Daily thought, How to get more of the population walking?
Walking is my favorite form of cardio. If you just make it part of your everyday life, it’s not really cardio though. You’d be amazed at how many additional steps you can add in each day by consciously adding in more walking, such as pacing back and forth while you talk on the phone. Eventually it becomes unconscious/habitual.
Most of us never put our phones down or take any down time throughout the day to just reflect and think about life. Little 10-20 minute walks are perfect for this and are good for the soul.
If you have an iPhone, it automatically tracks your daily steps (click on the health app in the iFolder – it has a heart for its graphic). I scrolled back over the past few months and found that some days I would talk 3,000 steps and other days 16,000, so I decided to “step it up” and make sure I get in at least 10,000 steps per day. This has been very easy and only required some minor lifestyle modifications. You burn more calories through non-exercise activity thermogenesis than you do through exercise, so creating an active lifestyle should not be underestimated.
As you can see in the infographic, you can burn an additional couple hundred calories a day by stepping it up, and this adds up over time. Increased activity is a major factor in weight management and can work on dual fronts by also slightly decreasing appetite. Make walking a basic component of your life. It won’t interfere with your strength workouts and it’s good for the metabolism, heart, and mind.
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