Workout Wednesday - Walking

Image courtesy of "Walk for Healthy Bodies"

Here we are already into the fourth installment of this plan! I am still very excited about it and loving the small changes I'm begining to experience. What about you? Have you started to make small changes? Are you seeing any progress? If not, don't worry, the main thing is to keep doing it and being consistent in your efforts.

Last week I told you about changing my habits with water(link to post). I let you know that my goal was to increase my intake to ensure that I was getting enough fluids every day because of the health benefit. This week we're talking about walking. I don't know about you, but I'm not a big fan of exercising. I've managed to do it in the past for various reasons, but it's never been able to stick for me. However, I realize that the sedentary lifestyle I'm leading will cause me to "age" faster than I would like so I'm willing to do something about it. After having my baby girl last year I purchased a pair of "Shape-ups" that I blogged about briefly. Ever since then I haven't mentioned anything so I've decided I should let you know what's happening. My shape-ups have been getting a ton of wear inside the house and at work. That's it. I haven't done anything in the way of getting out and really putting them to work. However, I can say they helped tone some muscles that had gotten very litte use during my pregnancy.

So now what's the plan? Well, since I'm now documenting and setting goals that depend on me getting up and doing something, I suppose I need to put my shoes to much better use. In reasearching walking I found that it's one of the best things you can do for yourself because it's one of those things that can easily be done by almost anyone. Getting a short walk in your day can help improve your heart health, your penchant for diabetes, your cholesterol health etc. I don't like to exercise, but I actually love to walk so I'm going to start there and see where it leads.

My goal is to start walking about 10 minutes every morning either before I leave for work or mid-morning to get away from my desk. Because this is something new to my schedule I need to figure out what time slot will work best, however, I want to make sure that I get at least 10 minutes worth of walking in per day for the next two weeks. Once I get the pattern down I will increase by 5 minutes per two weeks until I am walking at least 30 minutes a day 5 days a week. I know it's a short time slot, but I don't want to overwhelm myself with a goal that become ominous! This goal gets me going slow and easy and I think it will work well for me.

Here are some articles you can read on the benefits of walking:
 - Walking: Trim your waistline, improve your health
 - Benefits of Walking
 - Health Benefits of Walking

If you are just joining the conversation,  here are some previous articles:
 - Getting Started
 - Goals
 - Water

What's your plan for a healthier 2012? Next week: Progress Report