This is how I expect many of my monologues on this page will begin. Because truly, walking is my favorite exercise. When I say walking, I definitely mean outside. Outside, where it's pretty. Outside, where the birds twitter and the leaves rustle. Outside, where the clouds scud across the sky. Very much, I prefer walking outside. (The Sustainable Mild Exercise principle, and the Nature is Your Friend principle.)
Today, I walked for about 47 minutes. I walked two and a half times around the park. This is more than the usual two circuits that I've been doing lately. I counted steps on my first circuit around the park, and was surprised at how many there were: 1133. (The lilies in the picture were the starting and stopping point I used to measure steps.) So, 2.5 circuits was about 2800 steps, give or take.
"They" say you should make 10,000 steps a day your goal. I thought about that a lot on my walk today. How many circuits that would be (9). How long it would take. At my current level of fitness, each circuit takes about 15 mins, so that would be a very long walk of 2 and a quarter hours! Yowza! Who has that kind of time?
Which is kind of the point of my approach to fitness. All the seven principles of LASTING work in synergy. I went from my usual 2 circuits to 2.5 circuits today, only because I felt my body could handle it, as I kept checking in, especially on my left hip where bursitis has been flaring up lately (Listen to Your Body). When I wasn't sure I could Incrementally Increase my circuits from 2 to 2.5, I just told myself that Anything is Better than Nothing, so if I could only do 2 circuits, so be it! It sure takes the pressure off!
Which means I enjoy the walk more, which is kind of important to me. I want exercise to be enjoyable, not a chore!
My idea now is to increase by one-half circuit per week. That would take me to four circuits by the end of July, six by the end of August, and eight by the end of September (the dreaded two-hour walk lol). I'm not sure I'll really make that a goal. Seems like a lot of time to allocate to walking outside.
In truth, I'm reluctant to accept the advice of anyone "out there", telling me what I should or shouldn't be doing to exercise. One person I do listen to is my physical therapist. I figure, with her level of experience and the equivalent of a PhD, she knows what she's talking about. Besides, I like her.
So, I continue with my walks, my swims, and my physical therapy exercises. And hope for the best! (Go at Your Own Pace and Treat Yourself Kindly)
Notice how I got all seven principles into this blog post? See how they all work in synergy? Yep, I kinda like that. :)
