I found my diary from 2001 when I first started using walking for weight loss and here is one entry that reminded me of something important…
I now have my plan of how I will increase my walking in distance and time over the next few months.

I am walking 13.5 miles 21.72 kilometres in 2-3 hours

10,000 steps is 5 miles (so I read) 8.047 kilometres

To make sure I walk enough steps so I am completely ready for my walk let’s say I am walking 15 miles (makes it easier to work out too!)

That’s a total of 30,000 steps in one day.

On Wednesday I managed to walk 15,000 (I will write up the week’s total in another post)

Here’s the actual plan

Until the end of April – walk 15,000 or more steps a day (focusing on increasing distance)

May – walk 15,000 in the morning and evening (focusing on distance not time)

June – walk 15,000 in the morning and evening (focusing on time and decreasing the amount of time it takes)

July until the day of the walk (24th) – keep walking 30,000 a day and increasing my time

So that’s it in total. My walking for weight loss plan.

The key here is that I had a plan. I don’t actually remember managing to do all of that and I believe I adjusted it as I went along but that’s the thing with plans – they don’t have to be set in stone. You can increase them, change them or throw them out and start again as long as you have one! Of course you don’t want to always plan then change then plan then change – that is just disheartening and being able to create and stick to a plan is the best feeling in the world but I don’t want you to set your sights too low for fear of failing.

If you are going to use walking for weight loss you need a solid plan