Hey, it’s national “Start Walking Day!”. The American Heart Association has a program called “Start Walking Now” and today is the day it begins for this year.

If you’re American, you can download it here: National Start Walking Day You can’t download it if you’re not American (at least, I couldn’t – if you figure it out, let me know!)

If you’re not American, you can download my freebie on the right and get started with that.

Or, keep it simple, and just head out the door. Hey, it feels like Spring in Calgary (finally!!) That, in itself is worth getting outside and taking a walk for! Can’t waste the beautiful weather – never know when the next snow dump will arrive!

Have a great day walking!!

Darlene

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So, the new year has begun. How are all those resolutions you set? Are you succeeding with any of them?

It’s difficult to succeed in making healthier choices in life. We all know we need to slow down, eat better, exercise more, spend more time with God and our families. Yes, it’s all there in black and white in our heads, but it’s just so hard to walk those choices out.

Over the years as my desperation to change has risen to a fever pitch, I’ve learned a few tricks that have helped me, so I thought I’d share them here in the hopes that they’ll help you, too.

1. One habit at a time – I know your list is long, but choose one habit at a time. If you try to tackle them all, you’ll fail at them all. If you tackle one at a time, you’ll master the ones you work on.
2. Keep it Small – Reduce your goal to the smallest possible steps and tackle one small step per week.

So, here are some ideas you might try:

Getting in shape: Let me suggest that you buy a pedometer instead of a gym membership. Measure your steps normally for a week, find your daily average, and increase that daily average the next week by 100 steps. Continue to increase your daily average week by week. When you’re up to a couple thousand add an easy, refreshing 10-minute walk. Increase the walk by 10 minutes every month. Once you hit 60 minutes, increase your speed.

Eating better: Don’t buy the latest diet book, simply start breakfast with a selection of fresh fruit, begin lunch with a bowl of vegetable soup (broth based) and dinner with a large tossed salad. Each week drink one more glass of water a day until you’ve reached a minimum of 8 glasses. Once you’ve mastered that, start eliminating the bad stuff – but keep one day a week as a splurge day.

Spending more time with my family: Instead of instigating something like a family night out of the blue, make a choice to stop, turn, and look when your child speaks to you – in other words, practice listening. Then start asking questions about things they like to do. Participate wherever you’re invited. Soon the family times take care of themselves.

Improving my relationship with God: I don’t think most of us need another study, a new prayer system, a new Bible, or a program. I would simply recommend a journal, a pen, and some time. As in the above goal, start with listening. It might be pretty quiet for a while, but God is speaking, and if we learn to hear Him, the rest falls into place.

These probably sound ridiculously simple, but I think you’ll find if you start here, doors will open up, and new possibilities will present themselves.

If this is the kind of thing you’re looking for to reach those resolutions, download my free, 8-week “Introduction to Praisewalking” ebook over there on the right, and get started!

Try it and see! Keep me posted on how it works for you!

Darlene

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Do you have an active lifestyle?  How do you determine that?

Can you be “active” when you spend most of the day sitting at a desk?

Does going to the gym for an hour 3x a week qualify?

There are many definitions for “active” and they’re not that easy to measure.  There is one fairly accurate measurement, though, and that is the number of steps you take each day.

According to Dr. Yoshiro Hatano, a Kinesiology professor in Japan who has researched the benefits of walking, and monitoring steps walked with pedometers, for years, the “magic number” seems to be about 10,000 steps – or the equivalent of walking about 5 miles a day.

So how many steps do you take each day?  Do you know?

On days (like today) where I spend the majority of my time on the computer writing and researching, I take around 2000 steps.  Not very many!  On days where I’m working at Gymboree I take about 6,000 – a tough workout to be sure as I climb on the various bits of apparatus and dance with kids all day – but not enough.  On days were I actually follow through on my walking program in addition to everything else, I easily reach 10,000.

I wouldn’t want you to strap on a pedometer today and just go for those 10,000 steps without preparation, though.  You’ll burn out in less than a week, and your pedometer will be relegated to the ever-growing pile of unused fitness equipment.

What you need to do is strap that puppy on, and just “live normally” for a week without worrying about it.  Every night before you go to bed, record your steps.  That’s it.  If you miss a day, don’t worry about it.  Start again the next day.

