How I Include Walking as Exercise in My Hectic Daily Schedule
Walking as exercise
Like many of you, my daily schedule can get a little hectic at times taking care of my job, family, friends, shopping, nutritious meals, or exercising, just to name a few. This means that unless I am careful, one of these activities could fall by the cracks. And you will never guess which one usually does. Well…. maybe you did guess: exercise, right?
Because I truly believe that physical activity is responsible for 50 percent of our health –on the other side, physical inactivity is a sure recipe for 50 percent of our illnesses- I am well aware I cannot stop exercising. So, leaving exercise out of my daily schedule doesn’t work for me because I don’t feel well either physically or mentally.
This forced me long time ago to figure out a way to include exercise as a part of my life. One of the first things I had to do at the time was to ask myself what type of exercise I do enjoy most so I could include it in my daily routine. My answer, without hesitation, was walking. So, I made the commitment of including walking as exercise in my daily life and for the rest of my life. There was no other way.
The next problem I needed to solve when I came up with this answer was that I don’t care for walking aimlessly, without any purpose, thus I knew that in order to make walking a natural part of my life, I had to find a reason to walk.
I also knew that my favorite time to walk is in the morning, but sometimes it is difficult because I have to be early at my office, so I decided that evenings or any other time during the day will also be okay, unless the weather is too hot in the afternoon. I don’t mind the rain; I just take an umbrella. So, here is the plan I “designed”, which by the way, works like a charm for me.
My walking as exercise plan:
1. I made a point of not buying all my cleaning supplies at one time, but one or two at the time. Thus, many mornings, I walk to the local supermarket –they open at 6:00 a.m. – to buy dish soap, latex gloves, dish sponges, laundry soap, napkins, spray for ants, toilet paper, you name it.
2. I have a P.O. Box at the local post office. This means every day or every other day I walk to get my mail. I never leave my mail for the postman to pick it up. I walk to the post office and I mail it myself. This practice gives me the comfort of knowing that my mail is not lost on the way to the post office.
3. I don’t take a whole bunch of cloths to the cleaners at one time. I just take a couple of items which also gives me the excuse to walk to pick them up when they are ready.
4. I go to my bank to get some cash from the teller machine.
5. I stop by my church to say thank you.
6. I like to buy the local newspaper on Wednesdays, so I walk to the newspaper box to get it.
7. On Thursdays we have the Farmers Market in my area. I always make a point of supporting local farmers, so I walk there and I buy wonderful organic fruit and vegetables which by the way, they are cheaper than at the market.
8. I also make a point of supporting local businesses. If I need printed material for my business or I just need to run copies, I walk to the printing shop. There is always one near my office or my home.
9. Many weekends I walk with my daughter to one of our favorite Italian restaurants –it takes us one hour getting there and one hour coming back. It gives us the chance to be together and catch up with gossip.
10. I walk to the Sunday afternoon service at my church with family or friends who want to join me in that activity.
11. I walk to the local “café” and spend some time there reading or with my laptop.
12. I walk to the local library to get books, check on their activities for the week or the month, or simply to spend some time there and read.
13. There is a yoga place in my neighborhood and some Saturdays I attend the meditation sessions that are conducted there.
A final thought
I hope this list gives you an idea of where to start including walking as exercise in your life. If you have children, walk with them to different places to get them used to walking. They will create the habit if you introduce them to it. I know it because during my childhood and teenager years, living in Madrid, Spain, I walked to every place. My parents never had a car, so I developed the habit of walking. Maybe that is part of the reason why I have always been slim.
Walking does many wonderful things for us. Among others, it gives us energy, keeps us flexible, burns a substantial amount of calories which keeps our weight on check, lowers blood sugar, a deterrent for diabetes, adds mass to our bones, which prevents osteoporosis, lowers the bad cholesterol, increases the good one, helps maintain a healthy blood pressure, and makes our heart stronger, a must to prevent a heart attack. And last but not least, you errands will always been taken care of.
Just remember, not exercising is not an option if you want to be healthy and control your weight.
To your health!
Emilia Klapp, R.D., B.S.
www.TheDiabetesClub.com
Related Posts
-
3 Short Workouts per Week Lead to Healthy Blood Sugar Levels
Posted on Jan 3, 2012
-
Are You Encountering Obstacles in Your Daily Treatment for Diabetes
Posted on Dec 6, 2011
-
How Diabetics Can Prevent Low Blood Sugar when Drinking Alcohol
Posted on Nov 10, 2011
-
Patient Education on Diabetes Improves Blood Glucose Levels
Posted on Oct 18, 2011
Tags
Share This
