693 miles...

My goal for 2024 has been to walk 1,000 miles, and I'm over halfway there.  Yay me, but...

Why?  

Well, I've been talking about walking with clients for years now and never really developed my own walking routine, so I guess it's a little of "practicing what I preach".  

More than that though are the benefits of walking, that I finally decided to take advantage of for myself.

Walking isn't the only healthy thing I'm doing this year, so in full disclosure I will admit that I've dialed in a number of other healthy habits, as well, and I've listed them at the bottom of this post if you are interested.

The point is that the cat is out of the bag, and scientists, modern medicine, the world at large has discovered the benefits of walking so by now if you haven't heard before you have heard it from me:  Walking is good.  Walking is better than good, it's great!  If you want to know more, then do what I just did and let Google's Generative AI tell you:  Improve mental health, cardiovascular health, blood sugar, sleep, immunity, digestion, burning fat (low-impact aerobic activity) and the list may go on...  We really don't know the limits because we only just started looking at how important it is for our minds and bodies.

UNFORTUNATELY, if you want to know the REAL TRUTH:  Benefits don't seem to move the needle much when it comes to making healthy changes in my experience.  Scare tactics don't seem to last either though they may work initially.  

I've known about these benefits and not started a routine until recently.

I've known about how bad it is for me to NOT walk too and still not started a routine until recently.

So what changed?

What moved the needle for me?

Well, I guess I'll have to admit a lot changed, and it's probably too much to explain here.

At the time I had figured out that I needed a purpose, and I needed a purpose greater than a passion.

Passions wax and wane.  Purpose seems a bit more tangible, a bit more durable, a bit more resiliant to the ups and downs and goods and bads of life.  With purpose I can get up and walk for example whether I'm passionate about it or not that day.

The purpose I'm talking about that I was walking towards is way too deep for this conversation, but I knew I needed to find it and walking seemed to be a means to an end.  The good news is that the purpose of searching for that purpose lead me to a baby purpose along the way, walking 1,000 in 2024.  Some might call this a goal (that's what I called it at the beginning), but regardless it has put a purpose behind my walk.  

So rain or shine I walk.  

This was the turning point for me.  Going for a walk to find my purpose and along the way all the other beneifits we talk about have become a side effect.  What an amazing drug to have such rediculously incredible side effects...

I kinda want to go for another walk now and welcome you to join me.

ALSO, I bring walking up today because I wrote about functional movements yesterday and that mission statement, "Move Well.  Move Often." 

Walking is a super duper incredible start if you aren't ready to get after those deep squats.  It's something most of us can do pretty well, and most of us can carve enough small pieces of the day to get it in often.

Other healthy habits I've incorporated in my daily life mentioned above:

1.  Sleep 7-9 hours/night (I'll write up more on this later but if you want to better understand the importance of sleep click here);

2. Drink 1 Gallon of water per day (The necessary amount of water that is recommended by individual will vary but this keeps it simple for me.  I have found that it keeps me well hydrated during the winter, while it has not been enough this summer...);

3. Stretch for 45 minutes every morning (there are tons of benefits, and I don't just recommend stretching to everyone because strengthening might be a bigger concern for many.  this guy really got me going for my knee health though so have to share if you have a similar interest in healthy knees click here);

4. Walk for a minimum of 45 minutes/day, shooting for a wide range/approximation of 2-8 miles per day, currently averaging about 4.6 miles/day (I'll talk more about this in a minute but if you want a good book that got me really kickin' click here);

5. No alcohol (a great topic for another day, but this guy sums it up pretty well if you want to learn more click here);

6.  No sweets, breakfast desserts, dinner desserts, and the like (I could put a link here but why bother really...  this stuff needs way more than a book or chemistry lesson to understand.)