Walking Benefits

So, I’ve been talking about walking and its benefits to our bodies, overall health and long life. Many of us know that we need to work out, but cannot muster sufficient ‘oomph’ to get out of bed, literally.

I won’t lie, many times I wake up in the morning hating the very idea that I would have to go out for my brisk walks. In fact, I remember a day early last month when my alarm went off and it was time to set off. I turned over in bed with a deep groan, trying to inspire myself to get out of bed when I heard the drum of rain drops outside my window. The rain sounded sufficiently heavy to drench me upon my first step.

Don’t expect me to say that I was sad to have missed my work out…far from it. I let out a happy laugh, turned over in bed and slept for about 45 more minutes. I am like everyone else (or at least I hope so) and have to really motivate myself to keep going.

To motivate myself [most days] I bring to mind the undesirable experiences I have had on account of being overweight. I’m thinking high blood pressure, knee and join pains… the list go on. (See more of my story here: http://dropit4life.blogspot.com/2013/08/on-your-marks.html)

Also, I bring to mind the benefits of walking which is really what I want to highlight today – possibly someone will catch the walking bug and join me sometime. Here we go!

Walking strengthens your heart... enuf said! This is motivation enough, right?

Being moderately active could help prevent dementia, I read somewhere that research has shown that ‘older’ people who walk 6 miles (that’s approximately 12,000 each week) could avoid brain shrinkage that comes with age and thus prevent memory loss.

Walking tones your legs, tummy and yes…your bumJ. Now, I am not saying you will suddenly get Naomi Campbell legs, but at least you won’t do badly if you make walking part of your lifestyle. With time, I may gain the courage to show my before and after pictures here, lol!

Strengthen your bones and increase their density by walking regularly. This is especially important for women who are prone to develop osteoporosis as we age on account of weakened bones (calcium helps as well).

Walking helps keep your joints healthy and stave off illnesses that attack joints like arthritis. It’s far cheaper to walk than to have to buy and pop multivitamins that give the same benefits that walking do.

I do my walking early in the morning, now we all know that direct sunlight is an excellent source of vitamin D. Vitamin D is a big player in keeping your bones healthy and nourishing your skin, among others (I am told it helps in the production of feel good hormones that help us fight the blues too).

There are other benefits, but I think these are the major ones. Aha! I get a real sense of accomplishment and gladness when I can tick off my daily work out at the end of the day.

Do you walk? Have you noticed any benefits? Want to share? Please be my guest.

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