Contact Your Guide - Walking
Email to Your Guide: Like all the Guides at About.com, I'm a real person. You can email me at walking.guide@about.com but be advised that I cannot give you personalized training advice or advice on injuries.
Post Questions to the Walking Forum for a Response
I check the Walking Forum regularly, and we have many wonderful, supportive regulars who have excellent experience and might give you advice. Post your questions or comments and you'll get input from a variety of voices.
F.A.Q.
- Q. Can I lose weight by walking?
- A. Walking is a great part of a weight loss program. To lose weight, most experts recommend both a reduced calorie diet and exercise. By doing both, you lose fat but maintain or build healthy lean muscle. See how to walk for weight control.
- Q. Why haven't I lost weight by walking?
- A. You must eat fewer calories each day than you burn off in order to lose weight. See my Calories per Day Calculator and my Walking Calories Calculator. At first, you may gain muscle as you lose fat and just see the difference in the way your clothes fit. But if you've been exercising regularly and not losing weight, you need to analyze your eating habits as well. See my Walk of Life Program.
- Q. Is walking good for you?
- A. Yes! Medical studies keep showing that walking, even just 30 minutes a day can benefit your heart, increase your lifespan, and help you control your weight, diabetes, prevent other disease and improve your mood. Visit our Health Benefits of Walking articles and our Injuries and Health articles for details.
- Q. How do I get started?
- A. Put on your shoes and go out the door, or into a safe walking environment, or onto a treadmill. Start by walking 15 minutes at an easy pace. Increase your time by 5 minutes each day, walking at least every other day. By the time you have built up to walking comfortably for an hour, try increasing your speed. See How to Walk for Absolute Beginners.
- Q. Can you coach me?
- A. I do not give personalized training advice - either online or in person. I have general training programs available here, which you can use and modify to your own situation. See my online walking programs and my email training courses for beginners, half-marathon, marathon, and weight loss walking.
- Q. Can you help me with this pain or injury I have?
- A. I can help you by pointing you to the Injury and Health articles, which I have reported from reputable sources. They tell you how to prevent injury and when to seek treatment. I advise you to see your medical provider or call your local Advice Nurse line. I am a medical technologist, not a doctor or nurse. I use a microscope, not a stethoscope. DO NOT send me your list of symptoms and ask for a diagnosis. I've had my fair share of injuries but can only kiss your boo boo.
- Q. Can you advise me in training to walk a half-marathon or marathon?
- A. I am an RRCA certified marathon coach and have walked several marathons and a large number of half-marathons. I have a full online tutorial about training for and walking distance events, including schedules, what to eat and drink and wear and how to walk on race day. These are also available as weekly email courses. Marathon and Half Marathon Training for Walkers
- Q. Can you tell me how to racewalk or walk faster?
- A. See How to Walk Faster if you just want to speed up and/or do basic powerwalking. If you want to learn Olympic-style racewalking, see our How to Racewalk tutorial written by racewalking coach Judy Heller of Erofit.
- Q. Can you announce my walking event?
- A. I prefer you to announce it yourself on our Walking Forum. I prefer to list only annual, repeating events in my list of walking events. I may feature your event in my homepage blog after you post it in the Walking Forum.
- Q. Can I write articles for you?
- A. No. The policy as of 2007 is that all articles must be authored by the Guide. You may send me story ideas and provide interview subjects.