Monday, July 29, 2013

Healthy Monday | From Heather


Happy healthy month level and lace readers!

It is Heather from Honee Bee with Healthy Monday!

Today I am going to be talking about walking and how to incorporate it into your lifestyle. Though I am really enjoying working out, and do it fairly frequently ,the more I read about health and the lifestyle of other countries, the more I realize that I (and the majority of Americans) do not move half as much as the rest of the world. We get into our cars, drive to work, park in ramps that are steps away, and sit at a desk all day. (and then we wonder why our country struggles with obesity). Then we go to the gym, slave away for an hour, and then go home and sit on the couch.  Our mobility is so low that though we have worked out, we still aren't moving as much as we were designed to do. hence, weight gain. 

However- this could all be solved by simply increasing how much we walk. Just walking!

The average american walks 2,000 steps a day, while researchers show that europeans walk 10,000 steps a day. That is five times more then us americans, and they their obesity rate is SIGNIFICANTLY lower then ours. and they don't even go to the gym! Amazing I tell ya. 

So with that. I have decided to do a walking challenge. I have found a few fun pedometer apps (the one I use is called "moves"- warning it totally sucks your battery life!) on my phone so I can keep track of how much I am going to be moving and am going to be trying to reach the 10,000 step mark every day. I started this a few weeks ago and have been playing with the apps and found that they don't always record very accurately/turn off sometimes.  But it is still the right intention and is one way I remind myself to get out and walk some more! Everyday I make my husband go on a short walk after dinner. He works at an office all day and I know that by doing this I am forcing both of us to pursue a healthier lifestyle.

The last few weeks I have been doing trial runs seeing how many steps I am taking on a daily basis and I have found that I average 4,000-5,000. so I am only halfway to the what health professionals recommend. Yikes! With this... come the 10,000/day challenge! Because I am BIG into setting reasonable goals I am going to try walk 10,000 steps a day at least three times a week.  By forcing myself to move more, I reap the benefits and really do not have to "work" that much more to achieve a healthier lifestyle! So who is with me? Let's all walk it out!

1 comment:

  1. I completely agree! Walking is fantastic and after traveling to Europe last summer you could clearly see that europeans were WAY more active than us. New follower!
    Jordyn
    theprettylovelyblog.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete

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