Top 10 Books for the Walk of Life Program

1. "Dieting For Dummies"

Filled with tips on developing healthy eating and exercise habits. This is a down-to-earth guide to assessing weight loss needs, establishing a healthy and real body image, and designing a plan that's right for you. Author Jane Kirby, R.D. and the experts at the ADA focus on lifetime weight management - not yo-yo diets that don't work. Paperback.

2. "Fitness Walking for Dummies"

"Fitness Walking for Dummies" is not just for dummies, but its easy-to-use style makes it perfect for fitness walkers of all levels from those who want to stroll around the block to those who want to do high intensity walk training. However, the book stops short of racewalk technique and training for long distance such as the marathon.

3. "Shapewalking : Six Easy Steps to a Healthier Life"

"Shapewalking : Six Easy Steps to a Healthier Life" bills itself as a starter kit, it has just what a beginner needs to start a walking program, or a seasoned walker to use to structure their walking program for better results. ShapeWalking combines three elements for a total fitness program: fitness walking for the aerobic/heart-healthy component, Resistance-Strength Training with non-latex bands to build muscle, and flexibility stretching to increase your range of motion.

4. "Lowfat Cooking for Dummies"

Over 150 tasty easy-to-prepare recipes for brown-bag lunches, Sunday brunches, dinner parties, and more. Understanding labels, trimming the fat in your favorite dishes, jazzing up the flavor with herbs and spices. Paperback.

5. "The Complete Guide to Walking For Health, Fitness and Weight Loss"

A 52-week plan to increase energy, reduce stress, improve mood and permanently lose weight.

6. "Great Shape: The First Fitness Guide for Large Women"

The emphasis is on having fun and enjoying your body. Describes activities and the special needs larger women face while exercising, such as supportive bras and sturdy shoes.

7. "Kathy Smith's Walkfit for a Better Body"

Exercise program to balance muscle strength and flexibility, increase body awareness, improve energy level, and more.

8. "The Step Diet"

The Step Diet guides readers to increase their daily activity and decrease their food portions to achieve a new lifestyle that lets them lose weight and keep it off for life. It is easy to read and uses simple rules of thumb for its principles, as well as more detailed tables. The book comes with a step counting pedometer - simple and fairly accurate. Author James O. Hill, Ph.D. is a co-founder of the National Weight Control Registry and knows what methods work for longterm weight loss.

9. "The South Beach Diet"

The South Beach Diet was developed by cardiologist Arthur Agatston, MD, it is based on re-educating the palate and body to appropriate carbohydrates and fats. In doing so, it lowers the bad cholesterol and in many cases reduces body fat.

10. "Manpo-kei: Art and Science of Step Counting"

Why and how to use a step-counting pedometer to add more activity into your busy day, without necessarily adding long walking sessions.