy-to-find SlimFast products as replacements for two meals during the day and eat three low-calorie snacks. Then enjoy one additional 500-calorie meal that you buy or prepare on your own.

This is the best easy diet for consumers who don't want to read books, compare online programs, or make a long-term investment in a food delivery service. These diets are also better suited for dieters who have less weight to lose.
This is not the easiest diet for those who have more pounds to lose or for those who have medical concerns that limit the amount of salt or added sugar in their diet. Some frozen meals and shakes are high in sodium and some have added sugars.

What's the Easiest Diet Ever?

One of the problems with many of the easy diets listed is that they include a lot of processed foods. Frozen products and microwavable meals are generally not as nutritious as a home-cooked meal. Meals that come to you frozen contain lots of sodium and sometimes sugar. Be sure to read the labels. I prefer the fresh meals you can buy in the deli section of your supermarket. You can get low-calorie, low-sodium meals. So which plan would I recommend as the easiest diet to lose weight? Portion control. Simply eat the foods you currently enjoy at mealtime, but eat less. Sounds easy, right? But it doesn't work. If you're adding fat to your body it's because of the foods you're eating, generally when you eat fresh foods and nothing processed you don't eat as much. Fresh foods will satisfy your appetite, processed foods don't, they only fill you up for a short time. You don't have to control portions if you eat fresh foods, mostly vegetables, and fruits.

So which plan would I recommend as the easiest diet to lose weight? I found the best way is to completely change your diet and don't look back. Changing your diet I liken to stopping cigarettes. You might as well know now, weight maintenance means never going back, if you do the weight will return.

If you really want to lose your body fat then look for my e-books at the websites listed below. You'll get information on Healthy eating, exercise, and diet. Instead of spending hours on the internet reading dozens of posts, you can save time by picking up one of my e-books.

There are two e-books. “How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight?” is available at all the online bookstores selling for $1.99. Go to any of the websites below and search the title to find my e-book. This book gives you all you need to lose weight without spending money on gym memberships, diet plans, or meal plans. Look for my book. at Amazon.com, BN.com, iBooks, Kobo.com, Scribd.com, or Gardner Books in the U.K.

My new e-book is available on Smashwords.com, just type “getting to a Healthy Weight” in the search box at the top of the home page.

Do You Have To Die To Lose Weight?

This post is from HealthDay and it explains the misconception people have when they use the word "diet". Your diet is simply the foods you eat. Your diet changes every day because you don't eat the same thing every day. 

The Rumor: You have to go on a strict diet to lose weight

It's fitting that "diet" has four letters, because, for many of us, it's a curse word. We associate dieting with punishment, starvation, beating ourselves up, avoiding any fun social activities and basically, waiting until it’s over and we can start living our lives again -- in leaner bodies, of course. In 2012, there were 108 million people on diets in the United States. To help them reach their goals, Americans spent about $20 billion on various weight-loss products, including diet books, diet drugs, and weight-loss surgeries.

Is it necessary, though? Can you lose weight without being on a diet? We talked to nutrition experts Amy Jamieson Petonic for her tips on how to shed pounds the healthy way and keep them off for good. 

The Verdict: The most effective weight loss involves lifestyle changes, not crash diets

"When you tell yourself you can have this and you can’t have that, oftentimes it winds up backfiring. People end up giving in and eventually binging on the foods they avoided because it’s very hard to be extremely restrictive for a long a period of time.”

“But healthy eating is a lifestyle,” says Lakatos Shames. “Focus on healthy options of what you know you should eat. If you concentrate on eating fruits, vegetables, lean proteins and whole grains, there is less room for the dessert and junk in your meals. Focusing on what you can’t eat is the dieting mentality.” "Focus on what you should eat."

I don't like the idea that if I just eat less junk, I can lose weight. Eating healthy food is the key. Healthy foods will burn fat. Snacks and other frankenfood will only add more fat to your body. 

“Dieting [has] such a negative association with food,” says Petonic. “When you begin to associate good, whole foods with pleasure, weight loss will happen with very little effort.” Petonic suggests eating these foods to help you lose weight without dieting:

Whole grains: Eat 100 percent whole-wheat bread, whole-wheat pasta or brown rice. All provide essential B vitamins and minerals that will fill you up and keep energy levels high.

Quinoa: It’s a complete plant protein that give's you all nine essential amino acids and is packed with fiber and iron.

Salmon: This protein source is high in omega-3 fatty acids DHA and EPA, which are anti-inflammatory, and they provide essential proteins for growth and development.

Pistachios: These protein-packed nuts may help increase you metabolic rate and promote fat burning.

But don’t forget to get moving! Exercise is just as important as nutrition because that’s how you burn calories, says Lakatos. “Exercising is how you speed up your metabolic rate and get your body going. We’ve found that when our clients exercise, they feel good about themselves, and they don’t want to undo their hard work by eating the wrong foods.”