At the end of the week, tally up all your steps, and divide by the number of days you measured.  That’s your daily average.

Now, beginning the next week, attempt to add 100 steps to that daily average each day.  So, if your daily average was 1750 (because you spend most of your work day in a cubicle and most of your evenings in front of the TV) try, in week 2, to take a daily average of 1850 steps.  A small improvement, but very achievable.  Achieving it will make you feel great, and motivate you to keep going.

The trick is to make sure that that 1850 is a daily goal.  Don’t sit on your butt all day for 6 days and then walk 20 miles on the weekend.  What you want is a steady, active pace, each and every day.

Try it out.  Tell me how it goes.  Post your questions and challenges below in the comments section, and I’ll get right on them!

Don’t forget about our “N.A.V.Y” challenge” happening over on Facebook! Sign up for free and invite your friends along!

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Here we are with the final free installment of my Total Body Radiance Program! I hope you’ve enjoyed it and that it’s been a help to you for getting yourself on a solid path to total wellness.

In case you missed the previous free lessons, check them out here:

• Lesson 1
• Lesson 2
• Lesson 3

And here’s lesson 4:

Lesson 4

Ok, almost finished our first month! Well done!

Here’s this week’s video to get you started:

Don’t forget to take your measurements and record them on your chart! I’m also giving you a special, unadvertised bonus report that will help you with different ideas for increasing your steps again this week.

This week we also add spirituality. We are going to apply the concept of “breath prayers” to our breathing exercises. These prayers are simple, and yet they carry an amazing power behind them. I challenge you to try them out and see what happens! I explain my views on spirituality and how that applies to you (even if you differ from my way of living) in the lesson. It’s important that you read it before you get into the habits of this week.

We are also learning from Dee about eating more raw food (don’t worry, we won’t turn you into rabbits!) and give you ideas on how to manage that simply.

So, without further ado, here are your downloads for the week:

	Lesson 4 E-book
	Free Report: Increase Your Steps
	Lesson 4 mp3 Recording
	Breath Prayer Practice mp3
	Breath Prayer Daily Exercise (to be used once you are comfortable with the breathing technique and the breath prayers on the previous mp3).

And there you have it!

For those of you who are interested in understanding more about my own faith choice, here are some fabulous books I can recommend (note: it’s NOT about religion, “church”, systems, restrictions, and condemnation, contrary to popular belief!). If you want to read these, I would suggest you read them in the order I’ve presented them below – left to right.

So, we’re now at the end of our first month. I’m sure it was MUCH slower than you anticipated, but I hope it was so slow that you’ve developed really good habits that will form the foundation for a slim and healthy future! The key habits from our first month will enable us to move much more quickly in this next month, and see much stronger results from our efforts while still building on habits that are easy to keep.

What’s coming up next month? Here’s a sneak peek:

1. We’ll start an actual walking routine – nice and easy! Believe me, you won’t have ANY trouble fitting it in! (week 6)
2. I’ll show you how to calculate your true ideal body weight so you know what you’re aiming for (Week 5)
3. I’ll show you how to use all those fat stores as your primary energy source to not only give you endless energy, but also to help it drop from your body faster than you imagined! And we’ll train your body to use fat even when you’re NOT exercising! (Week 5-10)
4. Some incredibly powerful and fun tools for keeping you on track – including a competition! (Week 6-9)
5. Great tools and meditations for shifting your prevailing thought patterns from destructive to constructive (Week 7)
6. Nutritionally we’ll talk about water, rainbows, portions, and a cool food group that hinders your body from taking on calories and forces it to burn more fat.
7. We have an unannounced bonus for you – we’ll introduce you to a wonderful tool that will help you get energized, heal, focus, relax – and just about anything else you need to do to live a full and vibrant life! (Week 5)

Have a great week!

Darlene

***Note: this is the last lesson you’ll receive for free.

If you’d like to continue to experience total wellness through Total Body Radiance,

please click the button below and set up your

7-month subscription at $37/month***

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Over the past couple of weeks I’ve been offering you a free lesson from my Total Body Radiance Program.  Today I’m offering you week 3.  In case you missed the first two, you can find them here:

• Lesson 1
• Lesson 2

Here’s week three for you!

Lesson 3

Here we are already at lesson three! How are you feeling?

We’ve got more great stuff for you this week, so let’s jump right in.

