One of the better journals out there
I like this journal. It is made to look at your progress in a more positive manner than most. Leslie Sansone really knows who her market is and uses this journal as a continuation of her workout series. In saying that if you are simply walking outside this is a great journal as well. If you're simply getting up and walking a mile today - good for you - better than sitting on your butt! Yeah it's not a lot, but some days that's all I have in me - the 1 Mile Jog - start to finish in 16 minutes is great!. I couldn't believe that I walked 50 miles in December! I was shocked - it didn't seem like I did much, but looking back at the journal - sure enough I did - which meant I got to buy those cool new walking shoes I wanted. The deal with myself - new shoes when I reach 50 miles. Wooo whoo!

To quote Leslie - "I'm an athlete, I'm a mother of 3"

Can Be Useful
Designed for people who use walking as their main form of exercise, "The Essential Walker's Journal" has several parts. The first part explains how to use the journal. The second part asks users to write down their dreams. Next is a space to write down statistics such as weight, dress size, and cholesterol so that users can compare their stats before and after they start their exercise program. Next is a brief section on exercise, fitness, and nutrition. The next section is the journal itself, which is the largest section in the book. The journal is based on a four-month exercise program and there is a page for each day of the week, except for Sunday. Each page is full of useful information to be filled out, such as what you eat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, how far you walked, how much water you drank, and how many hours you slept. There is also a section titled "A Beautiful Thing" where users can write something good that happened during the day and a space at the end titled "Notes" where users can write down anything they want. At the end of each month there is a progress report section. At the end of the book is a section titled "Four Month Wrap-Up" with a series of questions designed to help users realize how far they've come in their exercise program and help them plan future exercise programs. Interspersed throughout the book are several testimonials from people that have lost weight and improved their health through Leslie Sansone's walking programs.

For the most part "The Essential Walker's Journal" was pretty useful. I like being able to track what I eat and drink each day, although there's not enough space to write it all down. It would be nice if I could keep track of how many calories I consume each day. Although the journal entries are dated Monday through Saturday, I ignore that and just put the date down. Since the journal is geared towards walkers, there's a section titled "Today's Walk" where you are supposed to right down how long you walked, but if I do some other type of exercise I make note of that in the space instead. Each day there is some tidbit at the top of the page: quotations, thoughts, diet information, that was fun to read. I also enjoyed the various profiles of people who lost weight through walking.

Leslie Sansone fans (and fans of walking in general) should find this journal to be helpful although they may need to make some modifications.

Good, and with just a little tweaking could be even better
I think keeping a log of your daily exercise & food intake can be very beneficial; putting it all down on paper and reviewing it periodically motivates me to stay the course in my goal of leading a healthier lifestyle and also lets me see what areas I need to work on improving. However, this book really needs bigger spaces to write in, especially the meals sections, which seem tiny and cramped. I'd also prefer it if it was set up to check off your daily intake of fruits, vegetables, multi-grains, etc the way it is to monitor water consumption. I do enjoy the inspiring daily "words to live by", and as a cancer survivor who finds something positive in each new day, I really like the space to write in "a beautiful thing" everyday.