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" Follow busy mom Kathy as she tries to slim down. Don&amp;#039;t miss her weigh-ins and her ups and downs following Ellie Krieger&amp;#039;s 12-week plan, Small Changes, Big Results.  While I&amp;#039;m still dealing with my back injury and I&amp;#039;m not exactly running laps to drop the pounds just yet, I would be cheating you if I didn&amp;#039;t talk about Ellie&amp;#039;s thoughts on running for fitness and weight loss. &amp;quot;Many walkers are happy continuing to walk for fitness,&amp;quot; she says. &amp;quot;They make their walks more challenging by increasing their speed or distance, or add hills or inclines to work harder.&amp;quot; Others, she says, get bitten by the running bug and decide they&amp;#039;d like to try jogging or running instead of walking all the time. Running is more demanding, physically, than walking, of course. But it you&amp;#039;ve been steadily increasing your exercise level over these past 10 weeks, you should be ready for a new challenge, Ellie says. (Of course, with every exercise plan, you&amp;#039;ll want to check with your doctor before starting.) Ready to start?  Ellie suggests beginning by walking a bit to warm up. After 5 or 10 minutes, being to run slowly for a minute or so. Then walk for a minute until you catch your breath. Run again for a minute, then walk for a minute. Maintain this routine for 30 minutes. When you run, your head should be up, your chest lifted, arms relaxed at your sides. Don&amp;#039;t let your head and shoulders hang forward as you tire; maintain proper posture. Try to run heel to toe (where your heel strikes the ground first, then you roll onto your toes to push off), Ellie recommends. And try to make your steps light. If you&amp;#039;re &amp;quot;slapping&amp;quot; the ground, try to lighten it up a bit. &amp;quot;Depending on how you feel, you can increase your running sessions from 1:1 (running 1 minute, walking 1 minute) to 2:1 (running 2 minutes, walking 1 minute) and so on&amp;quot; as you become more fit, Ellie says. Work up to 20 to 30 minutes of easy running time. As for me, I&amp;#039;m planning on increasing my walking today. I may be a bit behind the book as far as making progress with exercise, but I&amp;#039;ll get there!  Are you running as part of your weight-loss plan? How is it working for you? Share your stories in &amp;quot;Comments.&amp;quot;  \u2014 Kathy Sena "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.womansday.com/life/a41075/step-it-up-6520/>