Stepping it up

Week #12

“The sum of the whole is this: walk and be happy; walk and be healthy.  The best way to lengthen out our days is to walk steadily and with a purpose”.  Charles Dickens

Up until now I’ve had all of my small steps focusing on the health area of my life and specifically with things having to do with what goes in my mouth or doesn’t.  I’ve talked about taking a multi-vitamin, drinking more water, and including lemon juice each day.  I’ve also written about increasing the amount of my ‘top 20 healthy foods’ and about decreasing or cutting out some junk; soda, chips and gum.  Although I’m not quite done with my small steps in my health category, I do want to switch to another essential part of having a healthy body and that is exercise.
 
Not the gym!!!!!!!!! And don’t make me sign up for a class in rumba, zumba or jumba (oh I guess that the juice place).  No, I’m not going to take that step.  I do want to do something that involves more exercise, but I want it to be simple, positive, and purposeful.  I think sometimes we put all of our focus on that one hour of exercise each day and don’t worry enough about the other 23 hours. 
 
As you know my goal is to take small steps for big results…well it strikes me that it makes perfect sense to focus on taking more steps.   I find that I do as most people do, other than my big walk several times a day, I try and minimize the number of steps I take.   I find the closest parking space at the grocery store, or the shopping mall, and attempt to drive right up close to the restaurant where I’m meeting my friend for lunch.  I even get to work early so I can park right in front of my office.  Then once I get there, I try to save up any errands that involve walking across my campus at school for one time of day.  Any of this sound familiar?
 
So, what if I just decided to walk more, every chance I get?  I could park across the campus and walk to my office, then walk back across campus at the end of the day.  I can get up from my computer more often and just walk around the building a few times each day.  I won’t save my errands for one convenient walk, but I’ll take care of them as they arise, thereby stepping it up. And when I take my long walk at home, I can add a few more steps then as well.  I can also park further away at the stores when I’m out shopping, or having lunch, and just consciously choose to walk more steps, more often.
 
During my initial assessment, at the beginning of my experiment, I decided to get a baseline on my average mileage that I walk each day.  I wore a pedometer for one week and took an average per day of my normal amount of walking. So, I should be able to easily see what kind of improvement I make.  Rather than trying to tally what I walk each day (I want to keep it simple) I’ll instead just focus on taking more steps…later I’ll come back and check in to see how much I have increased my daily average. 
 
I’ll also walk steadily and with a purpose. Don’t misunderstand me, there’s nothing wrong with a relaxing stroll now and then, but I’m thinking that I’ll do brisk walking whenever I get a chance, putting a smile on my face and projecting my attitude of gratitude. 
 
Small step: Take more steps more often to be ‘more’ happy and healthier!
 
 

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