How many miles a day do I need to walk to lose weight and how do I become active are the question many ask.

Walking is a great form of exercise, the longer the walk the more calories you burn. The harder you walk, the more calories you burn.
But just like with any workout program you want to start where you can and progressively work toward taking on more.

Once you have gained stamina, I would suggest walking 3-4 miles a day to stay fit. You will walk for about an hour and can burn up to 400 calories just walking.

When it comes to walking for fitness it is not just about the distance you cover, it is also important that you keep a good pace and keep your heart rate up to gain maximum results.

Walk for a minimum of thirty minutes each day.

If you have been inactive, walk as far as you can without feeling fatigued or stressed, even if you can only last for a few minutes.

(Thirty minutes can be broken up into shorter periods, like three ten-minute walks)

Then, gradually increase your walking time until you can walk briskly for at least thirty minutes without discomfort.

If you have been active, you can move directly to the thirty minute or longer brisk walk.

Here are some numbers I noticed while walking.

1 Mile = 2100 or so steps (depending on your feet it’s from 2100 to 2500 steps)

1 Mile walked = 100 calories burned.

Happy Feet Walkers Family motivates in many ways.

It motivates with new and interesting challenges.

Don’t want to walk alone no worries ask in the group and a member is always ready to support.

Feeling down just notify the group and all your friends are always ready to cheer you up.

With Happy feet you become active and creative.

The health benefits are bountiful

With Happy Feet we have FUN, FITNESS and FRIENDSHIP.

As weather is getting better plan your days to include walks.

Have a buddy system. With that we have two advantages: you are mentally and physically happy and healthy.

When I walk I have a friend/s with me most of the time, it could be friend talking on what’sapp saying I can do it or friend/s walking with me. HFWC moto is Fun, Fitness and Friendship.

Do the walks for you. Adding miles to your mapmywalk or driving with mapmywalk is not what HFWC is about. It all about making us healthy and happy.
Every day I learn a lot from our happy feet members. I try to implement all positive things. That makes me very happy.
I feel happy walking with Vimiji and have learnt a lot from her. Once after our Saturday walk we were driving back home and Vimiji forgot to turn off mapmywalk. She immediately discarded it. She said, “If I save the data, it will be the wrong info. I did not walk that much to add to my miles.”

Remember we are doing walks to be healthy.

The advantages of mapmywalk for me is that it shows my pace, time and miles.

Slowly improving your pace should be your goal.
Don’t worry about the distance, it will follow as you improve your pace.

Make time for your walks.
Many friends have asked me how I can walk so much and don’t I have to take care of my family. My first priority is my family. But if I am not healthy and active then what example am I setting for my kids.

I plan my day. I wake up early to finish cooking and do my house hold work. I used to do all my work by myself and I used to be tired. Now I include my family and its fun. This gives me time for my walks.

Walk walk walk for HEALTHY YOU.

Why use Mapmywalk, I have Fitbit, Pedometer…… and so on are our questions.

There is huge advantage with Mapmywalk.

Here it goes……
First when I joined Happy Feet Walkers Club my Mapmywalk did not work.
So I did not take time to make it work. I just used pedometer for my walks.
With Fitbits and Pedometers, they track every step we take (even all the steps while cooking and going about our daily chores).

At that time I did not understand true meaning of dedicated walks.
Don’t get me wrong here, tracking steps is good. As they say to be healthy we need 10K.  So I kept walking and after a month I did not feel much of a difference.

Then came most distance walked challenge tracking with Mapmywalk.
I uninstalled and reinstalled it did not work.
Went to Nita for help, as she is the walking master of Mapmywalk.
Once I got my mapmywalk going I walked and tracked my miles. I noticed a huge difference.

Steps per day is easy to do… But taking the time to walk that made a huge difference.

I started enjoying the nature. Started to walk at lunch time and during kids’ activities.
Taking time to walk with family and friends.
These dedicated walks is what truly made a difference in my health.

Shubadha, Komal, Jyothi and Yogita started long walks and inspired me to do long walks.

Initially when I started I would walk 2 miles I would be tired.
Now during weekends I walk 8 to 9 miles and I am still ready to go.
Saturday Madhavi and I came to our morning walk with happy feet friends. We went home wanted to walk some more as the day was good. We walked and talked then Sri T joined and we kept going.

I never thought I would walk @ 4am.
Thanks to Mapmywalk challenge, Nita and Vimiji I started to walk in the mornings.
Morning walks are the best. Whole day you are charged.

