Walking is the best possible exercise. Habituate yourself to walk very far.
~Thomas Jefferson
“You walk so much,” a friend said recently. “I bet you can eat anything you want without gaining weight!”
“You could, too,” I pointed out. “Anyone can walk.”
“But I don’t like to walk,” she said.
Don’t like to walk? To me, that’s like saying, “I don’t like to breathe.”
I don’t just like to walk. I love to walk. I walk all the time. I walk everywhere. I walk so much that I have no need for a step tracker.
I scoff at your daily 10,000 steps. Ha! I cover that much ground before lunch.
My lifestyle of incessant walking began 30 years ago when I was diagnosed with endometriosis. I discovered that lots of walking lessened the pain, so I re-tooled my life to include an unusual amount of walking, and I’ve been walking ever since.
It started as something that was good for me — but it’s turned into something I love.
I enjoy being outdoors, moving forward, attuned to the world around me. Breathing in the fresh air. Pausing to chat with my neighbors. Walking always makes me happy.
Unlike many serious walkers, I don’t put on walking shoes and head down a trail. Instead, I’ve incorporated walking into every aspect of my daily life.
If you invite me to lunch, I’ll counter with “Can we go for a walk instead?”
If you insist on enjoying a meal instead of a walk, I’ll insist on walking to the restaurant… and back.
I walk to work every day. I’ve made sure that my bank, hairdresser, dentist and pharmacy are all within walking distance. I never get in my car unless I absolutely must.
Last year, my car’s battery died because I didn’t drive it often enough.
I walk with friends. I walk the dog. When my grandson needs a nap, I stroll him around the block until he falls asleep, and then continue to stroll with a sleeping baby — one of the best walks there is.
And, thanks to my treadmill (and my smart phone), I also enjoy frequent walks with my pal Irene, even though she lives in Seattle and I live in Philadelphia.
Sometimes, you need to be a little creative to get in a walk. When my son was little, he wasn’t wild about walking, so I would bribe him to go for a walk with me by paying him a nickel a block.
Once, snowed in at my then mother-in-law’s tiny mobile home in the middle of a New Hampshire blizzard, I was so desperate for a walk that I put on my sneakers and circled her dining-room table for an hour. (Yes, she thought I was nuts. But if you want to be a truly devoted walker, you have to be willing to be unconventional.)
I always dress for walking. All of my shoes are comfortable walking shoes. I don’t even own a pair of heels. I’ll never turn up at your dinner party in the height of fashion. But I can walk to that party… and back.
Bad weather rarely slows me down. Unless there’s an actual tornado or lightning storm in progress, I walk instead of driving. Do I occasionally get caught in a downpour? Absolutely! But I’m not scared of getting soaked. That’s why there are hot showers. And once you’ve accepted that you’re going to get drenched, it’s fun to walk in the rain.
Another plus? One cannot waste the time of an obsessive walker who has a treadmill.
Whenever Comcast puts me on hold, I just hop on and stroll along to the canned music until the person I was speaking with returns. As the minutes go by, I’m not fuming about the fact that my valuable time is being wasted. I’m enjoying an extra walk!
And now that I’ve joined an online dating service, I conduct all those obligatory getting-to-know-you phone calls at 1.8 miles an hour. “Hey… are you on the treadmill?” a prospective date might ask suspiciously at the faint sound of my treadmilling feet going thump, thump, thump.
“Why, no,” I’ll fib. “Unless, that is, you’re interested in strolling into the sunset with somebody who really likes to stroll.”
I have yet to meet Mr. Right, but when I do, I’ll enter into the relationship with excellent muscle tone and plenty of stamina.
As much as I love my treadmill, most of my walking takes place outside in the fresh air. Over time, I’ve become a beloved neighborhood character — “The Librarian Who Walks Everywhere.” As my neighbors drive by, they’ll give me a cheerful honk.
“I always see you walking!” they’ll tell me later.
“Feel free to join me,” I’ll respond. I truly wish more of them would.
Walking is good for your health. It gets you out of the house and in touch with the world around you. It makes you happy — you’ll be high on endorphins all day! It’s good for the planet.
And, of course, you can eat whatever you want without gaining an ounce.
— Roz Warren —