First of all, don’t forget to weigh and measure yourself, and record it on your chart. You might be noticing some slight changes already. Not big ones yet, but they will get bigger and bigger as we start making more important shifts in your everyday lifestyle. If you are noticing changes, please share them in the comments section below. If you’re not, hang in there, it’s coming!

As a special unadvertised bonus this week, I’m including an interview with Pam Grout, breathing coach, and author of “Jumpstart Your Metabolism: How To Lose Weight By Changing The Way You Breathe“. Let her wisdom and experience inspire you to practice great breathing skills.

You also get a recipe from Dee McCaffrey for a second tonic that will bring you another few steps closer to VIBRANT health.

And just for fun, I found this very cool motivational tip for those of you who need a bit of an extra push, and like to crochet!

So, download the lesson and the bonuses, and head into yet another great week!

	Lesson 3 E-book
	Lesson 3 Transformation Journal
	Woolly Motivation!
	Lesson 3 mp3 Recording
	Interview with Pam Grout
	Introduction to Good Breathing practice mp3 Recording

And that’s it for this week!

So, what’s coming next week?

1. Step one in turning fitness into a meditative practice – accomplish two things at once!
2. A great resource that will help you find creative ways to boost your daily steps
3. The secret to getting quickly focused and grounded every day, and every time you feel stress or overwhelm. This secret will help you grow spiritually and emotionally, as well.
4. Learning about the joys and benefits of raw food (don’t worry, we won’t be turning you into rabbits!)

Have a great week! Remember if you have questions or concerns (or even triumphs!!) please post them below so we can all benefit!

Here’s to Total Body Radiance!

Darlene

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Last week on my birthday I gave you the first lesson of my 8-month “Total Body Radiance” program as a special gift.  Today I offer you week two of that program:

Lesson 2

Congratulations on finishing your first week!

We have lots of great stuff in store for you for this next week, so watch the video, download the lesson and the special report, and let’s get started!

First of all, don’t forget to weigh and measure yourself, and record it on your chart. If you like techy things and have an iPod Touch or an iPhone, I can recommend these two apps that you can use instead of your chart (thought they are missing some of the “brain re-training” stuff from the Transformation Journal, so please continue to use this tool)

This week you’ll set a “base line” for your fitness so you can measure your progress. You’ll also learn about a “morning elixir” that will help you quickly dissolve that “spare tire” around your middle, and you’ll discover a cool trick to help you understand “full” – when have you really had enough food?

Here are your lessons and special report for this week:

	Lesson 2 mp3 recording
	Lesson 2 E-book
	Lesson 2 Transformation Journal
	Special Report: Celebrate Your Victories

If you find yourself really struggling with emotional eating, here are two excellent resources for you:

1. For those of you with a Christian belief system try “The Lord’s Table“: This FREE 60-Day interactive course that will teach you to enjoy a newfound relationship with the Lord and how to find freedom from bad eating habits. It is possible, and you can learn how. Simply do this alongside “Total Body Radiance”
2. If you prefer a non-religious program, check out “Shrink Yourself” This is a paid program.

What’s coming next week?

1. A second tonic that reduces cravings and blood sugar spikes, and improves absorption of nutrition from your food!
2. Turning an everyday habit into a real-fat burner
3. Surprise interview!

In preparation for next week you’ll need to get yourself a bottle of raw unfiltered apple cider vinegar. Please don’t get the cheap, standard apple cider vinegar – it won’t be helpful!

And that’s it for this week! Remember, if you have any questions or concerns, please post them in the comments section below so everyone can benefit from the answers.

Here’s to Total Body Radiance!

Darlene

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Who is Darlene Hull? Click here: www.darlenehull.com to find out!

I have a present for you in honour of my birthday today!

This is the last birthday before the “biggie”!  The good news is that while my Chronological age is 49, RealAge puts me at 41.7 and I’m on a constant track to improve.  In reality, I’m getting younger every year!  LOL!

