The Walking Diet: Walk Back to Fitness in 30 Days

Snowdon and Humphreys mean to bring dieting down to earth, where they believe that almost anyone can face it. By linking healthful changes in eating habits with prescribed exercise in walking, they want to simplify the challenge of fitness and make it more practical. And their book mostly does this. ``If you are not exercising aerobically using some form of whole body continuous movement . . . for 30 minutes at least three to four times a week, then by definition, you are sedentary,'' they note, and a few bouts with a racket, a club, or a ball will not solve that. Regular walking can. The authors explain how best to do it and outline a month-long plan of exercise and low-fiber, low-fat menus, allowing for occasional backsliding. They also suggest warm-up strategies and ways of fooling with the mind for greater freedom and productivity (``inner walking'') in walking meditation. Not everyone will be equipped or ready to approach Zen consciousness and exercise at the same time, but even if not, there is good advice, concisely given, to follow here. (Sept.)