Daily Walks Could Be The Start Of A Fitter, Happier You
The Singapore Women's Weekly|June 2018

Who says you have to go to extremes to get results? Done effectively, every little step you take will help you reach your goal.

Heidi lindahl/ bauersyndication.com.au
Daily Walks Could Be The Start Of A Fitter, Happier You

So you’ve pretty much tried it all: personal training, F45, Body Bar, Body Pump, spin classes, boot camp… Yet those pesky extra kilos continue to hang around.

To lose weight and keep it off, a few things need to happen. You need to create a calorie deficit (expend more energy than you consume); you need to nourish your body well with good-quality food to assist with the functionality and efficiency of your organs and systems;and you need to gain control over your stress levels and get adequate sleep. The real key is to do all of this consistently.

Where Walking Comes In

It just so happens that an early morning walk may have all of the above covered. As well as burning fuel, studies have shown that walking outside while soaking up a few rays of sunlight contributes to an increase in the production of serotonin (a feel-good hormone), which helps us sleep, as it converts into melatonin at night (our sleep hormone). In turn, sleeping well helps regulate cortisol (a hormone produced by our adrenal glands when we’re stressed, and which is implicated in fat storage). Who would have thought that starting the day with a good old-fashioned walk in the park could contribute to all of that?

If you spend the same amount of time doing an activity, your overall calorie expenditure will be greater in the higher intensity session (for example, you’ll burn more energy if you run for an hour than if you walk for an hour). This is due to more energy being used, as well as higher continuous uptake of oxygen afterwards, otherwise known as EPOC – excess post oxygen consumption.

In reality, most of us won’t actually be able to run for an hour, which makes walking a great option. It just means that if you want to walk off those excess kilos, you need to be prepared to walk for longer.

When And How To Walk

This story is from the June 2018 edition of The Singapore Women's Weekly.

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This story is from the June 2018 edition of The Singapore Women's Weekly.

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