As many of you know, I’ve become a passionate walker over the past couple of years, and in this last year I’ve been researching nutrition, strength and flexibility.  My research has had me team up with a few amazing people to help me achieve my goals, and together with this team I’ve created a holistic health program called “Total Body Radiance” that includes walking, nutrition, strength and flexibility training, and also works on your mental, emotional, and spiritual health.  The goal is to train you over a period of 8 months to make easy but highly efficient shifts in your everyday lifestyle that will bring you permanent changes.  At the end of the 8 months everything will be in place so you’ll never have to count calories, pay gym fees, or worry about your health.  You will be doing everything you can to automatically live the healthiest lifestyle you’re capable of living.

For the next four weeks I’m going to be posting the first four lessons for free so you can check it out!

Here’s lesson one:

Lesson 1

Welcome to Total Body Radiance! I’m so glad you’ve opted to join us, and it’s our goal to make this the most user-friendly, family friendly, efficient and effective health program on the market. Feel free to give us your feedback and suggestions and we’ll just keep improving this as we go along! For all questions, concerns or comments please send an e-mail to darlene@totalbodyradiance.com or (better yet) post them in the comments section of each week’s lesson – that way everyone benefits!

So, let’s jump right in, shall we?

Let me apologize for the length of this lesson and the amount of information. This is the hardest week of the whole program, and the only week it will be this complicated, but we’re trying to get everyone on the same page and set up in an organized fashion. Please just bear with us this week, and I promise the rest will be MUCH easier!

This week is sort of a “set up” week. I’m going to suggest that you spend 15 minutes a day tackling the to-do list below. If you’re easily overwhelmed, totally disorganized, and absolutely hate detail, do the following:

Checklist and Skim Method:

1. Print off the Lesson 1 PDF
2. Go right to the end of the lesson, read the checklist for the week’s activities. Skim the e-book for details on anything there you don’t fully understand.
3. Print off and complete the Transformation Journal every day

“Go For it All” Method:

Day 1 (Today!)

1. Watch the video
2. Grab your calendar and schedule 15 minutes a day, every day for the next week.
3. Now schedule an hour a week to set up each of the coming weeks – time to print, file, schedule, etc.
4. Decide on a day at least 8 days from now when you will “kick off” this program. So, if you received your lesson today and today’s Tuesday, and you like to start new things on Saturday, schedule your next “set up hour” between Tuesday and Saturday of next week. That way, on Saturday you’re ready to go, with everything in place. Make your set up time the same time every week. You probably won’t need an hour to get it done, but just in case…

Day 2:

1. Print off everything below and get them filed in a binder in some systematic way that makes sense to you and makes everything easy to find:

2. 	The Radiance Questionnaire
   	Weight/Measurement Chart
   	Special Report: The Eight Traits of Emotional Hunger
   	Total Body Radiance Lesson 1 E-Book
   	Total Body Radiance Lesson 1 Transformation Journal

   If you’re going to buy your pedometer online, do that today (please read this before you purchase one).

Day 3

1. Download the following mp3 recording and get it on your listening device. Try and listen to it as you go about your business today.

Lesson 1 mp3 recording

Day 4

1. Read through Lesson 1 (even if you listened to it all yesterday. This will solidify the information in your mind/memory and help you take stock of what you might have missed).
2. Schedule your “Hunger Discovery Days (after your first “Start Date”, so if today is Tuesday and you want to really get this started on Saturday, schedule your days somewhere between this Saturday and next Saturday)
3. Schedule the day you’re going to go shopping for your pedometer if you want to buy it in person (recommended, as you never know how long shipping will take).

Day 5

1. Fill out your Radiance Questionnaire. This is a fairly long and detailed questionnaire, but no one will see it but you. Take time to do it well, but don’t agonize over your answers. You need to fill this out, seal it in an envelope with “month 1” written on the front, and then just keep it in your binder. I’ll tell you what to do with it later
2. Set up what you need (pencil, chart, measuring tape) to take your measurements tomorrow morning first thing, after you use the toilet, before breakfast, no clothes on. Hang the chart where you’ll see it.

Day 6

1. Work on your Life Transformation Group – Write up a list of who you’d like to invite for coffee, or connect with on a deeper level. Make sure you have their contact information, and set up some apppointments – either all of them together, or just one on one – for sometime next week. If you’re not great with people, here are two excellent resources to help you move forward in that area:
   

Now, let me give you a bit of an overview of the program itself so you’ll know what to expect. There are a number of people involved here.