Once Mapmywalk challenge started I put goal to myself to do 25miles a week and I was able to  achieve it.
Once we were back to steps I became lazy and not doing as much as I could. (I know its winter)

That’s why I am so happy that Mapmywalk challenge is back.

This challenge gets me to walk, track , feel good and look good.

Lost some and gained a lot……

Dear Happy Feet Walkers, stop a second and pat your backs for being part of this awesome club.

As our club slogan says FUN, FITNESS and FRIENDSHIP. Yes we have FUN walking with FRIENDS while attaining FITNESS. For me that is WIN WIN situation.

Since I joined this club I lost something and at the same time gained something……..

Can you guess what they could be?

Yes I lost WEIGHT and gained lots and lots of FRIENDS and HAPPINESS came with it.

Every day when we see our friends walk and submit beautiful collages it motivates me to walk. Recently I went to visit a friend and she said “Kukki, looks like you lost weight.” It made me feel so happy. That’s when it hit me.
With this club I lost weight and gained friends.

Now a days, “its cold” is not an excuse. I am finding ways to walk. If I have time I am looking for ways to walk. We all have busy schedules we are working women. We have work at office, work at home, taking care of kid activities and so on. Earlier I use to drop kids for activities and go groceries or just sit to get rest. After joining club I drop kids at activities and use that time to walk to finish my goal.

Within that also I see a big difference. Improved my pace. Earlier when I walked with my husband I use to struggle to keep up with him now it’s so easy.There are days I feel tired and want to skip my walk and just relax.

Somehow my friends know…

They text or call asking if I want to go for walk. As soon as I hear a friend asking I can’t say no so I get up and go and again I am active. Friends are always so supportive. We have so much fun at Saturday walks. Lot of us don’t know each other. We became so close once we joined Happy Feet Walkers Club.

Thanks to Happy Feet Walkers Club I lost some but gained a lot.

Do you recall those fire drills at work? Walk down all those stairs, get interrupted from work and pretty much get frustrated.

Off late, I actually look forward to these fire drills. Same situation , different perspective. I get the much needed 15 minute break and walk away from work.

Just the other day, my daughter and her friends wanted to go to play in the playground. I asked my son to come walk with me while the girls played and we were able to get a nice long walk. Every mom knows the phrase “5 more mins please”. As we stood there waiting, I suggested that we walk some more. Needless to say my teenager was surprised at my changed personality. No more impatient mamma asking to leave. No more stand around and wait doing nothing mamma.

          Another example was yesterday when I had very long day. Although I was tired, like every working mom, I get excited when I see my kids. When my father-in-law suggested a walk, I took the chance to say yes. After dinner, I opted for another walk with my spouse. So end of the day, I found my relaxation in walking and being with my family instead of potentially sitting on the couch next to them and not really connecting. When I made the collage to send to my Happy Feet friends, I had the smile on my face that Namitha mentions in her post.

Find a way to make walking part of your day. It might be  hard for the first few days.  That’s why we have Happy Feet Walkers Club.

We have such a nice support group. Look for someone in your proximity or comfort zone, reach out to them for a shared walk and you will be surprised they might be in the same boat and appreciate you reaching out.
Once you pass the initial stage you will be surprised to see how you’re thinking of ways to walk like Namitha, Roopa, Pallavi and other friends.

Before Happy Feet Walkers Club, I would look for excuses to escape walking. Now I am looking for ways to walk.

“Coming together is a beginning.
Being together is progress.
Walking together is success.”…

It’s not about “HAVING” time.
It’s about ” MAKING” time.

Happy Feet Walkers Club started the momentum for a lot of people like me.

With this club one gains a lot. Friendship and family time for one.

Many walkers started with a common goal of atleast 10K steps per day. Certain days are harder or more hectic than others and potentially we would have missed the goal on such a day in the past with no guilt or compulsion to make the extra effort. Not anymore, all the Happy Feet Whatsapp messages that trickle in throughout the day urges us to move and meet the goal. Each and every day!!

The messages from other walkers keeps us motivated. Posts about walks completed , kudos from others, beautiful pictures, funny incidents, each little nudge to make our own memories. The club is always reminding you to make the right choices.

In the evening , all my family members walk together and we talk. When you are outside talking you don’t have interpretations. No longer the Television or phone call to distract us from our time together. Eating dinner together as a family is recommended by a lot of experts. In my opinion, walking together is just as great for the family if not more.

Happy Feet even brings families together.