The‘ exercise causes weight loss’ myth 99 any parent knows, ask them two hours later and all you will get is that time honored answer,‘ Good’.‘ What happened today?’‘ Nothin.’ As the average step length can be considered to be around 0.66 or two-thirds of a metre, walking 9000 steps a day is the same as walking 6 kilometres. Six kilometres is a good hour of DE brisk walking. You will find that with not too much difficulty you can‘ hide’ these 6 kilometres in a day in a way that goes unnoticed. After you have either doubled your step count or hit 21,000 steps over three days, try to hit 30,000 steps over three days. I get my clients to look at habits they can get into that bring their step count up to this sort of level over three to six months. As we discussed in Chapter 2, think about what kind of strategic structures you might need to put in place to create these kinds of habits. Note this timeframe of three to six months. You will notice that this is the opposite of what most people start out doing and what most advice suggests. Do not expect to be able to maintain even 21,000 steps over three days for the long-term if you have not got your strategic structures in place. Perhaps the most powerful strategic structure to put in place is organizing your day so that you can walk part of your way to or from work or your children’ s school. I should finish though by saying that everyone should try more vigorous kinds of DE such as gym workouts, aerobic / hiphop dance classes and jogging. The reason is that some people find that they enjoy these forms of activity. Finding the motivation to exercise is much easier if you find the experience enjoyable in and of itself. If you are really lucky, you might be one of those who experience a‘ runners high’ with jogging. This is when you experience a narcotic like state from your endorphins without the expense or the fear of prosecution that goes with the narcotics! If you can manage it, the best time to walk, or even do DE, is in the evening, for two reasons – the‘ double whammy’. First, this is when we are most likely to eat. Most people consume 80 % of their daily calories between afternoon tea and bedtime. Exercising rather than eating is the