The main driving force comes from my own program “PraiseWalking” which is a method of walking and meditation. I’ll show you how to use walking as a form of excellent fitness, as well as meditation. When you finish your daily walks you’ll feel focused, energized, and calm. I’ll also train you to walk in such a way that your body automatically burns fat instead of sugar to fuel your day so you’ll have MUCH more energy.

To this we have the privilege of adding the principles and recipes from “Plan-D: The Amazing Anti-Diet” specifically adapted to this program. Dee McCaffrey will train us to eat well using simple habits that will transform the way we think about food, jump start our metabolism, and boost our energy level. Her recipes and habits are designed with busy moms and picky kids in mind.

We also have a couple of guest appearances, people who have different areas of expertise that will enhance what you’ll be learning here. You’ll meet these people later.

Each week will give you one to three very small assignments. I can already tell you that you will be frustrated by the fact that the habits we are asking you to master are so small. You’re used to programs promising huge results in very little time, but if you remember what happens after those programs are over, you’ll also remember that it took too much will-power to keep them going, or they were too unhealthy to practice long-term, so you quit, stopped, gave up, and then gained the weight back.

This program is different. You receive tiny assignments that hopefully have you reacting with “That’s IT?!” but I promise that if you are faithful to turn each task into a habit, you’ll never diet again, and your fitness routine will be as natural as breathing. Each assignment comes with clear teaching so you really understand the “why” of it, and it will come with lots of ideas for creatively making that task a part of your every day life.

At the end of 8 months, you won’t need us anymore. You’ll be on your own, strong, fit, and with all the tools and motivation you’ll need to keep up the hard work without strenuous self-discipline or deprivation

What’s coming next week?

1. Learn the best way to start your morning
2. Understanding “Full”
3. Tricks to keep yourself motivated

Also, in preparation for next week, please purchase a few lemons and a couple of extra ice-cube trays!

And that’s it for this week! Can’t wait for you to join us next week where we really get started!

Here’s to Total Body Radiance!

Darlene Hull

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So, I thought I’d try something new (lol! – I’m ALWAYS trying something new!) Circumstances are currently such that a part time job is advisable. I have a couple of things in the works, but I’m a big believer living in your gifts, rather than just “getting a job”.

So, while I wait to see the outcome of a couple of very interesting positions I’ve applied for, I decided I would also set up a couple of walking clubs, and see what happens.

Interested? Want to come walking with me?

The clubs will meet twice a week for some teaching/training and about a 3 km walk. We’ll be meeting at the Scenic Acres Community Centre, and there are three options: one morning option for moms and kids, and two evening options for “kidless” walks.  Each “course” will run 8 weeks

You can get the details here: www.PraiseWalking.com

Hopefully everything works properly on the site. Do let me know if there’s a problem.

Hope to see you there!

Happy Walking!

Darlene

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I’ve been participating regularly in the “10,000 Steps” community over the past couple of months. They have some fun and motivating ways to keep you walking, one if which is the “Million Steps Challenge”. Every Time you log 1,000,000 steps they send you a certificate. I got mine on the 16th. My next one is due in December.

It’s kind of fun! Check them out :”10,000 Steps“

Darlene

HAPPY CANADA DAY!

Jenolan Caves to Hill End
Your Blue Mountains journey begins in Jenolan Caves. Jenolan Caves is home to the oldest discovered open caves in the world, approximately discovered in 1835-49, featuring numerous Silurian marine fossils and calcite formations. From Jenolan Caves walk to Gulgong a gold rush town which was founded in the 1870s and then on to Mudgee in the Cudgegong River valley, which is now a wine producing region. From Mudgee continue on to Hill End which was established in the 1850s as a gold rush town. Hill End is also classified as a historical site by the National Parks and Wildlife Service.

The GREAT NEWS is that you can join me, because I’m only walking “virtually” using this very cool website:

You just create an account (choose to join the step log on the bottom left), then go to the “I-challenge” link, and sign up at whatever level you’re comfortable at.  With the training I’m currently doing, I’m going for the second level.  I should be able to accomplish that.  Then get yourself a pedometer and get walking.  Every day log your steps and the rest is done for you.

Pretty cool, eh?

So sign up, find me as a friend on there, and we can walk together.

Happy Walking, Happy Canada Day!

Darlene

PS: I’m still looking for sponsors for my walk on the 5th of June – can you help? Just click the badge below and you’ll go right to my page