If you're serious about losing weight you want to do a little homework. Find out what foods are good for you, and which ones will only add fat to your body. You can't work off a bad diet or any food that your body can't process and pass through. If you wonder why you're adding body fat it's because your body can't process the food you're eating.

If you really want to lose your body fat than look for my e-books at the websites listed below. You'll get information on Healthy eating, exercise, and diet. Instead of spending hours on the internet reading dozens of posts, you can save time by picking up one of my e-books. 

There are two e-books. “How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight?” is available at all the online bookstores selling for $1.99. Go to any of the websites below and search the title to find my e-book. This book gives you all you need to lose weight without spending money on gym memberships, diet plans or meal plans. Look for my book. at Amazon.com, B&N.com, iBooks, Kobo.com, Scribd.com, or Gardner Books in the U.K.

My new e-book is available on Smashwords.com, just type “getting to a Healthy Weight” in the search box at the top of the home page. 

Brisk Walking Will Keep You Thinner

Erik Isakson/Getty Images

Which exercise is best for keeping off weight? A long term study found that people who enjoyed a 30-minute brisk walk most days had the smallest waists and lowest body mass indexes. Brisk walking beat gym exercise and sports for staying slim. Brisk walking was associated with being thinner, especially for women, and people over age 50.

Does Brisk Walking Beat Other Physical Activity for Staying Thin?

In Britain as well as the US and many other countries, health authorities recommend 30 minutes or more per day of moderately intense physical activity for health and weight management.

The researchers wanted to find out which activity was most effective, and the data showed that brisk walking was the winner.

What is Brisk Walking?

Brisk or fast walking is at a pace where you are breathing heavier than normal and the heart rate is elevated. To be in the moderately-intense activity zone, you should have a heart rate of 50% to 70% of your maximum heart rate. Use our heart rate calculator to find this number for your age.

The study focused on brisk walking rather than strolling at an easy pace and lower heart rate, in order to compare it to jogging, gym exercise and sports.

The subjects of the study determined for themselves whether they were brisk/fast walking.

Study Finds Brisk Walking Associated with Lower Fatness Measures

The study looked at data collected in the annual Health Survey for England (HSE) from 1999 to 2012. Over 68,000 respondants reported on how many days in the past month they engaged in 30 minutes or more of moderately intense activities.

The categories were:

• walking at a fast or brisk pace
• sports or exercise including swimming, cycling, gym workouts, dancing, running/jogging, football, tennis and other racquet sports.
• heavy housework
• heavy manual activities

Measurements were made of body mass index, which uses the ratio of height to weight, and measurement of waist circumference. A wider waist shows central obesity, which is associated with developing health problems independently of BMI.

The exciting results were that brisk walking beats the other activities for predicting who has a lower BMI and smaller waist. The graphs of the data show a consistent downward trend in these fatness measures with the number of days of brisk walking each month. Brisk walking five or more days per week was a good target, consistent with the health recommendations for physical activity.

Who Benefits the Most from Brisk Walking?

The good news is that brisk walking worked best for populations who may be less inclined to join in sports or didn't have access to recreational facilities.

• People over age 50 regardless of gender
• People who are pressed for time. 
• People who are unable to do conventional exercise

There is no monetary cost to walking so it is very likely that the benefits will outweigh the costs. A simple policy that 'every step counts' may be a step towards curbing the upward trend in obesity rates and beneficial for other health conditions.”

Why would walking be found to be more effective than spending the same amount of time in the gym? Walkers may be more faithful to their regimen over time. It can also be harder to know how much of your time spent in the gym is in moderately-intense exercise and whether you are performing the exercises correctly. Walking is much easier to get right and to know when you are breathing harder and working up a sweat.

How to Start Brisk Walking

People who enjoy walking at an easy pace can take steps to walk faster and raise the heart rate and breathing rate into the moderately-intense zone. Walking with good posture and arm motion can speed up the feet.

People who have difficulty in walking faster due to arthritis or other conditions can add walking poles or small hand weights to their walking workouts. Using walking poles can raise the heart rate while walking at your usual pace.

If you really want to lose your body fat than look for my Ebooks at the websites listed below. You'll get information on Healthy eating, exercise, and diet.

There’s two ebooks.  “How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight?” is available at all the online bookstores selling for $1.99. Go to any of the websites below and search the title to find my Ebook. This book gives you all you need to lose weight without spending money on gym memberships, diet plans or meal plans. Look for my book. at Amazon.com, B&N.com, iBooks, Kobo.com, Scribd.com, or Gardner Books in the U.K.

My new ebook is available on Smashwords.com, just type “getting to a Healthy Weight” in the search box at the top of the home page.