Hey, so it has been 14 days and I have been utterly exhausted from doing these 21 minute routines. I know this is due to my medical condition and I am not complaining I am just worried I am pushing my self to hard. But I have heard from a couple of different folks who are finding it difficult as well. They have also expressed some concern for my health as well. They have also said that they are having a hard time with the running due to their weight. That it is to difficult. That is fair if you have been over weight for a long time and are used to being sedentary rather than active running can be very difficult and painful. But not to worry because running is not the only thing you can do.

Running and walking burn nearly the same amount of calories because it is work over distance. They only major down side to walking only is that you have to do it for longer to get the same work out. This is not a problem for me as I love to walk. It is one of my favourite past times especially if there is an ocean view. He in victoria I can often be found walking the break water and along the coast as an evening stroll.

Tips and Tools for walking

Of corse there are other benefits that you lose other than time by walking instead of doing an interval type run/walk (or just a plain old run). But if you can not run there is no down side. Just tac on an extra ten minutes to the exercise to start (more if you can), meaning walk for thirty minutes and if you have one use a pedometer, here is a link to a cheep one that I use, take it with you as it is a great help in measuring your results (remember there is one built into all iphones and ipod model nano and up). This way you can keep track of the distances you are going. I use a pedometer because with it I can track my distance and figure out exactly how many calories I am burning as well as time my walks and see if I am getting any faster. I feel it is really important to log your exercise and study it to see where you are improving and how you can improve further. For those of you whom are interested in doing the math, here is an equation that will help you to understand how much energy your body needs:

BMR

Is the calories burned at metabolic rest or how many calories you burn just from being alive and doing nothing)

Women: BMR = 655 + ( 9.6 x weight in kilos ) + ( 1.8 x height in cm ) – ( 4.7 x age in years)
Men: BMR = 66 + ( 13.7 x weight in kilos ) + ( 5 x height in cm ) – ( 6.8 x age in years )

So what you can do with this information? Now if you take that number and divide by 24 you will know how many calories you burn an hour at rest. Then if you look at the amount of calories you burn on your walk you can see how you help your body trip down, little by little. One thing to keep in mind is that here are 3,500 calories in 1 pound of fat. To burn one pound, you must burn 3,500 calories. This can be done by reducing calorie intake and increasing your activity. However keep in mind that if you reduce your caloric intake to much you can end up starving the body of the nutrition it needs and force it in to a fat storing mode causing you to burn muscle not fat. Also you can do some serious harm to your self by not giving your body the energy it needs. So don’t reduce you caloric intake below your BMR and just do the simple exercises and see where you are in a month. If you are not losing weight let, leave a comment below or email me and I can direct you to some helpful information and resources to optimize your results.

If you really want to get more bang from your walk and burn more calories while walking you can use a weight vest or put some extra weight in a back pack. The energy spent = work done over distance (or weight x distance = calories burned). So the more you weigh the more work you are doing while walking (or running). So when you think about it when you first start you are getting more from your workout than you would when you get more fit and lighter. But not to worry, by the time you get more fit there are other way to exercise that will optimize the positive effects of your exercise.

So now to the calisthenic exercises, as you know once I added in the workout for the shoulders and biceps with the kettle bell I am finding this to be a complete workout and for me more than difficult enough for now. Hopefully you will be finding it adequate for now also. I will be doing this exercise as I mentioned before for the rest of the month. If you have any questions or would like to coment please use the section below.

I am at 208.2 lb.

**Remember before starting any kind of fitness routine consult with your doctor and if you do not know how to do these exercises properly then you should consult a professional who can show you how.**