Let's Start a Family Walking Tradition

I was talking to a client of mine the other day, and she was telling me about a German colleague of hers and how the city he was from had a very interesting walking tradition.  Every Sunday, the whole family would go out for a walk around the neighborhood.  My thought was, what a great way to get some exercise for the whole family, and get to know your neighbors at the same time.   Another great benefit of taking family walks is that you will get to strengthen the bond with your kids.  Studies have shown that kids tend to talk to their parents more when they take long walks together.   You see, when the family just sits at home, the kids usually are playing video games or watch their iPads, and they are not talking as much.  So walking is not just good for the health of the family, but also a great way to talk with your kids and bond with them. 

This story reminded me how in Greece, we have a similar tradition.  Whenever we would go out to a restaurant for dinner, we wouldn't just go to the restaurant, sit, and eat.  We would first walk back and forth at the paralia (Every city or town next to the ocean has a paralia.  Paralia is what Greek people call the street next to the ocean and that is where most of the restaurants are).  It was a casual, slow walk and we would talk about all different subjects.  Usually, the whole family would be participating in the conversation.  Because almost everyone in my city would take that walk at the paralia, it was a great way to stay in touch with people.  Back when I lived in Greece, not everyone had a telephone in their home.  Many times we would also take a walk after dinner.

Talking to another client of mine, who had lived in Italy, told me that the Italians have similar walking traditions.

The interesting part is that people did not walk because it was good for their health, but because it was something nice to do and also a great way to meet and talk to your neighbors and friends.  The health benefits were just the side effect, not the goal. If you look at other European nations, you will find that most of them have some type of walking tradition.

This got me thinking.  Why can't we start our own walking traditions, something that we can pass down to our kids just like many healthy European regions have done?  I am not talking about walking clubs.   I am talking about families starting a tradition of taking a walk together in their neighborhood every Saturday or Sunday, or both days when the whole family is together.  I think is a great tradition to start.  It is good for our health, a great way to bond with our kids and a great way to meet our neighbors.  Keep in mind, I am not talking about power walks or speed walks, I am talking about strolls.  Don't worry about your heart rate, or if you are breaking a sweat or not, just walk.   You will get benefits from walking whether you get your heart rate up or not.  Another great benefit of walking slowing is that it is very relaxing for the mind.  I personally like slow walks and find them very relaxing.

My family and I have started doing these walks every weekend.  Yes, there are weekends that we skip but we always try to get out and walk together as a family as often as we can.

At Live Your Way Thin, we want to start a family walking tradition.  We ask all the families who read this article to make it a point every weekend to take a walk together in your neighborhood. Please don't let a little rain or snow stop you.  I think is a great tradition that every family in America should start.  As a side benefit, you will also finally get to meet your neighbors.  If you live in an area that you can't safely walk in your neighborhood, see if you can find a park nearby that you can go with the family and walk.  I think this is a tradition worth developing as a family and as a country.

I would love to hear from all the families who started this new walking tradition.  Let’s make it a Connecticut family walking tradition and, hopefully, other states will also adopt this great tradition.   Also, if you have any suggestions as to how we can help spread the word about this tradition so it can take root, I would love to hear them!  Please share this article with your neighbors, family and friends.

You can email me at Stavros@liveyourwaythin.com.   Looking forward to suggestions of how we can build on this tradition.

The Live Your Way Thin System
"A completely New approach to weight loss for people who have no time for exercising or complicated diets"

Do You Need to Workout Hard to Get Results?

Don't Believe The Myths

In my 25 years in the fitness field, I have found that one of the main reasons why people avoid working out is because they have the false belief that in order to get benefits from your workouts, you must push hard and every set must go to failure.  They also believe that you must feel sore the next day after the workout to indicate that you got benefits from the workout.  None of these things are actually true, and the sad part is that many fitness professionals still promote this kind of mentality. 

The fact is that if you want to tone your body, lose weight and improve your health, all you have to do is a workout that challenges all your main muscles a little bit more than they are used to.  You don't have to bring every set to failure, and, by the way, one set will do the job.  Around 90% of the benefits of weight training, come from the first set if done right and another 10% from the second set. In my opinion, the third set is a complete waste of time for the average person who is trying to get in shape.  Also, you don't need to run or jog; walking will do the job.  Obviously, if you enjoying running or jogging that is fine but that is something you don't need to do to get health benefits and lose weight.  Also, keep in mind that too much running or jogging is bad for your body.

Of course, if you are looking to compete in the next Olympics, then you do have to push hard in every workout. Maybe you will need to do the third set, even though you only get, maybe an extra 1% of benefits because, as you know, in a sports competition there isn't a big difference between winners and losers. In that case, 1% of benefits may be the difference between winning and losing.

So, are you joining the next Olympics, or are you trying to lose weight, get in shape and lower your risk of developing heart disease and other lifestyle-related conditions?  If you are not joining the next Olympics, you do not need to train that hard to get the results you want.  

One of the main benefits of working out lightly is that you have a much better chance of sticking with your workouts long-term and remember, consistency is the key to results and also presents a much lower risk of injury.  I know many personal trainers like to push their clients hard so they can get the best results as quickly as possible.  However, the best results in the world will not keep you motivated to keep going, if you start hating the process of working out, or even worse, get injured.

So the bottom line is this:  The best workout is the one you will do and do consistently.  Remember, consistency is the key to sustainable results and another thing to keep in mind is that diet plays the biggest role when it comes to weight loss.

The Live Your Way Thin System
"A weight loss approach for people who want results but prefer not to exercise or diet"

You Want Results? Start by Asking The Right Questions!

Have you ever wonder why for some people results come almost effortlessly and others seem to work twice as hard with nothing to show for their hard work?  There are many reasons but one of the main reasons is because the people who get results, ask the right questions whereas people who get no results or limited results ask the wrong questions.  Let me explain.

Whether you know it or not, we are constantly having a conversation with ourselves.  The type of questions and statements we ask or make in that conversation determines what we focus on.  If in your conversation you ask question like, "why can't I lose weight?" or "what is wrong with me?", your mind stays focused on all the reasons why you can't lose weight and everything that is wrong with you and all the obstacles in your way.  These types of questions will never lead you to any solutions.
On the other hand, if you ask yourself better questions, you will get better answers that might help you achieve the results you are looking for.  Better questions are "How" questions.  For example if you are trying to lose weight, a better question would be, "how do I make sure I get a least two workouts in per week?" or "How can I make sure I eat at least 4 vegetables per day?" or "what can I do today to move me closer to my weight loss goal?"  You see all these questions put your focus on finding solutions to your problems.  We can solve any problem if we simply focus on the problem long enough and asking the right questions will help you keep your focus on the right place.

I am a true believer that if you have enough reasons why you want to achieve something, you can always find a way to achieve it.  It's only a matter of asking all the right questions.

So starting today, pay attention to the conversation you are having with yourself and make sure you are asking questions that will get you to the answers you seek.

Live Your Way Thin System
Simple, Sustainable, Weight Loss