You Should Walk On By (Hey, hey, hey, hey, oooooh-oooh…)
A Mother’s Wisdom #6
For those reluctant readers who continue to ask, “What’s just one thing I can do right now to improve my health, and by the way, I don’t want to sweat,” we have some good news. By now, you’ve probably heard of Dr. Michael Roizen and his theory regarding “Real Age.” He holds that everyone has not only the familiar chronological age, measured in years, but also what he terms a “Real Age.”
The “Real Age” is based on a lot of factors that relate to how well you take care of that body you’ve been entrusted with. You can actually watch yourself grow younger by taking a few simple steps. Literally. On the top of his list of over 100 pieces of advice for increasing quality and quantity of life is walking.
Unfortunately, walking to the refrigerator, or back and forth from the car parked outside the entrance to your work place, does not count, at least not much. Apparently our bodies actually miss the natural movement we were born to take, that is, placing one foot in front of the other. The conveniences of automobiles, Internet shopping, and the like has shortened our stride, so to speak.
You need to walk 30 minutes everyday in order to regain your land legs, and that means one minute right after the other. If you can walk all the way from your home door to your work door, something city folks might be able to accomplish, do so. If you’re a proud suburbanite, get to know your neighborhood on foot. You are allowed to drive your car ahead of time to map out a route for yourself. That will also let you come up with a pretty good idea of how far you walk.
You don’t have to run, or even jog. And you don’t need expensive running or exercise shoes; anything that’s comfortable will do. One rule of thumb; don’t walk to the frozen custard place. Custard neutralizes walking.
Here’s an idea. Instead of a football pool with your buds, or maybe in addition to, set up a walking pool. Place odds on who will walk their 50 miles first. On second thought, maybe a simple 5 mile goal would boost your chances of winning. Actually, everyone is a winner in this particular competition.
Just get started, and then do it again the next day. And the next. You get the idea.
- Virginia Brackett, BSMT, Ph.D.
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POSTED IN: A Mother's Wisdom, Misc., Prevention, Your Body, Your Mind
2 opinions for You Should Walk On By (Hey, hey, hey, hey, oooooh-oooh…)
prezzure
Sep 12, 2006 at 7:01 am
As a former runner (knees) and now intermittent biker, walker, I can attest to the benefit of consistent repetitive exercise. I walked off about 20 lbs over 6 months. And as a physician, my diabetic population has more success when they incorporate exercise (from paired motivation) even though diet is the most effective. Several patients have lost more than 100 lbs over the last 4 years! And 2 employees have walked off more than 50 lbs each !!
TrainingTime
Sep 14, 2006 at 6:28 am
Excellent advice - a good stepmeter is invaluable, though the 30 minutes rule is the best base.
I believe so much in walking as the best everyday exercise that I started an online service to help motivate people - it’s only in Swedish so far, but there may be an English version next year.
http://go.forit.se
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