Who's doing the walking challenge?
 

I am! I got the info at my meeting last night. Walking isn't usually my exercise of choice but we're planning a trip to Disney World in June so I think walking is a fantastic way to prepare for that, since I'll be on my feet all day there. I still needed a little bit of motivation in order to become a regular walker, so this is perfect. Who else is doing it? We should support each other all the way through June 6, the day of the 5k!

I would love to! I plan on starting today. I need the extra support to stay motivated!! Pleaaaase count me in!!! Have a great weekend.

I am! I just joined on Thursday night and my deal with myself is that I'm going to just totally submit to the plan. If WW says walk 12 minutes, I'm walking 12 minutes. So I am SO IN.

I would like to find an actual 5k in my area to walk on that weekend, but so far...well, we'll see.

I am!! It's the perfect time for me since I'll be coming back from Japan on June 2. This will be the perfect exercise to get me to recover from jetlag. I'll be doing this 5k in Central Park. Best of luck everyone!! :)

I have long term goal of doing a marathon, so this half-marathon walking challenge seems like a good way to push myself. Today I walked/jogged 4 miles, it's been a long long time since I've done that. After today, 13 miles seems more doable. I think I need to stick with walking in the beginning instead of jogging, it's a bit too much for me right now.

Yay, I have co-walkers!

I started on Friday, but I was alone with my toddlers that night and I was too tired to drag out the double stroller and go out for a walk with them (we have huge hills right outside our door), so I just did free step on Wii Fit for a half hour. I was so proud of myself for doing something that night, rather than just laying on the couch because I didn't go for a true walk. It was actually pretty cool, I wore my pedometer and it registered almost exactly the number of steps the Wii registered.

Saturday I walked around the park near our house. I had 32 minutes according to my pedometer. Good deal!

And here's the really cool thing...yesterday was the rest day but I used that to do a weight routine I got out of Prevention magazine.

I don't know what my deal is, I actually got into exercise before and it became a habit and I liked it! I'm with you Nicole, sometimes it's good to just submit to the plan until hopefully, it just becomes a habit. (Although I do need to be careful to avoid all-or-nothing thinking, which is a real problem when I try to commit to something for the long-term).

How is everyone else doing?

I would love to participate in this. I have been wanting to do a 5k for a long time, but can't bring myself to start running yet, so a walk would be great :) Where could I find information about this since I don't go to meetings?

BethMichelle, have you tried looking at Weight Watchers online? The basic idea is that you walk 5 times a week for 6 weeks (the two rest days are like the 3rd and 6th day of each week, I believe). For the first week you are encouraged to walk 10 minutes, then build up to 12, etc., until the final week when you are doing about 45 minutes, culminating in a 5K on June 6. They say that of course you can walk more than 10 minutes to start if you are able to, but to start with 10 minutes if that is all you can do.

As far as finding an actual event, you again could look online and try to find one near you, or you can just find a 5K route and do an unofficial walk. I don't know of any events around where I live, but we're talking about getting something going for local WW members.

So, last night was date night with DH and we walked for 84 minutes, and my pedometer says 8874 steps. That's like 4 miles! It would have been a perfect night if say, I didn't drink wine before walking, we didn't eat at Subway, and then we didn't hit a bar where I had some beer--too much beer. But I think all that beer helped motivate me because after drinking, that is when we walked about 3 of the 4 miles.

I might as well be on board with this!
 

I am walking on the treadmill most days anyway. Hoping I can find some kind of walking event in my area.

I'm doing it, too, and I'm 68 years old. I love walking. And I sure want the 5K charm for my key chain.

I'll be walking the 5k on June 6. I won't get my e-tools code until my next @ work meeting. But I need the motivation to do something like this. Its not that I can't walk 3.1 miles, its that I don't like to.

feeling motivated
 

I liked writing down the miles I walked when I weighed in. Although it was quite a bit less than most of the people it still made me feel good that I could contribute somehow. They total all the miles everyone walked the previous week and say them during the meeting. I'm hoping to walk 6 miles this week, I'm still early in my weight loss. Today I walked 1.5 miles.

Unbelievable there's no 5K event in my area
 

:?:
I'm not far from Philadelphia, so it's difficult to believe that no one has organized anything here. Boo hiss!

Nevertheless, I am walking anyway, so I might as well be a part of the "challenge." I get on the treadmill most weekdays, and today I will be walking at lunch too.

Yep! There aren't any local 5K planned in my area, so I will mapping out my own to start and end at my back door!

Do those that have signed up for WW online get these 5K charms mentioned here?

How is everyone doing? I am enjoying it. I walked for 45 minutes last night, and the funny thing is that on my way home from work I was dreading it. I was trying to think of excuses not to walk. But thanks to wanting to stay committed to the program I gave myself a chance to relax and get some dinner, then eventually felt up for it. Then once I got going it was so nice out, I was loving the time alone with my iPod, and I didn't want to stop! I'm so thankful to WW for doing this challenge and gently pushing me to exercise more. I am hoping exercise is finally a real habit for me by the time of the 5K so I can just keep going.